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The Socratic Method

A Practitioner’s Handbook

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The Socratic Method

By: Ward Farnsworth
Narrated by: John Lescault
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About this listen

A thinking person’s guide to a better life. Ward Farnsworth explains what the Socratic method is, how it works, and why it matters more than ever in our time. Easy to grasp yet challenging to master, the method will change the way you think about life’s big questions.

About 2,500 years ago, Plato wrote a set of dialogues that depict Socrates in conversation. The way Socrates asks questions, and the reasons why, amount to a whole way of thinking. This is the Socratic method - one of humanity’s great achievements. More than a technique, the method is an ethic of patience, inquiry, humility, and doubt. It is an aid to better thinking, and a remedy for bad habits of mind, whether in law, politics, the classroom, or tackling life’s big questions at the kitchen table.

Drawing on hundreds of quotations, this book explains what the Socratic method is and how to use it. Chapters include “Question and Answer”, “Ignorance”, and “Socrates and the Stoics”. Socratic philosophy is still startling after all these years because it is an approach to asking hard questions and chasing after them. It is a route to wisdom and a way of thinking about wisdom. With Farnsworth as your guide, the ideas of Socrates are easier to understand than ever and accessible to anyone.

As Farnsworth achieved with The Practicing Stoic and Farnsworth’s Classical English Style, ideas of old are made new and vital again. This book is for those coming to philosophy the way Socrates did - as the everyday activity of making sense out of life and how to live it - and for anyone who wants to know what he said about doing that better.

©2021 Ward Farnsworth (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing
Ethics & Morality Movements Stoicism Wisdom Greek Philosophy
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What listeners say about The Socratic Method

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A masterclass in effective debating

Thoroughly enjoyed this pragmatic analysis of Plato’s works pertaining to argumentation.

The lessons are crisp and the author does a terrific job of making it digestible.

One small criticism is that the text can at times feel a bit repetitive since the same examples are analysed repeatedly (albeit to highlight different patterns of thinking/questioning).

That said, I would recommend this to anyone looking to improve their reasoning skills—even if only to combat internal biases.

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Exceptionally valuable

A book truly needed for our times of people competing to have the loudest hot takes and the most ascerbic put-downs of ideological rivals. I feel a better world would be one where this book is on every school's curriculum; in the spirit of the ideas presented though feel free to challenge me on that!

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Brilliant

The breakdown of the technique and its uses was fantastic! I would highly recommend for anyone seeking the truth in their discussions!

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How applicable the teachings were to everyday life.

I loved how insightful the book is. It showed how pleasurable gaining knowledge can be.

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Exceptional!

Strongest possible recommendation! A wise book with exquisite narration. I could not put it down! 5 stars

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very good

This is not another "philosophical" waste of time, it's worth Your time. A must read (must listen) for people interested in better understanding life and world in general.

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scratches the surface for interest

enough to 'kindle' an interest narration was good but sometimes robotic content was very good

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I liked it so much...

... that I bought a hard copy.

I've been reading Plato for a number of years, and I am fairly familiar with the Socratic Method; however, I have not heard it described in such a digestible fashion before today.

I highly recommend this book, especially to those who are seriously considering taking this Method forward into their daily lives.

Brilliant, just brilliant!

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Amazing to listen to!

I am studying to become a clinical psychologist and this book made me think on how philosophy is the mother of all sciences and how the socratic method influences so much of what I do: both professionally and personally!

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Uninspired narration

The content is great but it feels like I’m listening to a machine in places. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard more engaging AI. Feels like the narrator’s mind is wondering to his shopping list rather than engaging in the text which seems to have rich and approachable content. I think I’d better get the book

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