I'M A METHOD ACTOR

You know what I love? The Socratic Method. And Pop Tarts. But mostly, the Socratic Method. It's just hilarious that the main reason the great men of Athens were angry at Socrates was because he made them look like fools by skillfully filleting them with simple questions. It must have infuriated them that it would seem like he didn't know something, because he'd constantly ask questions about it, and yet it was obvious that he knew exactly where his questions would lead.

Consider his dialogue with Euthyphro. Euthyphro had turned in his own father to authorities for a murder of dubious morality. The murder could actually be considered self defense. Euthyphro, though, was justifying his actions as righteous in the eyes of the gods. Now, we all know that Socrates could clearly see the problems in that argument, and it would have taken all of 5 minutes to explain that we can't be certain what is just, and whether it is just because gods love it, or just in it's own right. But did Socrates bring out the rhetorical bazooka and blast Euthyphro? Nope, not Socrates. By pretending to be ignorant on the subject, Socrates used leading questioning to bring Euthyphro, and us, to greater understanding of justice. In most cases, the journey can be more enlightening than the destination. What must have seemed like ignorance to Euthryphro was simply a ruse. What's most amusing is that in many of the dialogues the author, Plato, even acknowledges this deception by having characters accuse Socrates of either deliberate or actual ignorance. Pretty funny, huh?

JC