Socratic Questioning for Idea Generation and Critical Thinking
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived from 470-399BC. He never published his views so everything we know about him is from three primary sources: Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato.
In his book, Theaetetus, Plato describes how Socrates would use disciplined questioning to assist his disciples to get closer to the truth.
Humans tend to identify contradictions, so inaccurate or half-formed ideas would be corrected during the process of asking carefully crafted questions, which would in turn lead them closer to the truth.
Socratic questioning is still a popular method in higher education in medical, mathematics and legal class rooms. It is also used in cognitive therapy, psychotherapy, coaching and sales.
Why would we want to employ Socratic questioning methods for critical thinking?
- Socratic thinking is led by questions and not by answers. It will help unravel thoughts and ideas that are buried deep inside of you.
- Meaning it will help us systematically ask questions that will induce reflection and thinking.
- Doing this makes you an active thinker.
- You are questioning things and not taking things at face value.
- It will help you figure out gaps in your knowledge, challenge your preconceived notions.
- It will assist you to synthesize and examine your information sources but also help you analyze your thinking behaviors.
There are 6 types of questions that you can ask:
Conceptual/Clarification Questions
This will help you think about what exactly you are asking or thinking about and help you go deeper.
- Why am I saying that?
- What exactly does this mean?
- How does this relate to what I have been talking about?
- What is the nature of …?
- What do I already know about this?
- Do I have an example?
- Can I rephrase this?
Questioning Assumptions
Probing your assumptions makes you think about the assumptions and accepted beliefs on which you are founding your argument.
- What else could I assume?
- How did I choose those assumptions?
- Can I explain why/how … ?
- How can I verify or disprove that assumption?
- What would happen if … ?
Questioning Reasons and Evidence
When you give a rationale for your arguments, dig into that reasoning rather than assuming it is a given. People often use un-thought-through or weakly-understood support for their arguments.
- Why is that happening?
- How do I know this?
- What causes … ?
- What is the nature of this?
- Are these reasons good enough?
- Would it stand up in court?
- How might it be refuted?
- How can I be sure of what I’m saying?
- Why is … happening?
- Why? (keep asking it — you’ll never get past a few times)
- What evidence is there to support what I’m saying?
Questioning Viewpoints and Perspectives
- What alternative ways of looking at this are there?
- Why it is … necessary?
- Who benefits from this?
- What is the difference between… and…?
- Why is it better than …?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of…?
- How are … and … similar?
- What would … say about it?
- What if I compared … and … ?
- How could I look another way at this?
Questioning Consequences
Your argument may have logical implications that can be predicted.
- Do these make sense? Are they desirable?
- Then what would happen?
- What are the consequences of that assumption?
- How could … be used to … ?
- What are the implications of … ?
- How does … affect … ?
- How does … fit with what we learned before?
- Why is … important?
- What is the best … ? Why?
Questions about the question
You may also turn the question in on itself.
- What was the point of asking that question?
- Am I making sense? Why not?
- What else might I ask?
- What does that mean?
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