Philosophical Dictionary
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Do You Really Know What You Know, You Know?
By C.M. Black
In which we discuss epistemology in the terms of Socrates and his final dialogue, the Apology. What do we know? How do we know it? We touch on this from the context of the founder of Western philosophy. -
The Socratic Method Explained: Elenchus, Maieutics and Plato’s “Made-Up” Opponents
By Markus Uehleke
The meme has Plato lying back with a cigar after winning arguments against his made-up characters. Many of those characters were real people, and Plato does not always let Socrates win. So what is the Socratic method, why did Socrates call it midwifery, and does it still work once you leave the dialogue? -
“Define Normal”: The Socrates Meme and Why Definitions Are So Hard
By Markus Uehleke
“Why can’t you just be normal?” Socrates, in the meme, screams back: define normal. He asked questions like that all day, unpaid, and they got him into trouble. Wittgenstein doubted that we need definitions at all, yet health systems and diagnostic manuals depend on them. Who gets to say what normal means?
