Patricia Clark
Class: Philosophy
By Saturday, May 18, 2013, respond to the assigned discussion assignment and submit your responses to the appropriate topic in this Discussion Area. You should quote or paraphrase from specific pages in the course text to support your claims about philosophical ideas and concepts, using correct APA citation. Start reviewing and responding to your classmates and the facilitator as early in the week as possible.
Write a two- page dialogue between Socrates and a person of your choosing that accomplishes the following:
Identify a belief. For example, you might choose a religious belief, a moral value, or a political position. It can be a belief you yourself hold or one you have seen professed by other people.
Provide reasons for that belief. You may need to do additional research in order to identify persuasive reasons. Personal experience and beliefs are relevant when developing an argument, but a good argument also requires reasons with persuasive authority. A fact, statistic, or expert opinion will likely have persuasive authority; a personal opinion, religious belief, or disputed social norm will have less persuasive force.
Explain the Socratic Method. Cite support from the Platonic dialogue selections from the weekly reading as well as authoritative secondary sources such as the course text and online lectures.
Analyze the reasons using the Socratic Method, as Socrates does with Thrasymachus’ views on justice in the Republic. Refer to the list of fallacies in the textbook to see if the reasons include any logical inconsistencies that might be used to challenge the belief. For a student example of such a dialogue, see the end of the chapter in the textbook.