Peter Boghossian - The Socratic Method in the Western Tradition

How do we have “impossible conversations”? What is the basis of belief? How do we disagree fruitfully across philosophical, ideological, and religious divides?

The Socratic Method is a form of argumentative dialogue based on asking and answering questions to draw out ideas and underlying assumptions. In this lecture, Peter Boghossian, a former Philosophy Professor at Portland State University and current Founding Faculty member at the University of Austin, outlines how he has devised a template using the Socratic Method as a core element in discourse. He speculates on the role of dialectical processes, critical thinking, corrective mechanisms to test beliefs and assumptions, and attitudinal dispositions, and explains the method of his conversational technique known as ‘street epistemology’ for promoting reflection.