Reflection #11

Many of Socrates ideas have had a great impact in our modern education system. He was a great Greek philosopher that believed that once one realizes they know nothing, they start to gain knowledge. He created the idea of elenchus and the dialectic method, which was basically the use of asking questions in order to gain knowledge. According to Socrates, teachers bring out questions in the mind of a student into the world. He wanted his students to analyze situations and to use critical and logical thinking to make questions to better understand. He believed in discussion rather than lecturing. He wanted students to bring ideas forth and teachers just simply assisted in the process. Socrates also talked a lot about happiness. Unlike our modern view of happiness, Socrates believed that sometimes our happiness can be mistaken. Even though we may think we are happy, we might actually may not be happy. In our modern society that does not make much sense. We usually believe that if we feel happy, we are happy. He believed that knowledge was the gateway and foundation of happiness. This is very true if we look at it in modern day. The more knowledge and experience we have, the more opportunities we are faced with. The more opportunities usually means happiness. For example, if we graduate from a university with a degree, we are now able to get a better job. A better job implies more income for  daily necessities, relieving a lot of stress. Socrates had a huge devotion to morals and ethics. He created a system that was made up of simple human reasoning. Like I stated before, Socrates was a great believer in the use of reasoning and questioning. Socrates teaching methods are used in modern western education today. His discussions were all problem centered. He would make up a question or situation and students had to analyze it based on their experience. He listened to students responses but however, did not give them the answer. The student is to use their critical thinking to reason the question and come up with an answer. The teacher simply leads the way into a proper response by analyzing the students responses. Socrates divided knowledge by two types; ordinary knowledge and definitional knowledge. He was a great devoter of belief through the use of logic.