Enemies Everywhere

The Socratic Method has both benefits and deficiencies, as shown in Apology of Socrates. The method Socrates uses is very good at establishing his point. He leads the person he is questioning to the answer he wants to hear and waits for them to agree with it. “Now come here, Meletus, tell me: do you not regard it as most important how the youth will be the best possible?” (73). BY using leading questions like that one Socrates doesn’t really give the person he’s talking to any other choice but to agree with him. He then takes the agreement with the statement and asks the person more questions so they end up agreeing with two contradictory ideas, there’re discrediting them. By asking Meletus questions he ends up with the idea that Meletus thinks “’Socrates does injustice by not believing in gods, but believing in gods.’” (77). This makes Meletus look foolish and discredits him completely, which is a benefit of the Socratic Method.

Alas, there are deficiencies to the Socratic Method as well. By making the person he is talking to look foolish, Socrates is making enemies, which is why he has on trial in the first place. Even Socrates says it: “…I tried to show him that he supposed he was wise, but he was not. So from this I became hateful both to him and to many of those present.” (70). Socrates’ method makes people look foolish, leaving many with a vendetta against him. Being right will do him no good if he will not have any allies when he is done. The method Socrates uses is so convoluted that hardly anyone can keep track of what is going on and the confusion makes them hostile. That is the main deficiency to the Socratic Method – the way it tends to give Socrates enemies.