Pushed to the Limit

The Socratic method when it comes to education is extremely useful for opening up the stereotypes and society induced traditions when used on a child or person drowning in the dogma of civilization. It is also one of the greatest ways to win an argument, as Socrates demonstrates in Euthyphro and when arguing with Meletus in Apology. It is a great method to combat the linguistic logic fallacies commonly thrown out by rhetoricians and makes one appear to have authority in the conversation. It instills values upon a student that stick with him for the rest of his life to constantly be questioning everything in life and every one's motives, which grants huge advantages in this dog eat dog world of the modern world. At the same time the Socratic method has extreme flaws as it is incredibly easy to talk around as long as the debate is based on an opinion, rather than the statement of an absolute fact which a Socratic thinker will surely be able to turn around. Also if one is to argue with this thinker, one must not be too eager to commit to some belief, especially established by the opponent, but rather state their beliefs as explicitly as possible so there is no confusion. As much as Socrates bashes the linguists who simply use fancy language to get their desired results in an argument, he does the same thing with the principles I just mentioned. So despite being fallible in an argument based on these reasons, the Socratic method is just that: a method. After one is taught to think so intricately about every subject of the world for a certain amount of time they eventually become used to it. Socrates stated himself often in Apology that he did not know that much and admitted to it which made him wise. So Socrates can essentially teach the skill of questioning, which does not take that long to teach in all honesty. Then once that skill is passed on he has nothing left to offer as a teacher. This is the same plight as any trade smith who takes on an apprentice, eventually the apprentice equals the master in said skill. So his method is not eternal and can be argued against, and Nietzsche even went onto say that someone so preoccupied in breaking down and examining every little aspect of life is detrimental to one's life. Though I do not abide to all of my philosophical heroes teachings, like this one, he brings up another weakness in the Socratic method, that it could possibly limit the action of its applicators. Though that is kind of a long shot, it could indeed be another weakness. Overall though I would say that the Socratic method is extremely beneficial for a mind, especially a young one, and instills critical analytical skills that could easily be lost without it.