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<\/a>Insert obligatory image of classical Greek philosophers doing their thing.<\/p><\/div>\n
Of course, Socrates didn\u2019t write down any of his philosophy at all; everything we know about him, we know from the writings of others, especially from his student Plato. Still it\u2019s possible to infer his method by studying how he did things. So, this game is based on my interpretation of Socrates\u2019 method as it is represented in some of Plato\u2019s early books.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m going to include it in the logic textbook. But I\u2019m terribly excited about it and my students appeared to have a fun time playing it. So I will share it here on my blog for you now.<\/p>\n
Bren\u2019s Socratic Dialogue Game, Agora Variation<\/strong><\/p>\n The game requires at least two players, and in experimenting with this game in my classroom I found that it can work in small groups of no more than five members. Apart from the rules noted above, I also asked my students to observe the principles of informal logic which we had covered in some previous classes: good v bad types of questions, good v bad thinking habits. (See chapters 1 and 2 of Clear & Present Thinking, 1st edition<\/a>, if you\u2019re curious.) <\/p>\n Bren\u2019s Socratic Dialogue Game, Symposium Variation<\/strong><\/p>\n Players choose a card from the \u201cDeck of Many Questions\u201d. Each player writes a one-page speech to answer the question. Then everyone swaps their speech pages around: giving their answer to another player, receiving an answer (to a different question!) from a third player. Each player then writes a one-page counter-argument. Players then take turns reading their answers aloud, and hearing the counter-arguments read aloud; then a chance is offered for players to reply to the counter-arguments. This variation can be used as a classroom assessment technique. It also makes for a fun dinner party activity among friends, especially when the \u201canswers\u201d are prepared in advance, and the \u201ccounter-arguments\u201d are off the cuff. In fact, I think I might like to host a symposium dinner party here at my house, some time this fall.<\/p>\n Some further remarks:<\/strong><\/p>\n I like games. I used to write my own video games on my family\u2019s old Commodore 128, using its BASIC 7.0 programming language. I played Dungeons & Dragons all through high school, then played White Wolf\u2019s \u201cWorld of Darkness\u201d games (Vampire, Werewolf, Mage) through my undergrad years. I\u2019m especially fond of chess even though I don\u2019t know anything about strategy and all I can do is push the pieces around according to the rules; I haven\u2019t won a game of chess in probably twenty years. But in general I think that games are good for us, and that\u2019s one of the reasons I invent games for use in my classroom. <\/p>\n The Socratic Dialogue Game does not need winners or losers. The point is to practice reasoning skills, perhaps learn something about the complexity of simple questions, perhaps learn something about yourself (when for instance you are forced to acknowledge that you don’t know all the answers), and to enjoy the use of our own minds. It’s a game that does not require any specialized knowledge of philosophy as a discipline, nor any specialized knowledge of logic apart from what\u2019s described in the rules. It’s a game in which it\u2019s okay to ask for a moment of quiet to think, and it\u2019s okay to say \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d It’s foundational philosophy for the people; it’s the common heritage of all humanity.<\/p>\n But if The Expert ends up feeling embarrassed or upset by the questions or by the exposure of her ignorance, it’s not okay for that player to make Socrates drink the hemlock.<\/p>\n Appendix: \u201cThe Deck of Many Questions\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I bought a stack of index cards and wrote an open-ended philosophical question on them; a different question on each card. If you can think of more questions to add, feel free to add them.<\/p>\n Last week, while working on the second edition of my logic textbook, it occurred to me that Socratic Dialogue, the method of philosophical reasoning used by Socrates, is a kind of game. Or, it could be turned into one. Of … Continue reading \n
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