Socratic Soren

Soren Kierkegaard—a Danish philosopher/writer of the 19^th century—found great inspiration in Socrates, who lived some 2400 years earlier in Athens. In fact, Kierkegaard came to view himself as the “Socrates of Copenhagen,” as he applied many of the ideas and practices of his Greek mentor in his thinking and writings.

In an earlier post I described the importance of Socrates’ daemon—his inner guiding voice. What appealed to Kierkegaard about this voice was that it had always guided Socrates in a “negative” sense—never telling him what to do, but simply alerting him against foolish actions... recommending what he should not do. That process leaves open various positive actions that one may ponder and then prudently select, if one takes the time to ponder it.

Another aspect of Socratic teaching that Kierkegaard viewed as essential was the manner in which Socrates engaged in dialog with another person. Although Socrates was regarded as one of the greatest Athenian sages, he never claimed to be wise. Like the voice of the daemon, he never told students or cohorts what to do. Instead he engaged them in a dialectical discussion, that repeatedly challenged them to explain what they believed they knew, as he cleverly dismantled their secure knowledge, step by step.

This form of discourse did not make Socrates very well-liked by Athenians, as he often reduced them to a state of self-doubt, called aporia. (From the Greek word aporos, which means “impassable.”) His interlocutor was literally rendered mentally immobile—having been impelled to realize that what he thought he knew, and was confident of, was fallacious. It created many antagonists among Athens' eminent citizens. This behavior eventually led to his trial and death sentence.

Kierkegaard saw that to apply the method of Socratic examination to one’s self-questioning could lead to a state of self-aporia, which he saw as a pivotal way of improving one's grasp of the truth. Since most of us are not all that clear in our thinking, or are subject to erroneous opinions, we often delude ourselves into believing that we are wiser and more knowledgeable than we really are. It requires a large dose of humility to admit we are wrong—to question ourselves. We could use a Socratic, dialectical approach to demonstrate our own misunderstanding to ourself.

In philosophy, epistemology is the theory of knowledge—particularly the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from mere opinion. Socrates and Kierkegaard offer an alternative perspective of epistemological analysis. They both maintained that we have the ability to arrive at the truth on our own. We do not require a wise teacher to tell us what to do or think. It's important that we let go of our spurious beliefs after arriving at our own at a state of aporia; which then opens us up to a more valid understanding. We can thus rid ourselves of the “impassable” blockade of faulty thinking, to break through to real insight.