The Socratic Method for Thinking Adapted from Alain de Botton, Consolations of Philosophy [New York: Vintage, 2001 (2000)], pp See also his BBC video on Socrates and Self- Confidence: Oko

Step One Locate a statement confidently described as common sense. Example: “Acting courageously involves not retreating in battle.” Example: “A beautiful work of art is one that is symmetrical.”

Contemplative Athena ( B.C.)

Step Two Imagine for a moment that, despite the confidence of the person proposing it, the statement is false. Search for situations or contexts where the statement would not be true. Example: Could one ever be courageous and yet retreat in battle? Could one ever stay firm in battle and yet not be courageous? Example: Are there works of art that are symmetrical yet not beautiful? Are there works of art that are not symmetrical?

Pablo Picasso, Weeping Woman (1937)

Step Three If an exception can be found, the definition must be false or at least imprecise. Example: It is possible to be courageous and retreat. It is possible to stay firm in battle yet not be courageous. Example: It is possible for a work of art to be beautiful but not symmetrical (e.g., a Pablo Picasso painting).

Step Four The initial statement must be nuanced to take the exception into account. Example: “Acting courageously can involve both retreat and advance in battle.” Example: “A beautiful work of art can be either symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Step Five If one subsequently finds exceptions to the improved statements, the process should be repeated. The truth, insofar as a human being is able to attain such a thing, lies in a statement which it seems impossible to disprove. It is by finding out what something is not that one comes closest to understanding what it is.