Socratic principle
From Conservapedia
The so called Socratic principle can be expressed as imperative "follow the argument wherever it leads". It is an expression extracted from the Republic, the classic work by Plato, the disciple of Socrates.[note 1]
The late world famous philosopher Antony Flew proclaimed that his departure from atheism was caused by consequent adherence to this principle.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Socrates didn't leave any writings, but Plato, his disciple, wrote a great deal about him, though these accounts may reflect as much Plato's thought as Socrates'.[1]
References
- ↑ Norman L. Geisler and Ronald M. Brooks (1990). "6. Questions about Jesus Christ", When Skeptics Ask. Victor Books, Baker Books. ISBN 978-0-8010-7164-5.
- ↑ Antony Flew (2008). There is a God, How the world's most notorious atheist changed his mind. HarperOne, 22, 42, 75, 89. ISBN 978-0-06-133530-3. “he was obeying the the command that the Plato in the Republic attributes to Socrates: "We must follow the argument wherever it leads." ...This Socratic principle also formed the inspiration of Socratic Club, a group that was really at the center of what intellectual life there was in wartime Oxford. ...C.S. Lewis's Socratic Club was open for business during the heyday of the new philosophy, and the Socratic principle I saw exemplified there...This statement represents a major change of course for me, but it was nevertheless consistent with principle I have embraced since the beginning of my philosophical life - of following the argument no matter where it leads...When I finally came to recognize the existence of a God, it was not a paradigm shift, because my paradigm remains, as Plato in his Republic scripted his Socrates to insist: "We must follow the argument wherever it leads."”
