ABSTRACT
Philosophers’ conceptions of the Socratic Method are many and various; they can be seen on a spectrum from a minimalist conception that takes only the most basic elements from Socrates to others that emulate his teaching much more precisely. The warning of the danger of teaching philosophy is equally old and well known. It would, therefore, seem an easy case to make that philosophy has a long and glorious history of doing the scholarship of teaching and learning. An unstated assumption about the central goal of the Socratic Method seems to run through the descriptions of the Method in these articles. Thinking of our teaching in these traditional Socratic terms can hide better uses of the Socratic Method. Thinking within the traditional model, the faculty member ignores the role that students can play for each other.
