Euthyphro

Socrates’s method of philosophical inquiry consisted of asking questions to draw out the truth that he believed lay hidden within the human soul. We see this throughout “Euthyphro”—for example toward the beginning of the dialogue, when he asks Euthyphro: “So for heaven’s sake tell me now what you were just then affirming you knew: what do you say piety and impiety are, be it in homicide or in other matters?”

From there he progressively leads Euthyphro along the path to developing more clear and distinct ideas about the nature of holiness. Socrates’s method is not so much to impress his own ideas on the other person as to draw out that person’s own unconscious ideas. He does this by asking questions or making statements that compel the other person think and analyze his own assumptions.

Skimming “Euthyphro,” we notice that the majority of Socrates’s speeches end with a question, and many of those that don’t include some expression like “explain” or “tell me.” Other times, his speeches aim at clarifying what the other person thinks: “I understand: you think I’m a slower learner than the jurymen, because you’ll obviously give them a demonstration that it was unjust and that all the gods disapprove of such things.