Donald Robertson

He says, what about the Spartans? They fight in phalanx formation, but they also sometimes charge into the enemy like cavalry do. But they're renowned for their courage. So you wouldn't say that they lack courage. You'd have to tweak your definition a little bit. So he starts this conversation going, usually by creative thinking.

and being able to come thinking outside the box and coming up with so he you know again like he's not following a formula here as much as using a skill like he's thinking right and he's coming up he's brainstorming examples what about this what about this what about this right it's like he's saying yeah but okay courage could be standing your ground but what about this what about this scenario what about in civilian life you'd have to define it differently

and being able to come thinking outside the box and coming up with so he you know again like he's not following a formula here as much as using a skill like he's thinking right and he's coming up he's brainstorming examples what about this what about this what about this right it's like he's saying yeah but okay courage could be standing your ground but what about this what about this scenario what about in civilian life you'd have to define it differently

and being able to come thinking outside the box and coming up with so he you know again like he's not following a formula here as much as using a skill like he's thinking right and he's coming up he's brainstorming examples what about this what about this what about this right it's like he's saying yeah but okay courage could be standing your ground but what about this what about this scenario what about in civilian life you'd have to define it differently

And so he constantly challenges the interlocutor, the person he's speaking about, to revise their definition and think about it at a deeper and deeper level. And he doesn't always arrive at a clear conclusion. Often he doesn't. His dialogues often end in aparia in Greek, which is the term that we use to mean a sort of confusion or bewilderment. So people walk away. And some people hated that.

And so he constantly challenges the interlocutor, the person he's speaking about, to revise their definition and think about it at a deeper and deeper level. And he doesn't always arrive at a clear conclusion. Often he doesn't. His dialogues often end in aparia in Greek, which is the term that we use to mean a sort of confusion or bewilderment. So people walk away. And some people hated that.

And so he constantly challenges the interlocutor, the person he's speaking about, to revise their definition and think about it at a deeper and deeper level. And he doesn't always arrive at a clear conclusion. Often he doesn't. His dialogues often end in aparia in Greek, which is the term that we use to mean a sort of confusion or bewilderment. So people walk away. And some people hated that.

But other people would walk away from it thinking, I kind of feel like I know less now than I did at the beginning of the conversation, but in a good way, because maybe I was too rigid in my thinking and I was assuming that I knew things that I didn't really understand. At least now I realize that there's more to

But other people would walk away from it thinking, I kind of feel like I know less now than I did at the beginning of the conversation, but in a good way, because maybe I was too rigid in my thinking and I was assuming that I knew things that I didn't really understand. At least now I realize that there's more to

But other people would walk away from it thinking, I kind of feel like I know less now than I did at the beginning of the conversation, but in a good way, because maybe I was too rigid in my thinking and I was assuming that I knew things that I didn't really understand. At least now I realize that there's more to

justice than helping your friends and harming your enemies or there's more to courage than just standing your ground and remaining the phalanx formation and maybe i've kind of spiraled closer and closer to the center of the meaning of these concepts so in the process of doing that he'd often point out contradictions in people's thinking um he said that what you're saying now is seems to clash with something that you said a few minutes ago

justice than helping your friends and harming your enemies or there's more to courage than just standing your ground and remaining the phalanx formation and maybe i've kind of spiraled closer and closer to the center of the meaning of these concepts so in the process of doing that he'd often point out contradictions in people's thinking um he said that what you're saying now is seems to clash with something that you said a few minutes ago

justice than helping your friends and harming your enemies or there's more to courage than just standing your ground and remaining the phalanx formation and maybe i've kind of spiraled closer and closer to the center of the meaning of these concepts so in the process of doing that he'd often point out contradictions in people's thinking um he said that what you're saying now is seems to clash with something that you said a few minutes ago

So he was very sharp at noticing this. And, you know, I think one of the ways that that can help us today actually is there's a particular type of contradiction that Socrates would sometimes point out, a moral contradiction. I'll give you another example where he's talking to a teenage boy, an adolescent boy. There's a guy called Cretobolus that comes to him.

So he was very sharp at noticing this. And, you know, I think one of the ways that that can help us today actually is there's a particular type of contradiction that Socrates would sometimes point out, a moral contradiction. I'll give you another example where he's talking to a teenage boy, an adolescent boy. There's a guy called Cretobolus that comes to him.

So he was very sharp at noticing this. And, you know, I think one of the ways that that can help us today actually is there's a particular type of contradiction that Socrates would sometimes point out, a moral contradiction. I'll give you another example where he's talking to a teenage boy, an adolescent boy. There's a guy called Cretobolus that comes to him.

who's the son of one of his best friends, Crito. And Cretopolis says, Socrates, could you introduce me to some people that would be really good friends to have in Athenian society? He's asking him for help networking, weirdly, right? And Socrates says, sure. Like, how would you define a good friend? And Cretopolis says, well, they'd come and visit you when you're sick.

who's the son of one of his best friends, Crito. And Cretopolis says, Socrates, could you introduce me to some people that would be really good friends to have in Athenian society? He's asking him for help networking, weirdly, right? And Socrates says, sure. Like, how would you define a good friend? And Cretopolis says, well, they'd come and visit you when you're sick.

who's the son of one of his best friends, Crito. And Cretopolis says, Socrates, could you introduce me to some people that would be really good friends to have in Athenian society? He's asking him for help networking, weirdly, right? And Socrates says, sure. Like, how would you define a good friend? And Cretopolis says, well, they'd come and visit you when you're sick.

Maybe they'd lend you money if you're broke. Maybe if you were being a bit out of order, they'd take you to one side and gently kind of explain to you that you should change your behavior and stuff like that. So quite easily, he's able to kind of define what a good friend is. But then Socrates says, well, how many of these qualities do you exhibit yourself?