Microfiction: Teaching through showing

Last week's PY111 class was perhaps not much loved by some of my students. It consisted in going through a mathematical proof, which was to exemplify a few things:

Firstly, I aimed to get my students through the proof the way Socrates gets the slave to understand the mathematical demonstrations in the Meno: not by saying what the next step or answer is, but by asking questions which lead to the right answer. I would, of course, never claim to have succeeded in this the way Socrates does, but what is important is Socrates's insisting that he is not teaching the slave, but merely getting him to express the opinions that are already in him. Meno agrees with him.
Secondly, the mathematical proof showed how there are some things which you cannot say or tell, but which you can only show.
Thirdly, this showing of something is done through its relation with other things. We derive the square root of 2 by it being the length of the diagonal of a square which sides equal 1. Similarly, in the Meno, Socrates defines shape by its relation to colour and as the side of a solid. Shape is not defined as standing alone, but what it is is shown by relating it to something else. Does Socrates ultimately want Meno to do the same with the idea of virtue?


My microfiction assignment of this week was:

In 10 words or fewer, express how Socrates is not teaching, or how he is.

OR

In 10 words or fewer, express how something can be shown but not told.

When my students put their minds to these two ideas, they came up with the following microfiction. I have not split them up, as it seems to me it is not always clear which of the two options has been chosen:

"Enticing knowledge that is already in the mind."

"Something shown not told, Socrates' idea of recollection vs teaching."

"Showing relies on the physical world; telling requires the mind."

"The shape can be shown but can't be described in detail."

"Uncertainty of questions brings clarity."

"You can question and that encourages the boy to learn."

"Leads the boy to his own opinion, he doesn't teach."

"Socrates teaches by enlightening us to a new way of thinking." (11 words)

"Guiding through the pit of perplexity is teaching." (including a graph which shows the move from being assured, through confusion, to understanding)

The following two are somewhat special. The first one was scratched out without another one provided:

"He makes you understand what you do not know/understand."

This one goes far over the word limit of 10, while having a clear stance on whether or not Socrates is teaching:

"For an answer, there's a method. I don't know either. To get to the answer, I can either be taught the answer or the method."

Not bad, huh?

Microfiction: Perplexed about Pyrrhonism

Two weeks ago, the first-year philosophy students at the University of Essex discussed the possibility of enquiry and Pyrrhonian scepticism. It resulted in some interesting microfiction.

While scepticism tends to be defined as the idea that knowledge is impossible, Pyrrhonian scepticism would not even make that statement, as one cannot even know that. Instead, the Pyrrhonian sceptic way of life is one of suspending judgment: accepting the appearances of life as they appear to us without making any judgment about their being real or unreal. This, Sextus Empiricus tells us, will ultimately lead to tranquillity.

Socrates shares with this scepticism the idea that we should not just take things to be true or real. The way things appear to us will perplex us. But for Socrates, this is the path to knowledge. We have to be perplexed before we can really think about things, because thinking that we already know things when we actually do not will definitely not help us any further.

This week's microfiction assignment was as follows:

In 10 words or fewer, write down what Socrates thinks of perplexity.

OR

In 10 words or fewer, write down the sceptic way of life.

And this is what my students came up with:

"Perplexity is good as it gives us the desire to seek." (11 words)

"Perplexity is the tool that drives us to seek knowledge."

"Socrates believes perplexity is good, it encourages us to seek."

"Perplexity motivates us to seek for the truth by doubting."

"Deny everything, attain tranquility."

"A skeptic lives to question how we see the world."

"Sceptic way of life equation: suspended jugdement, continued inquiry = tranquility."

"I'm suspending my judgement on whether this microfiction is real."

"Real or unreal? Both; neither; let's go get an ice cream!"

Do you think these are good descriptions of Socrates's view on perplexity and of the Pyrrhonian sceptic way of life?

Microfiction: Harming Euthyphro's dilemma

With some delay, I would like to present the microfiction that my students wrote for their third week of reading Plato's Meno. That week actually saw a pause on the Meno and instead involved a discussion of Plato's Euthyphro.

Euthyphro is a short and interesting dialogue exemplary for Socrates's typical 'what is'-questions. In this case, the question is on the definition of piety. Though different in content, there is therefore a formal likeness with what was discussed the week before.

The dialogue is also famous for what is know as 'Euthyphro's dilemma'. A short version of it goes like this: 'Are things good because God loves them or does God love them because they are good?' We discussed how this is the question of the independence of the value of goodness. Are certain acts good because God as an authority has decided that they are good, or are certain acts good because they are good, a value to which God is also answerable?

A third issue with this dialogue we discussed is the ending: Euthyphro leaves, but seems almost to flee. He suddenly says that he has somewhere else to be and cannot continue discussing the topic of piety with Socrates. We wondered why he does this. Socrates has, up until that point, shot down any attempt of Euthyphro at a definition of piety. He is now in a complete state of uncertainty and this is not a good place to be in for a self-proclaimed expert on the matter. Was Euthyphro harmed by his encounter with Socrates? Opinions on this question varied: while some thought that he was harmed, because he lost confidence in himself and his knowledge, others said that it is not a bad thing to bruise one's ego once in a while.


My assignment for this week's microfiction was:

In 10 words or fewer, write down Euthyphro's dilemma.

OR

In 10 words or fewer, write down how Euthyprho is harmed, or how he is not.

The result:

"God wills because good, good because God wills; Euthyphro's Dilemma."

"Something is right because it is right or agreed on."

"Is goodness intrinsically valuable or goodness is from an authority."

"Intrinsic values, normative values. I don't think it matters."

"Is everything good because God wills it, is good independent?"

"Is something good because God wills it or vice versa?"

"Something's right because people say it's right. No dilemma here."

"Do the gods decide what's pious? Or favour what's pious?"

"Goodness from God, or goodness from good."

"Are actions good because God wills it good or good independently?"

"Euthyphro's sense of moral correctness is shown to be problematic."

"Questioning about himself on his views."

"Socrates exposes the inconsistency in Euthyphro's belief."

"Questions his loyalty to Gods, bringing his father to justice?"

"Self-destruction means self-reconstruction."

"Egocentric, self-proclaimed God expert. Fails to give true definition."



I must say that there are some gems there.