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Constructing Powerful Arguments: Use the Socratic Method, with Reza Aslan, Religious Scholar and Author
It’s been a few thousand years since the Socratic Method was introduced and it’s still the most powerful and impactful way to actually make an argument. And part of the Socratic Method, of course, is to be able to think ahead about what the counterarguments are going to be to your particular view, and not just to anticipate them, but to actually address them in a manner that allows your opponent to come to truths on their own. Oftentimes what you have in a debate or an argument is two static positions just bouncing off of each other. And those debates, or those arguments, that actually do come to some kind of fruition are the ones in which one side recognizes that they can actually convince the other of their own argument. That I don’t need to sit here and tell you why you are wrong. I can just simply move you through the process of recognizing why you are wrong. I’ve had this experience a lot in a number of debates, both television and live debates, where I’m debating people who couldn’t be more different than me either politically or religiously. And often in those situations, even though I know I may not change them, I’m trying to convince the audience of my point of view. And I find that sometimes the best way to do that is not necessarily to point out why my opponent is wrong, but to essentially give my opponent the wood and the nails and let my opponent crucify him or herself for me.