According to one founding myth, philosophy begins with a grumpy old man named Socrates being put to death for pestering his fellow citizens about the nature of justice, courage, and other such virtues. This is hardly an auspicious way to start a new academic discipline. But Socrates' attempt to engage Athenians in dialogue exemplifies both the nature of human inquiry and the public role philosophy ought to play today.
The critical exchanges Socrates initiated with his peers were designed to lead everyone to a deeper understanding of the world around them. In fact, the Socratic method of asking hard questions to encourage reflection, draw out the unwarranted assumptions of an accepted view, and then posit something new characterises the movement of our intellectual history from Plato to Steven Pinker.
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