>>14813780>>>14813779(You)#>How do I do that ?you play devils advocate to locate and find contradictions in presuppositions in a statement or argument.
In Plato's early dialogues, the elenchus is the technique Socrates uses to investigate, for example, the nature or definition of ethical concepts such as justice or virtue. According to Vlastos,[5] it has the following steps:
Socrates' interlocutor asserts a thesis, for example "Courage is endurance of the soul".
Socrates decides whether the thesis is false and targets for refutation.
Socrates secures his interlocutor's agreement to further premises, for example "Courage is a fine thing" and "Ignorant endurance is not a fine thing".
Socrates then argues, and the interlocutor agrees, these further premises imply the contrary of the original thesis; in this case, it leads to: "courage is not endurance of the soul".
Socrates then claims he has shown his interlocutor's thesis is false and its negation is true.
One elenctic examination can lead to a new, more refined, examination of the concept being considered, in this case it invites an examination of the claim: "Courage is wise endurance of the soul". Most Socratic inquiries consist of a series of elenchi and typically end in puzzlement known as aporia.
