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From the Ted Talk by Erick Wilberding: This tool will help improve your critical thinking

Unscramble the Blue Letters

While he loathed formal lectures, the philosopher frequently engeagd friends and strangers in lengthy caonnvtsoeirs about morality and soceity. These discussions weren’t debates, nor would Socrates oeffr explicit advice. In fact, the plheospihor often claimed to know nothing at all, responding to his partner's answers only with further questions. But through this pcsores, Socrates probed their logic, revealing its flaws and helping both paertis reach a more robust understanding. These insightful questions made Socrates bevoled by his followers. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, were so inspired that they reiaecptld their mentor’s process in fictional dialogues. These ienventd exchanges provide perfect examples of what would come to be known as the Socratic Method. In one of these fabricated dgulaeios, Socrates is conversing with a young man named Euthydemus, who is confident that he understands the nature of justice and injustice. soretacs probes the student’s values by asking him to label acntios such as lying and theft as just or unjust. Euthydemus confidently categorizes them as injustices, but this only prompts another question: is it just for a general to dveceie or pillage a hostile army? Euthydemus revises his assertion. He claims that these actions are just when done to enemies, and unjust when done to frdneis. But Socrates isn’t finished. He asks the young man to consider a commander lying to his troops to boost their morale. Before long, emehtudyus is despondent. It seems that every answer leads to further problems, and perhaps he’s not quite sure what csteiuontts justice after all.

Open Cloze

While he loathed formal lectures, the philosopher frequently _______ friends and strangers in lengthy _____________ about morality and _______. These discussions weren’t debates, nor would Socrates _____ explicit advice. In fact, the ___________ often claimed to know nothing at all, responding to his partner's answers only with further questions. But through this _______, Socrates probed their logic, revealing its flaws and helping both _______ reach a more robust understanding. These insightful questions made Socrates _______ by his followers. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, were so inspired that they __________ their mentor’s process in fictional dialogues. These ________ exchanges provide perfect examples of what would come to be known as the Socratic Method. In one of these fabricated _________, Socrates is conversing with a young man named Euthydemus, who is confident that he understands the nature of justice and injustice. ________ probes the student’s values by asking him to label _______ such as lying and theft as just or unjust. Euthydemus confidently categorizes them as injustices, but this only prompts another question: is it just for a general to _______ or pillage a hostile army? Euthydemus revises his assertion. He claims that these actions are just when done to enemies, and unjust when done to _______. But Socrates isn’t finished. He asks the young man to consider a commander lying to his troops to boost their morale. Before long, __________ is despondent. It seems that every answer leads to further problems, and perhaps he’s not quite sure what ___________ justice after all.

Solution

  1. engaged
  2. beloved
  3. dialogues
  4. replicated
  5. friends
  6. constitutes
  7. euthydemus
  8. offer
  9. invented
  10. deceive
  11. society
  12. process
  13. socrates
  14. philosopher
  15. parties
  16. actions
  17. conversations

Original Text

While he loathed formal lectures, the philosopher frequently engaged friends and strangers in lengthy conversations about morality and society. These discussions weren’t debates, nor would Socrates offer explicit advice. In fact, the philosopher often claimed to know nothing at all, responding to his partner's answers only with further questions. But through this process, Socrates probed their logic, revealing its flaws and helping both parties reach a more robust understanding. These insightful questions made Socrates beloved by his followers. Two of his students, Plato and Xenophon, were so inspired that they replicated their mentor’s process in fictional dialogues. These invented exchanges provide perfect examples of what would come to be known as the Socratic Method. In one of these fabricated dialogues, Socrates is conversing with a young man named Euthydemus, who is confident that he understands the nature of justice and injustice. Socrates probes the student’s values by asking him to label actions such as lying and theft as just or unjust. Euthydemus confidently categorizes them as injustices, but this only prompts another question: is it just for a general to deceive or pillage a hostile army? Euthydemus revises his assertion. He claims that these actions are just when done to enemies, and unjust when done to friends. But Socrates isn’t finished. He asks the young man to consider a commander lying to his troops to boost their morale. Before long, Euthydemus is despondent. It seems that every answer leads to further problems, and perhaps he’s not quite sure what constitutes justice after all.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
socratic method 2
young man 2

Important Words

  1. actions
  2. advice
  3. answer
  4. answers
  5. army
  6. asks
  7. assertion
  8. beloved
  9. boost
  10. categorizes
  11. claimed
  12. claims
  13. commander
  14. confident
  15. confidently
  16. constitutes
  17. conversations
  18. conversing
  19. debates
  20. deceive
  21. despondent
  22. dialogues
  23. discussions
  24. enemies
  25. engaged
  26. euthydemus
  27. examples
  28. exchanges
  29. explicit
  30. fabricated
  31. fact
  32. fictional
  33. finished
  34. flaws
  35. followers
  36. formal
  37. frequently
  38. friends
  39. general
  40. helping
  41. hostile
  42. injustice
  43. injustices
  44. insightful
  45. inspired
  46. invented
  47. justice
  48. label
  49. leads
  50. lectures
  51. lengthy
  52. loathed
  53. logic
  54. long
  55. lying
  56. man
  57. method
  58. morale
  59. morality
  60. named
  61. nature
  62. offer
  63. parties
  64. perfect
  65. philosopher
  66. pillage
  67. plato
  68. probed
  69. probes
  70. problems
  71. process
  72. prompts
  73. provide
  74. questions
  75. reach
  76. replicated
  77. responding
  78. revealing
  79. revises
  80. robust
  81. society
  82. socrates
  83. socratic
  84. strangers
  85. students
  86. theft
  87. troops
  88. understanding
  89. understands
  90. unjust
  91. values
  92. xenophon
  93. young