The Thinker's Guide to Socratic Questioning

by Richard Paul, Linda Elder

The Thinker’s Guide to the Art of Socratic Questioning introduces readers to powerful methods for questioning that pinpoint underlying beliefs and systems of logic. It brings together the principles of critical thinking with Socratic questioning.

Richard Paul and Linda Elder illuminate the practicality and accessibility of Socratic questioning for revealing and solving problems in thought. Teachers, students and professionals will find in this book essential questioning strategies for reasoning within any field of study or endeavor.

As part of the Thinker’s Guide Library, this book advances the mission of the Foundation for Critical Thinking to promote fairminded critical societies through cultivating essential intellectual abilities and virtues across every field of study across world.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Education, Logic, Psychology

101 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

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Reviews

[Feliks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not getting what I wanted out of this title; though it is slim. No undue hardship to swallow my disappointment and quickly finish it. The book is apparently the companion guide --the classroom 'teacher's reference' -- to a sister-work where the authors' ideas are presented more fully and forcefully. Still, this summary just doesn't yield much elucidation. Not a complete waste --there is some faint glimmer of intelligence to absorb (a diagram or two) but it is primarily a set of instructions detailing how to lead a Socratic dialog among (different ages of) K-12 students. Okay. This dry exercise in itself might not be so bad ...were it not for the fact that all the language is 'modern'. What real utility does this afford? More so to others perhaps, but none that I can benefit from (speaking just for myself). The 'questioning' advocated by the book is contemporary, relies on current-day circumstances. I even saw one reference to 'a computer hard drive'. Uh, what? Gag! Instead of this, I wanted ...well, insight on Socratic thought using actual examples from Socrates. Oh well. It deserved exploring, just the same. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. [Small, lingering gripe: the publisher chose an unusually small, squinty typeface, not comfortable to traverse.]

[Matthew Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Really helps you become conscious of the power of questions, and their intrinsic ability to direct the train of our thoughts. This book is excellent primer that helps to unmask the deeper nature of our thought patterns, i.e. it shows how to penetrate to the hidden core of the "why" and "how" behind our thinking, to pierce the veil of superficiality. The book is so much more than my description of it. I highly recommend it.

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect if you need a quick and dirty guide but I recommend reading about the method more in depth first.

[GC · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Any teacher concerned with the development of the student’s mind must be concerned with the role of questions in teaching and learning, for it is through our questions that we understand the world and everything in it.'


This book's primary message sharply contrasts to intuitions we might have about thinking. Written by Richard Paul, the former Director of Research and Professional Development at the Center for Critical Thinking, and Linda Elder, an educational psychologist, this book is part of their 'Thinker's Guide' series. For several years, I've considered that - in most domains - the differences in students or people, and their corresponding realities, can be traced back to their mind's dialogue (this is of course a simplification, and assumes (wrongly) that all people are on a level playing field, but for the sake of this review I will maintain it). Those interior conversations are in some ways the sum of a person - they can order one forward or compel them to retreat, they can cause one to acquiesce to the tether of anxiety, or to propel another forward by the sultry allure of accomplishment. Socrates (470-399BC), the early Greek philosopher and the most famous proponent of effective 'thinking', would likely shudder at the relationship that many of us have with it. As explained in Part 5 of the book, to his students Socrates 'attempted to foster [the] ability to formulate a disciplined line of questioning, to think within new perspectives, and viewpoints, to uncover biases and distortions.' For the schools that I attended, there was rarely ever stress put on the importance of questions, or on a systematic approach to interrogating a subject. Part of the reason is that we do not carefully detail what effective thinking looks like. This impreciseness of definition reminds me of the revelation that the animal behaviourist and autism spokesperson, Temple Grandin, had when she was a teenager. Writing in her autobiography, 'Thinking in Pictures', she recounts that she was shocked to discover that not everyone thought in pictures like she did. Unknowingly, she lived thinking everyone naturally did that! In a similar way, when we talk about effectively 'thinking', we have to more carefully dissect what we mean. Paul and Elder offer such an analysis.

In the Introduction, the authors tell us the relationship between being a critical thinker and questioning:

'It is hard to imagine someone being a good critical thinker while lacking the disposition to question in a deep way. It is also hard to imagine someone acquiring the disposition to question in a fuller way than Socrates. It follows that those truly interested in critical thinking will also be interested in the art of deep questioning. And learning the Socratic art is a natural place to start.'

This ability to question can be developed, as the authors try to convey. This can be difficult to do, and unsurprisingly, the mind itself can be the main antagonist in attempting to change its normal orientation. Is there an antidote to this familiar pattern? More specifically, is there a way to shift from being a superficial thinker to being one that is a little more rigorous? The answer is yes, but I think one must anticipate the clutter of emotional and psychological obstacles which will inevitably appear. One way to bypass these obstacles is to write down our thoughts or analyses. In this outward display, we can plainly see the caliber of our thinking.

As an example of the importance of writing things down, I'm currently reading 'Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath' by Heather Clark, and it is astounding how much critical analysis of novels, writing of short stories and deconstruction of poems that Plath does through high school and college. There is an outward record of her thinking. We can extend this to most famous writers or thinkers - they have produced on paper an unusually high degree of work. Fundamentally, reiterating what Sonke Ahrens details in 'How to Take Smart Notes', writing, as Plath does, allows us to not be deceived by presumptions of understanding, and gives us immediate feedback.

So, returning to the text: what is Socratic questioning?

'Socratic questioning is disciplined questioning that can be used to pursue thought in many directions and for many purposes, including: to explore complex ideas, to get to the truth of things, to open up issues and problems, to uncover assumptions, to analyze concepts, to distinguish what we know from what we don't know, and to follow out logical implications of thought. The key to distinguishing Socratic questioning from questioning per se is that Socratic questioning is systematic, disciplined, and deep, and usually focuses on foundational concepts, principles, theories, issues, or problems.'

It isn't a scattershot of questions; there is a discipline to it and an agreed upon set of categories based on an intellectual standard. In Part 2 of the book, Socratic Questioning Transcripts, the authors give different examples of teachers engaging in Socratic dialogue, and it is intriguing to see just how fundamental the questions can be, such as in this opening dialogue about biology:

'T: This is a course in Biology. What kind of a subject is that? What do you know about Biology already? Kathleen, what do you know about it? (Clarifying the Concept of Biology)

S: It’s a science.

T: And what’s a science? (Questioning for Clarification)

S: Me? A science is very exact. They do experiments and measure things and test things.'

As plays out in the transcripts, the questions that the teacher asks are filtered by certain categories - one can find these on Google and in this book. The list that follows is non-exhaustive, but provide the typical forms of questions which are used during Socratic questioning:

Clarifying Thinking
Challenging Assumptions
Using Evidence in Arguments
Exploring Alternative Perspectives
Considering the Consequences
Questioning the Question

A teacher can guide the classroom in such a way, becoming acquainted with the above categories and types of questions. Less restrictively, a classroom and a jungle of students is not necessary to apply Socratic questioning - one can become their own questioner. To aid this self-interrogation, it can be useful to imagine talking to another person, as this 'other person' will tend to ask you questions which do not emerge if the exercise is done as a sole participant. This mimics what a law student might do when anticipating the flaws in their argument before entering the classroom, and shares the features of the popular learning method of teaching others.

Overall, this is a short, effective book which urges us to consider that 'thinking is driven by questions'. There might be better books on Socratic questioning, but I appreciated the brevity and particularly cherished the dialogues. I look forward to continuing to apply Socratic questioning in my own thinking, and hopefully one day will stumble upon a bearded Athenian who can assess my progress!

[Scott Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible book which I plan on using with my students. The questioning methods they talk about are sound. I just do not like the way they include so many leading questions. I tend to use more questions which start with an interrogative than questions which start with a verb of being. The Socratic method is a very powerful method of teaching and should be used in more classrooms.

[Amal Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t impressed at first - I was more interested in Socrates than teaching theory. Much of the first couple chapters was extraneous. But I found the example Socratic dialogues by elementary, middle school, and high school children amusing and endearing. It was a refreshing perspective to see Socratic questioning outside an academic, highly disciplined, formalized setting, and instead in a way that’s rough around the edges.

I was also subsequently hooked by the following chapters. The authors did well to expand the limited scope I applied Socratic questioning to, from simple dialogues found in Plato’s Republic to applications of Socratic questioning to oneself, or its administration in an exam that asks only for Socratic-style questions. It made me think deeply about its practical applications in course policies as a lead TA for a college class, and I came away with concrete policies I plan to implement in future iterations that will foster such Socratic style discussions.

I also found the idea of a separation between the public and private spheres intriguing and insightful. The allure of the Socratic debate is the respect towards all parties and their beliefs. Without this, students will naturally maintain a public image in front of authority figures like parents and teachers, while keeping their true feelings and ethics to themselves, as the real motives behind their personal behaviors. This separation entrenches the student in a stubborn unwillingness to adapt and learn. The truth is, no matter how right you think you are, especially as an instructor, it is always better to foster free expression than tell students what to do. Questions, not answers, are the best tools to seek and guide others towards the truth.

[Maciej Smolinski · Rating 5 out of 5]

"It is through our questions that we understand subject matter and academic disciplines", chapter The Role of Questions in Teaching, Thinking, and Learning.

The authors of the book compiled and categorised a variety of questions, techniques and examples one can use in a Socratic dialogue. All of that in a very compact book which makes it a practical guide one can start applying from day one.

A great compendium of knowledge and wisdom related to critical thinking and the art of asking good questions we can use in everyday life or at work. The stories and historical bits from the life of Socrates included in the book are equally interesting.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent teaching tool!

[Angga Ranggana · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lecturer, this book is so helpful

[Fred Leland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Socratic questioning is a powerful tool. But how do we ask questions and what kind of question help us to illicit dialog and better understanding of the problems we face so we can collaborative solve them. This book is a simple read about a complex problem, the lack of critical questioning in an effort to solve problems.

[Dave Downey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not help to use the socratic method.