The Relevance of Philosophy of Socrates to Modern Philosophy of Research

Abstract

This study determined the components of the philosophies of Socrates, explained the meaning and importance of the components and the relationships between them and analyzed the relevance of philosophies of Socrates to modern philosophies of research. The study was carried out through literature search on philosophies of Socrates. The components of Socrates philosophy are determined as: Questioning and Critical Thinking. Problems bring about Questions, Critical Thinking handles the questions to give birth to Solutions that solve the Problems or better still, that give way to expanded knowledge. Findings also include the importance of questioning as it helps in rethinking and challenging existing theories, helps in building confidence in areas of study, gives motivation to learn more on our areas of research i.e. broadens the mind, also enhances creativity in that it allows thinking from different angles to arrive at something novel, helps with the zeal to know more especially in the area of study and encourages positive change. More findings include the benefits of critical thinking as it encourages inquisitiveness, brings about creativity, promotes problem solving ability, a multi-faceted practice, and a skill for life. It is recommended that questioning and critical thinking be put to practice in research philosophy as contained in the Onion model research methodology propounded by Saunders et al (2019).