Definition and Examples of Elenchus in Rhetoric

In a dialogue,  elenchus is  the Socratic method of questioning someone to test the cogency, consistency, and credibility of what he or she has said. Plural: elenchi. Adjective: elentic. Also known as the Socratic elenchus, Socratic method,  or elenctic method. The aim of the elenchus, says Richard Robinson, is to wake men out of their dogmatic slumbers into genuine intellectual curiosity (Platos Earlier Dialectic, 1966).For an example of  Socrates use of elenchus, see the excerpt from Gorgias (a  dialogue  written by  Plato  around 380 BC) at the entry for Socratic Dialogue. See Examples and Observations below. Also, see: DialecticSocratic DialogueAporiaArgument  and ArgumentationDiaphoresisDissoi LogoiProofRefutation EtymologyFrom the Greek, to refute, examine critically Examples and Observations Socrates famous method of refutation--the elenchus--tended to induce the experience of emptiness in others: an interlocutor would begin thinking he knew what justice or courage or piety is, and in the course of the conversation would be reduced to confusion and self-contradiction. For his own part, Socrates was the ancient Hellenic version of the Cheshire cat, fading away into his own smile. . . . In short, Socrates had an uncanny gift for bringing others to the brink of anxiety.(Jonathan Lear, The Examined Life. The New York Times, October 25, 1998)A Model of the ElenchusThe elenchus is often used in describing the Socratic dialectical method. This model in its simplest form can be sketched as follows: Socrates lets one of his interlocutors pose a definition of x, after which Socrates will interrogate the interlocutor up to the point where the latter has to admit this definition was, indeed, wrong and that he does not know what x is. This model of the elenchus can indeed be found in some dialogues--I think especially in the early dialogues.(Gerard Kuperus, Traveling With Socrates: Dialectic in the Phaedo and Protagoras. Philosophy in Dialogue: Platos Many Devices, ed. by Gary Alan Scott. Northwestern University Press, 2007)Multiple MeaningsVarious terms are used in [Platos] dialogues in connection with Socrates manner of inquiring and interrogating, but none of them is used consistently by Plato in any precise or technical way that would legitimize it as Platos label for the philosophers approach. . . .Still, in the last 30 or 40 years, it has become rather standard for commentators to use the term Socratic elenchus as a label for Socrates way of philosophizing in the dialogues. . . .It is fundamentally unclear whether the elenchus is supposed to refer to a process (in which case it could mean to cross-examine, to put to the test, to put to the proof, or to indicate) or a result (in which case it could mean to shame, to refute, or to prove). In short, there is no general agreement about the elenchus, and therefore no consensus either about its employment in the dialogues.(Gary Alan Scott, Introduction to Does Socrates Have a Method?: Rethinking the Elenchus in Platos Dialogues. Penn State, 2004)A Negative MethodSocrates is considered one of the founding fathers of Western philosophy but, problematically for scholars, his thought is preserved only through the accounts of his students, most notably in Platos dialogues.His most significant contribution to Western thought is the Socratic method of debate or Method of Elenchus, a dialectical method of questioning, testing and ultimately improving a hypothesis. Through asking a series of questions, the method sought to show contradictions in the beliefs of those who posed them ​and systematically move towards a hypothesis-free from contradiction. As such, it is a negative method, in that it seeks to identify and demarcate that which a person does not know, rather than which he does. Soc rates applied this to the testing of moral concepts, such as justice. Plato produced 13 volumes of Socratic Dialogues, in which Socrates would question a prominent Athenian on moral and philosophical issues. So often cast as the questioner, it is hard to establish any of Socrates own philosophical beliefs. He said his wisdom was an awareness of his own ignorance, and his statement, I know that I know nothing is often quoted.(Arifa Akbar, Arrogance of Socrates Made a Compelling Case for His Death. The Independent [UK], June 8, 2009) Alternate Spellings: elenchos