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P hilosophical method, ancient greek philosophy In the Platonic dialogues, Socrates' art of eliciting from others what was in their minds. In Theaetetus , Socrates said that his mother was a midwife, a job that was normally taken by women who were too old to conceive or bear children themselves. He then claimed that he himself virtually practiced the art of midwifery in philosophy. He did not produce philosophical wisdom himself, but could elicit ideas from others and test these ideas for correctness. The characteristic of his midwifery was to be concerned with the soul rather the body, and the offspring were not real children but ideas that could be checked for truth and falsehood. The description of this method fits with Socrates' practice in the earlier Platonic dialogues and has deeply influenced Western philosophy of education. Because the Greek term for midwifery is maieutikos , this method is also called the maieutic method. “Heaven constrains me to serve as a midwife, but has debarred me from giving birth.” Plato, Theaetetus ... log in or subscribe to read full text