Abstract

Abstract:

The paper takes another look at the questioning methods employed by philosophers, theoreticians, and educators alike, proposing that the questioning method overlooks the fact that the will to question is framed by the author's own interests, ambitions, and desires; therefore, being the subject and author of one's own self-reflective discourse (insofar as one can be said to mirror one's own authorial intentions), the answers or lack of answers that questions lead to can only be said to have been determined by the questions themselves. Because of this, questioning as an epistemological method aimed at obtaining knowledge ought to be itself put into question. Meanwhile, having acknowledged that the goal of obtaining self-knowledge, rather than knowledge in general, is what is most needed to justify the questioning method, the paper takes a closer look at how the questioning method is used as a tool to obtain self-knowledge, beginning with Socrates, and culminating in Sigmund Freud. In these cases, the questioning method would satisfy the criteria for questioning as a means of obtaining self-knowledge.

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