Nicias’response is telling for several reasons. First, he seems unaware of what Socrates’
examination of him reveals. Besides revealing that Nicias lacks virtue, the examination reveals that
the education he receives at the hands of the sophists provides only one-third of knowledge.
Unmoved by these revelations, Nicias continues to seek out the“knowledge”of the sophists.
Second, in returning to the sophists for continued instruction, Nicias continues to demonstrate a
lack of courage. He will take the knowledge given to him by Damon and pass this knowledge on to
Laches. He remains unwilling to start with his own opinion. While Laches remains in disharmony,
at least he is courageous enough to undergo theelenticquestioning of Socrates. Nicias’cowardice
and his dependence on others renders him unfit to lead Athens and suggests an explanation for why
the dialog is named after Laches and not his better-known interlocutor.
Plato’sLachesin the Classroom
The previous section demonstrates how reading theLachesthrough the lens of the Socratic method
both illuminates the nature and purpose of the Socratic method and facilitates a deeper under-
standing of the dialog itself. In particular, the argument and analysis show howelenticquestioning
is used to assist interlocutors in identifying the proper object of inquiry (virtue) and how it reveals
one’s lack of understanding. Throughout, the analysis highlights how Socrates employs certain
literary devices characteristic of the dialog format to deepen one’s understanding of the dialog and
its subject matter. The purpose of this section is to show how the use of discussion boards (DBs) on
mediums like Blackboard provides students with a clearer understanding of the procedures and
rules of the Socratic method that can be applied to arriving at a better understanding of theLaches
and any other text.
Discussion Boards
In my political theory courses students are provided with a set of discussion questions for every
reading. Inspection of the discussion questions developed for theLachesshows that the text has
been broken down into distinct parts with each part constituting the focus for a specific number of
class sessions (see Appendix A). I am able to divide students into four groups of five as my theory
courses are capped at 20 students. Part of the course requirements are for students to participate in
DBs for each section of the text. In addition to their own post which answers a particular discussion
question, each student must comment on two other posts. The comments should raise interpretive
concerns and/or agreements in addition to identifying questions raised by the initial post.
Using the DBs does three things. First, they allow me to address relatively straightforward
questions and issues by posting on the DB myself. I do so with an eye to clarification so that the
discussion can progress. When this is not possible, second, I can identify specific passages and
concepts with which the students are struggling, and begin the next class period by addressing
these. Finally, the DBs are used to identify questions raised by the students that allow the class to
pursue the larger issues and concerns raised by the text itself. It is ultimately these questions that
serve as the foundation of class discussion. When successful, the DBs facilitate the translation of the
dialog into real conversation where 20 students and an instructor become 21 interlocutors engaged
in a common intellectual enterprise.
Some examples of this from my fall 2016 Western Political Thought course attest to the value of
using DBs. The fifth question, for example, led to an extended conversation about what dis-
tinguishes politics from philosophy. We not only addressed the question of what differentiates a
political from a philosophic understanding of courage, but spent class time discussing the
requirements of justice as well. Thus, our face-to-face interaction allowed us to consider questions
not addressed by Socrates and his interlocutors: the relationship between courage and the whole of
virtue as well as the relationship between the particular virtues.
104 Jordon B. Barkalow