For Teachers of Students Who Don’t Ask Questions

Socratic Logic by Peter KreeftWhile reading Peter Kreeft’s book, Socratic Logic, I came across this anecdote that all teachers will appreciate:

There is a story that Aristotle, after one of his lectures, was disappointed that his students had no questions afterwards, so he said, “My lecture was about levels of intelligence in the universe, and I distinguished three such levels: gods, men, and brutes.  Men are distinguished from both gods and brutes by questioning, for the gods know too much to ask questions and the brutes know too little.  So if you have no questions, shall I congratulate you for having risen to the level of the god, or insult you for having sunk to the level of brutes?”

Deacon Nick

Nick Senger is a husband, a father of four, a Roman Catholic deacon and a Catholic school principal. He taught junior high literature and writing for over 25 years, and has been a Catholic school educator since 1990. In 2001 he was named a Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the National Catholic Education Association.

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