Socrates employs many different strategies to expose the contradictory nature of our beliefs. One of his simplest and most important methods is often overlooked. In the dialogues of both Plato and Xenophon, he uses a version of what modern cognitive therapists call the “double standards” strategy. This entails drawing your attention to the fact that you are applying a different standard to someone else than to yourself—whether to their character, beliefs, or actions.
