Here are the few principles that allow you to participate fully and freely in Socratic dialogue and philosophical discussion.
1. Recognize reason as our framework: it guides our thoughts and our dialogue. Reason is a demanding passion, free and joyful, boundless and provocative, always in search of truth.
2. Answer the question directly but only the question, the whole question, accepting it as it is, without trying to modify it, dilute it or deflect it, insofar as it is a real question that can be answered. The question is an invitation to dialogue and a challenge offered by your interlocutor: if he asks you it, it is because he is interested in you and your way of thinking. In the same way, you will also question others, even if it is difficult.
3. Trust your interlocutor, without fear of any Machiavellian plan, because you have nothing to lose. We are together to practice critical thinking, to confront perspectives: not to trap you, convince you or dominate you.
4. Recognize common sense as our arbiter. You can go against it consciously and with reason, but avoid ignoring it by imposing the evidence of your own subjectivity.
5. Don’t fear judgments that will be made of you, or those that you will make of others, because judgment is a crucial tool of reason. Remember that judgments depend on the arguments on which they are based.
6. Accept questions that test you, even if the initial subject does not directly concern you and if it is uncomfortable. A speech is embodied in the one who carries it, and you will be challenged to account for yourself as well as for your speech. Know Thyself.
7. Don’t deny what you have said: what is said is said. You reveal yourself more by what you say than by what you want to say or what you would have liked to say. To accept our own word is to accept the finitude and the determination of our being.
8. Don’t seek your rights, to impose your opinion or to defend yourself: no one is there to attack you. Dialogue is a mutual reflection where everyone reveals themselves and develops ideas; dialogue is not a competition.
9. Don’t apologize for what you said or regret it. Everything you say has meaning and expresses your being, however tenuous or powerful, however fallible or accomplished your speech may be. The process of dialogue is simply a matter of seeing what is, understanding it and being aware of it as much as possible.
10. Put aside your sincerity in order to distance yourself from yourself and be more authentic. Avoid being attached to your opinions. Avoid putting forward your emotions as an argument. Submit your being to criticism, seeking its limits and its faults, its beauty and its nature.
Le Pacte Socratique original French version by Jérôme Lecoq found here.