"PHILOSOPHICALLY SPEAKING...":

Too often discussions seem like a contest to persuade, with people not so much listening to each other as simply waiting until they can speak again. This article from the Boston Review uses Socrates as an example of someone engaging in a kind of discussion: not trying to persuade others of anything, simply getting them to think more rigorously about what they believe and the implications of what they believe.

"Philosophers aren’t the only ones who love wisdom. Everyone, philosopher or not, loves her own wisdom: the wisdom she has or takes herself to have. What distinguishes the philosopher is loving the wisdom she doesn’t have. Philosophy is, therefore, a form of humility: being aware that you lack what is of supreme importance. ... Over and over again, Socrates approaches people who are remarkable for their lack of humility—which is to say, for the fact that they feel confident in their own knowledge of what is just, or pious, or brave, or moderate. ... Socrates seemed to think that the people around him could help him acquire the knowledge he so desperately wanted—even though they were handicapped by the illusion that they already knew it. Indeed, I believe that their ill-grounded confidence was precisely what drew Socrates to them. If you think you know something, you will be ready to speak on the topic in question. You will hold forth, spout theories, make claims—and all this, under Socrates’s relentless questioning, is the way to actually acquire the knowledge you had deluded yourself into thinking you already had." 
bostonreview.net/philosophy-religion/agnes-callard-against-persuasion