Socrates always began by asking questions . . . and adopted a posture of humility, leading others to rational truth.

Can liberal and conservative family members discuss politics over Thanksgiving without losing their temper? Yes, but only if everyone acts as if they belong to the Logos Party.

In January 2019, while sitting at home furloughed for a month during the longest government shutdown in US history, I asked myself a question: How can liberals, conservatives and independents get along and work together? My answer was to create a satirical political party called the Logos Party (logos is the Greek word for reason and the origin of the English word “logic”).

Unlike most political parties, which are built around ideological platforms of left and right, the Logos Party emphasizes not what we think, but how we think. For the Logos Party, in other words, the political foundation is reason itself.

Most Americans like to pride themselves on being men and women of reason, but many people define reason this way: “If you think the way I do, you are a person of reason. If you think differently, you are irrational.”

But that is the opposite of how a person of reason thinks. That is the way of unreason and senseless rancor. Reason is less about our beliefs and more about the method of how we form our ­beliefs.

From the halls of Congress to Thanksgiving tables across America, this misconception about reason is one of the main causes why our political discussions are loud and angry but don’t solve problems — why they generate heat but shed little light.

The Logos Party defines reason as “the mind’s ability to break down barriers between ignorance and truth.” The enemy of that is “the mind’s ability to build barriers to protect our opinion of the truth.”

To break down those barriers, a person of reason begins with a healthy measure of doubt about his own certainties. It’s why that greatest of Greek thinkers, Plato’s Socrates, always began by asking questions of his interlocutors. ­Socrates knew a great deal more than any of them, yet he adopted a posture of humility and led others to rational truth, step by step, each question and logical syllogism building on the last.

A person of reason is willing to admit he could be wrong. He challenges his own views. He welcomes others challenging his beliefs, and he sees his worldview as a work that is always in progress. He has strong convictions — not least that the true and the good are knowable by reason — but his mind is open to being changed.

In light of that understanding of reason, I developed the 10 Rules of Reason, which serve as the foundation of the Logos Party. On that foundation, the party builds no specific platform but is instead open to all political leanings in order to foster a culture of intellectual diversity where everybody checks dogma at the door.

The most important rule: We don’t see others as enemies ­because they have different opinions. Instead, we see them as ­allies, because as Thomas Jefferson wrote, “differences of opinion lead to inquiry, and inquiry to truth.”

I went live with the Logos Party website on July 4, 2019. Then I did a few radio interviews. In the spirit of unreason, one radio host threatened to contact the White House if I continued promoting my fake political party.

I think the host may have made good on that threat, because I was indeed fired three days later, on July 26, from my position as a speechwriter for the Millennium Challenge Corp., an extraordinary government organization that specializes in foreign development for the best-governed poor countries.

I had a feeling I would eventually get fired, but I was surprised by how quickly it happened.

I’ve taken it all in good stride, though. Socrates, after all, dreamt of philosopher-kings but ended up downing the hemlock. I’m no ­Socrates — and my fate is nowhere near as bad!

But American families can put the spirit of Greek reason to good use this Thanksgiving. Before talking politics, and before arguing for any position, ­every family member should adopt intellectual humility and a willingness to be persuaded by reason. Maybe this way we can all set an example for those in the halls of power to follow.

Dustin Lawson is an author, government speechwriter and former public affairs officer in the US military. Twitter: @LogosParty