Seerat Fatima
" Spiritual Theory of Socrates"
“Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains" [1]. Rousseau’s famous dictum echoes the utterance of Imam Ali (A.S), who recurrently emphasized in Nahaj ul Balagha: “God has created man free, with sound faculties and reason. He led him with His grace to the true path, but it was man who chained himself with deceitful desires and misguided ambitions” [2]. In this paper we will unravel the shrouded spiritual teachings of Socrates interweaved with Islamic ideologies. Further we will cogitate the reasons behind Socrates reluctance towards public declaration of his beliefs. The pillars of Socratic dialogue were thirst for truth, quest for justice, eagerness for sacrifice and benediction for self-exploration, …show more content…
This became apparent on Socrates when he went to famous poets and posed conundrums related to their poetry. To his surprise common people could elaborate poetry in more depth than the poet himself. Socrates intended to elevate the power of self realization through self examination."I believe that to speak everyday about virtue and other things related to self examining with others and myself, are for the greater good for man and that the unexamined life is not worthy of living [6].” In Islamic terminology, one aspect of human soul is called "Lawwamah" (self-reproaching spirit). Reinforcing the parallel idea Imam Hussein (A.S) said:" An indication of a scholar is his rumination of his sayings and his acquaintance with the assorted hypotheses [7]." Self-examination here is intended to mean that by examining one's being, potential powers and integral drives, one should understand the true objective, the ultimate (point of) perfection, and the path leading to prosperity and progress. It does not purport that man should wink at his existential bonds with others and refute facilities provided in the path of social life and cooperation. As a result, the positive overtones of these interpretations are directed at the growth individually and …show more content…
Contrary to the abrupt and blunt recognitions of Socrates, it was a challenge for him to unveil his true beliefs publicly. To some extent the reason lies on possible punishments he had to face, but the major cause of his social dilemma was seizure of preaching practices. Providing retribution of sacrifice, Socrates death provided evidence that the mindsets, which he elongated to transform, were still enslaved by the deceitful desires. Conclusively, it is quite apparent that Socrates philosophy builds on two specific concepts, universality and inner dimensions of spirit, which are also the fundamental principles of Islamic ideology. Moreover, the goal that Socrates had in mind was beyond public illustration as it densely soaked the ignorance of people. He wanted to work on soul of the people without standing against the
" Spiritual Theory of Socrates"
“Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains" [1]. Rousseau’s famous dictum echoes the utterance of Imam Ali (A.S), who recurrently emphasized in Nahaj ul Balagha: “God has created man free, with sound faculties and reason. He led him with His grace to the true path, but it was man who chained himself with deceitful desires and misguided ambitions” [2]. In this paper we will unravel the shrouded spiritual teachings of Socrates interweaved with Islamic ideologies. Further we will cogitate the reasons behind Socrates reluctance towards public declaration of his beliefs. The pillars of Socratic dialogue were thirst for truth, quest for justice, eagerness for sacrifice and benediction for self-exploration, …show more content…
This became apparent on Socrates when he went to famous poets and posed conundrums related to their poetry. To his surprise common people could elaborate poetry in more depth than the poet himself. Socrates intended to elevate the power of self realization through self examination."I believe that to speak everyday about virtue and other things related to self examining with others and myself, are for the greater good for man and that the unexamined life is not worthy of living [6].” In Islamic terminology, one aspect of human soul is called "Lawwamah" (self-reproaching spirit). Reinforcing the parallel idea Imam Hussein (A.S) said:" An indication of a scholar is his rumination of his sayings and his acquaintance with the assorted hypotheses [7]." Self-examination here is intended to mean that by examining one's being, potential powers and integral drives, one should understand the true objective, the ultimate (point of) perfection, and the path leading to prosperity and progress. It does not purport that man should wink at his existential bonds with others and refute facilities provided in the path of social life and cooperation. As a result, the positive overtones of these interpretations are directed at the growth individually and …show more content…
Contrary to the abrupt and blunt recognitions of Socrates, it was a challenge for him to unveil his true beliefs publicly. To some extent the reason lies on possible punishments he had to face, but the major cause of his social dilemma was seizure of preaching practices. Providing retribution of sacrifice, Socrates death provided evidence that the mindsets, which he elongated to transform, were still enslaved by the deceitful desires. Conclusively, it is quite apparent that Socrates philosophy builds on two specific concepts, universality and inner dimensions of spirit, which are also the fundamental principles of Islamic ideology. Moreover, the goal that Socrates had in mind was beyond public illustration as it densely soaked the ignorance of people. He wanted to work on soul of the people without standing against the