Socrates

Socrates sought truth and pure wisdom. He detested bodily ornaments and societal success and was not concerned with material things. He shared the wisdom that he had acquired by trusting only his soul. He defended the idea of only being able to access the purest form of wisdom after death, yet lived his life in a constant search for it. Socrates believed that things such as truth and wisdom could only be obtained with the soul, and therefore reasoned that while they were alive they must be in a…

“Let him that would move the world first move himself,” said Socrates. This is just one of the new and radical ideologies that Socrates attempted to show the city of Athens in his teaching. Over the course of this month, our class has been discussing those teachings and how profound and deep they really were. Socrates demonstrated that he was the wisest man mainly by exposing flaws in democracy, using Socratic questioning, and finding inconsistencies with opinion and morality. According to…

Aristotle and Socrates? Anything? No, well just read this essay and you will find out a lot of different facts! Just like how Socrates was Plato's teacher and Plato was Aristotle's teacher and them when Plato died Aristotle opened his own Academy. Anyways read along and find out even more facts about these ancient philosophers and their families. Have fun! Socrates was born in 399 BCE and died in 470 BCE. Died at age 70. His parents were Sophroniscus and Phaenarete, and Xanthippe his wife.…

In Plato's Republic, Socrates claims that “the form of the good” has greater significance than the Forms of the other virtues (505a). He dismisses the two most common definitions – that the good itself is either pleasure or knowledge – as inadequate (505b-c). The Good, whatever it might be, is something which “every soul pursues” and fails to comprehend, resulting in an obscuration of the other lesser Forms (505e). Glaucon asks Socrates for an explanation of the Good similar to that given of…

Phaedo describes the moments before Socrates’ death to Echecrates; telling him about Socrates’ thoughts on the immortality of the personal soul. Phaedo ends by Socrates drinking poison and saying his final words to his dear friend Crito. Socrates teaches much about the nature of the personal soul, virtue, learning, and knowledge, however the Phaedo suggests these doctrines are intending to not be Socrates’ legacy. These suggestions are Socrates’ words to Cebes, his advice to his friends, and his…

Socrates applies a rhetoric called elenchus that counters the popular Sophist rhetoric of the time. Elenchus introduces a method of debate based on utilizing questions and answers that inspire analytical thinking and tests the credibility of the opponent’s prior dialogue. In short, Socrates continuously “investigate[s] the question” (Line 348a). Socrates himself never explicitly states his opinion, but simply restates the declarations of the three interlocutors: Cephalus, Polymarchus, and…

Socrates came to be the icon of philosophy due to his unique way of teaching which was the Socratic Method which involved questioning ideas and beliefs and then questioning the responses that was received. As a young man Socrates served in the military and fought in three wars. Thereafter Socrates spent the rest of his life preaching and discussing his fundamental ideas with all sorts of people including artists, poets, educators and politicians. REPHRASE THIS SENTENCE: Socrates had dialogues…

philosophical views and political matters. In particular, Plato’s portrayal of Socrates in Defence of Socrates and Crito presents a contradiction in his reasoning with regard to civil disobedience. Socrates remains firm in Defence of Socrates that he would continue to practice philosophy despite the court’s judgement, whereas his stance in Crito emphasizes the importance of obeying the laws of the city no matter what. While Socrates changes his perspective on civil disobedience between the two…

In the recent discussions about Socrates in The Apology, a controversial issue has been whether Socrates should be considered Man Thinking, as termed by Emerson. On one hand, some argue that because Socrates was unable to use his ideas to act and become powerful in his time, he cannot be considered Man Thinking. From this perspective, Socrates is not Man Thinking because he only thought but did not act upon his ideas, being more like the scholar than Man Thinking. On the other hand, however,…

Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J. 10/4/17 In Plato’s Meno dialogue, Meno starts off by asking Socrates what virtue is and whether or not it can be taught. However, Socrates ask Meno if he knows t the definition of virtue, and mentions that virtue cannot be taught if you do not know what virtue really is. Throughout the dialogue, Socrates and Meno mention that virtue is attained in a person. They come up with three possible reasons that virtue can be achieved within…