Kayley Weston

October 13, 2010

World History Period 8

Socrates

Socrates was a Greek philosopher born in Athens in 469 B.C. He was the son of Sophraniscus,

who was a stone mason and a sculptor. Socrates inconveniently never wrote anything down.

Therefore, information about him is found in the works of his students, Plato and Xenophone. Plato

was especially helpful. He speaks of Socrates in his works including the Apology, Phaedo, Crito, and

Symposium. He was frequently described as being mystic, although we aren't positive on what that

means. You are not wise until you see the ignorance in yourself. Socrates had a strong religious side

to his character and thought. He had deep respect for Athenian religious customs. Strangely as it

sounds, Socrates claimed to hear a voice, or daemon, within himself during important occasions. The

voice/daemon would tell him when he was about to go off course. It only gave negative warning and

never positive. Many people thought that Socrates was the wisest of them all. He could see ignorance

in himself. Others could not and called themselves the wisest. According to many, this is what mad

him the wisest. He could see his flaws. The thought of Socrates can be interpreted many ways. Many

believe it has to do with truth from right and wrong.

There are some people that think that Socrates didn't have any one particular belief. They

believed that he only examined. Others, however, think that he did have his own beliefs and theories.

Although this may be true, there's no way of telling for sure what those could possibly be. It's best for

everyone to individually figure that out for themselves. Since Socrates never wrote anything of his

own and we use mostly Plato's writings to find out about him, It can be difficult to judge which

thoughts and beliefs belong to Plato and which belong to Socrates. He put forth a lot of ideas. He

thought that people who see only with their eyes are not blind; the truth is just invisible. You have to
search deep to find it.

Socrates was very famous for his argumentation; a process used for argue and debate. His

ways made enemies as well as admirers all across the city of Athens. An example of his form of

argumentation is in the Apology. It goes like this: Socrates was accused by Meletus of corrupting the

youth. Socrates then questions Melutus over and over again, “Do you consider improvement of youth

important?”, “Who is capable of improving the youth? Name a person who knows the laws.”. After

Meletus answers all of those questions, Socrates asks more questions. Like an argument. “Are all

men capable of training horses, or only men with special qualifications and experience?” Melutus

realizes how ridiculus this is, and so Socrates answers for him. So then began the Socratic method of

argumentation. Argumentation begins with common questions. The other person thinks the questions

are simpler than they really are. It then ends in a complete turnabout; it leads people to an awareness

of their ignorance and they then begin to discover the truth.

Socrates started his work by studying the scientific and philosophical systems of the day.

He always said that true wisdom consists in the knowledge of the essence of things. It can be found

only by searching the soul within. His first goal was to teach people to think, and hopefully in the

process, find knowledge within themselves. He believed that in order to know the truth, you must start

by first knowing yourself. Socrates thought that the words knowledge and virtue were inseparable. You

cannot have knowledge without virtue, and virtue without knowledge. The idea of this made Socrates

an enemy of the Sophists. They chose to communicate information, while Socrates chose to stimulate

the thought process. The Sophists also demanded pay from their students. Socrates never charged

anyone for anything. The Sophists strongly suggested their information to their students. Socrates

chose to go about things a different way. He would try to draw the ideas from his students and teach

them to make false ideas right. Socrates would call the fundamental truth essence.

Socrates refused to enter into the world of politics. He believed the well being of the state
depended on its leaders. He wanted an aristocracy based on knowledge and virtue, comparing to

wealth or birth as it was usually done. Socrates wanted a peaceful community. He told everyone it's

wrong to hurt anyone. Even your enemies don't deserve such treatment. For example, Plato writes

what is known as the Socratic conception of political ideals in his work the Republic. In it Socrates

says exactly this:

“Unless it happen either that philosophers acquire the kingly power in states, or that those who

are now called kings and potentates be imbued with a sufficient measure of genuine philosophy, that is

to say, unless political power and philosophy be united in the same person … there will be no

deliverance … for cities, nor yet, I believe, for the human race”.

The idea of this quote is still very important today, even though it was written about 2,500 years

ago.

Due to Plato's works we have concluded that the thought of Socrates is believed to state that

truth in anything comes from within. He was an extremely wise and knowledgeable philosopher; he

knew what he was talking about. He also knew how to persuade people to believe the same thing that

he did. Socrates died in 399 B.C. When he was seventy years old he was charged by Meletus, Lycon,

and Anytus for corrupting the youth and charged for impiety (nonreligious). He spoke for himself and

it was obvious he was not going to give in easily, or at all. After proving the charges false, he

suggested himself to be honored as the Olympic victors were. Even so, he was found guilty and

sentenced to death. He took the hemlock poisoning and waited to die. Even though he was turned

upon at the end of his life, people still believe Socrates was wisest among the wise. He was a great

philosopher and will be remembered throughout eternity. We still use and cite his thought and his ways

today.
Biography Online. "Biography of Socrates." Biography Online | Biographies of inspirational and
famous people. http://www.biographyonline.net/spiritual/socrates.html (accessed October 13, 2010).

The Biography of Socrates, on Biography Online, is to inform readers about the life of Socrates. It
gives the reader information about his whole life story.

JRank. "Socrates Biography - life, name, story, death, history, school, young, son, information, born,
time." Encyclopedia of World Biography. http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Socrates.html
(accessed October 14, 2010).

This website article, on the websites Encyclopedia of World Biography, also gives information about
Socrates. Although it is not as informative, It explains his life all the way to his death.

Theosophy. "Socrates." WisdomWorld.org Web Site (Main Page).

http://www.wisdomworld.org/additional/ancientlandmarks/Socrates.html (accessed October 14, 2010).

This very informative biography of Socrates comes from a very old book. The book is called
Theosophy Volume 27 No. 9. It comes from pages 387 to 394. It tells a lot about the thought of
Socrates and how he taught and what he believed.