Socrates was an ancient Greek thinker whose work proves a major turning point in Western Philosophy. He invented a method of teaching by asking questions, which was called the Socratic method. This method searched for definitions and turned Philosophy from the study of how things are to a consideration of the health of the human soul. Much of this work was brought out by his student, Plato.
Socrates was born in Athens, Greece and lived there all his life. When he did leave it was to serve in the Peloponnesian War. He was married to a woman named Xanthippe and they had two sons. In 399 BC, at about the age of 70, he was accused of impiety and of corrupting the youth of the city by questioning tradition. He was sentenced to death by drinking poison. Many of the details of his life are recorded in Plato's dialogues.
Socrates would challenge anyone with a pretense to knowledge. His friends and followers said his contributions were in the field of moral and logic but the exemplify a philosophical personality. Socrates philosophized by joining in a discussion with another person who thought he knew what justice or courage was. Under this questioning it became clear that neither of them knew. They would then
Our knowledge of the studies of Socrates are limited because he refused to keep his ideas in a system that could be understood by his interpreters. There are many indications that the term "Philosophy" gained new meaning through him. His version of expert skill was concerned mainly with the ethics of human conduct. He opposed to the contemporary lifestyle of successful living by basing it on a new concept of the psyche, this making it the most outstanding factor in human conduct. Socrates began the term "know thyself" and suggested that introspection showed how man achieves his real personality. The most efficient realization of mans being is when the psyche is in control is in control of the physical and the intellectual while the moral psyche is in control of the rest of it. Happiness then depends not on external of physical terms but on knowingly acting rightly.
cooperate on a new idea where Socrates would make interrogatory suggestions that were either accepted or rejected by his friend. Finding a solution always failed, but they would continue to search for one whenever possible.
Socrates was a man of practical aims who claimed Physics and theoretical Mathematics as useless. He was seeking a way in which his being and right action could be guaranteed. His own character suggested the importance of self-control. Only a man in control of himself is in control of his actions. The self-discipline of moral reason frees a man of being trapped in temptation so that he can do as he wishes, which is, pursue true happiness. Only rationally controlled action is not self-defeating. No one voluntarily ma
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