Socrates biographical summary

The father of western philosophy

Socrates

A biographical summary done by Sharath Krishna

Socarates was a well known & and controversial figure. His ways of thinking and methods of questioning embarresed people by making them appear arrogant/foolish. Even though he was hated during his time he is greatly admired in the modern era due to his philosophical ways of thinking

Born in Athens , ancient Greece

QUOTES

Who was socrates?

• Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher, he was one of the greatest philosophers in western history.
• He lived during the 5th century BCE.
• He is known to be the first Greek philospher to explore questions of ethics.
• His impact on philosophy was so great that the next generation of philosophers who were inspired by him where known as "Pre- Socratics"

Socrates's reputation amongst people

• Socrates for most people in greece was a radical thinker who was corrupting the youth with his impietence.
• He was an infamous personality in Athens, partly because he was regurlarly embarressing people by questioning their ethics and ideology and making them look foolish/arrogant
• He openly was discontent with the democratic system of the government and he believed that the people were to stubborn and close minded to govern themselves, which made him even more infamous amongst the people

Socrates to his followers

• Socrates was a legendary figure in the modern era and even in his time.
• His followers admired him for his self- control, philosophical insight and his integrity.
• Many of his followers adopted his insight to how one should live his life.
• He was greatly known for his argumentative skills with which he questioned the ethics of the preists of greece

Early life of socrates

• Only a little is known about socrates's early life, since socrates did not really like talking about himself in his speeches. All that we know of Socrates is from his disciple Plato.
• We know that he was born to Sophroniscus (father) and Phaenarete (HIS MOTHER)
• He was married to Xanthippe and they had 3 children
• He served as soldier in the athenian army and fought several important battles
• He didn't desire any form of high authority/office in the Athenian government
• Infact he denied his duties as a citizen i.e he didnt accept any form of member ship in the council of 500 (the duties of an Athenian citizen also includes military service)

The virtue dialogues

• Holiness or piety was one of the Greek virtues whose close relationships were explored in the "Protagoras" (a greek philosopher was ranked no 1 sophist by Plato)
• The next virtue was justice
• The 3rd virtue is prudence (moderation and temperance)
• The 4th virtue is courage
• The 5th virtue is wisdom or knowledge
• Plato explores the difficulties of defining these concepts in Republic, Charmides, Laches and Theaetetus

Socrates's methodology when questioning ethics

• Socrates sets the scene by bringing at least one person who might be expected to possess the virtue concerned
• Socrates then finds some excuse for demanding an explanation of that virtue whereupon the interlocutor gives one or more examples which seem to illustrate the concept, thinking first and foremost of the way in which the virtue manifests itself in himself. Socrates explains that the explanation of the virtue given cannot cover all the instances of good quality concerned.
• The interlocutor then tries to give a universal definition, but in the first instance he generally casts the net too wide; at any rate the definition will fail to capture the essence of the definiendum because it misses its fundamental goodness. Often this will result in an attempt to qualify the definition,but the essence will still elude the speakers.
• Eventually a position is reached which appears to bear some resemblance to what socrates is expected to have held: a muddled Socratic position. This may be done by Socrates leading the way, as in the Euthyphro, until the virtue can be seen some kind of knowledge through the mediation of some friend of Socrates or of an opponent who perverts the Socratic position or by the interlocutor half-remembering something which Socrates is able to fill out as in the Theaetetus.
• Whatever the true Socratic position may be, the interlocutor is not able to defend this version against the assaults of Socrates himself and the dialogue (or book, in the case of Republic) ends without any satisfactory definition or explanation of the good quality being reached

Methods

What did socrates think

What does socrates himself consider a virtue to be?

• Undoubtedly the theme that virtue is knowledge was closely associated with Socrates, and we are in a sense approaching a Socratic position in the latter part of Euthyphro, Laches where the word 'knowledge' features in definitions being discussed.
• In accordance to another Socratic theme that virtues are on, no satisfactory division of knowledge can be established which will mark one virtue off from the other virtues, but it wouldbe foolish to assume that other definitions in a dialogue and other features quite apart from the argument, are not meant to make the listener think about significant aspects of virtue
• One should not forget that Socrates wanted to make us think out for ourselves what the virtues are after taking all the most relevant material into consideration. These works invite us to use our own minds, not to identify and hence accept the Socratic position.

Socrates's contribution for peace

Socrates is a figure without whom acadamics as a whole would have been delayed by a century or two. You may ask why, the answer is simple, Socrates's method of questioning involved asking alot of questions to an individual. By this method Socrates probed the logic of the individual and revealing its flaws. By this both the parties developed a robust understanding of the logic. This method also removes baises from the mind of any individual as it would ask them to questioned unexamined theories which is taken from their society. This method of questioning is used alot in educational institutes so that it keeps students the students engaged, by asking alot of questions students can be humbled and would be more curious to learn a certain concept. The Socratic method is used in various fields of teaching but most notably in law and medical institutes.

Trials of Socrates

• Due to the unothordox thinking of Socrates it was natural for him to recieve some form of hate from the citizens of Athens
• Socrates was held on trial on 399 BC
• He was accused of impiety and corruption of the youth in Athens
• He refused to acknowledge the gods of Athens, since he wanted the people to think for themselves and not to follow how the stars aligned themselves
• Due to his incredibly charismatic aura many of the youth of Athens agreed with his methods of thinking which involved questioning the status quo
• He was proven guilty and had 6 months time to seek exile and leave Athens

Death of Socrates

Even tho Socrates was given time to seek exile he thought it would be better if he stayed back in Athens which was equivalent to accepting death. This was his final lesson that death shouldnt be feared but should be embraced as the soul is immortal and he would just live on after being reincarnated. When he was in his deathbed all of his friends and family were mourning his decision and were convincing him to do otherwise.He was to die by drinking hemlock juice. Hemlock juice affects the respiratory system which makes a person feel nauseous and would make them feel sleepy after which they die.

Socrates on his deathbed

Legacy of Socrates

• Even after his death Socrates's continued to live in his follower's heart through his teachings
• Many of his followers were so inspired by him that they adopted his philosophy as their own
• Since Socrates didnt write much about himself they took it upon themselves to write as much of his philosophy down so that the future generations could admire his works
• Many of Socrates's followers became great philosophers but Plato was the most notable one
• It's because of Plato that we know anything about Socrates since he was the one to write down most of the Socratic dialogues.
• He helped revolutionise the way of thinking in ancient Greece, he not only increased the rate of education but increased the quality of it as well in the modern era

Legacy

FRENCH RENAISSANCE DOCTORS USED SOCRATIC METHOD TO IMPROVE THE DOSAGE PRESCRIPTION OF NEW DOCTORS

The End