Socrates was a Greek philosopher, and a founder of the Western thought (Guthrie, 2012). He was born in Greece, Circa, in the year 470 BC to Sophroniscus, a sculptor and Athenian stone mason, and a midwife mother, Phaenarete (Guthrie, 2012). Very little is known concerning the life of Socrates except the writings captured by his students, most popular Plato and Xenophon as well as in the plays of Aristophanes. Even though these writings portrayed his life by providing a unique and vivid representation of his philosophy and character, they do not do so clearly since they had other purposes. Born from a humble background, Socrates most likely received a primary Greek education, learning his father’s craft of stone masonry at a tender age. Because of this, he is believed to have earned a living as a mason for a significant number of years before he dedicated his life to philosophy (Guthrie, 2012). Contemporaries later differ on how Socrates earned a living, with Xenophon and Aristophanes stating that he did receive payment for his teachings, to which Plato contradict by explicitly denying and supporting his proof on Socrates poverty (Peterson, 2011). His "Socratic method," did lay the foundation for the logic and Western system philosophy.
Socrates’ Life and Struggles
Plato’s writings show that Socrates did serve in the hoplite, an armored infantry, carrying a shield, a spear and wearing a face mask (Peterson, 2011). He saved the life of Alcibiades, during his participation in one of the three military movements in the Peloponnesian War, which happened at Delium, Potidaea, and Amphipolis (Peterson, 2011). Socrates is known for his fearlessness and courage in battle, a trait which he carried on throughout his life. In 399 BC, when Greek’s political climate changed, Socrates was punished through death by hemlock poisoning to which he gladly accepted instead of running into exile as was expected (Guthrie, 2012). After his trial, Socrates equated his refusal to run away from his legal predicaments to a soldier's refusal to withdraw from the battlefield when exposed to the danger of death.
Socrates’ Philosophy
Socrates had a belief that philosophy should be able to achieve realistic results since it would be for the greater wellbeing of the society. He even endeavored to launch a moral system which would have been based on the human motive instead of the theological doctrine. Socrates pointed out that the choices humans made were inspired by their longing for contentment since he believed ultimate understanding came from knowing oneself (Guthrie, 2012). The more knowledge an individual has, the higher their capacity to reason and to make choices, and according to Socrates, this would result in happiness (Guthrie, 2012). This led Socrates into believing that happiness translated into politics, where the best form of government is neither a dictatorship nor a democracy, but the best government is one which is governed by leaders who have the greatest capability, knowledge, and virtue while possessing a comprehensive understanding of themselves.
Socrates considered Athens as a classroom and to which he would go about asking questions to the society’s top learned and common man alike, all these while in quest of political and ethical truths. His questions to the fellow Athenians were asked in a dialectic method; this compelled his audience to think through the problem and generate a logical conclusion. Furthermore, Socrates thrived during a time when Greek was going through a great political ferment, Athens had been at war with Sparta for over thirty years, and that had laid the background for a significant discussion on the area of politics (Guthrie, 2012). Socrates explicitly states that he is not interested and would not indulge in politics, or at least one incarnation of Socrates figure (Guthrie, 2012). He also states that he is the best thing that has materialized to the people of Athens (Guthrie, 2012).
Socrates’ Influences
The major complaints against Socrates which got him arrested were not unswerving condemnations of his actions, but instead, it was his corrupting influence on others, most specifically on the young adults particularly about their spiritual beliefs. In Plato's “Defense of Socrates,” Socrates did admit that people were thrilled while listening to his dialogs since they found amusement in seeing the cross-examination of the pretenders (Peterson, 2011). During his trial, Socrates asked those who were present and who had listened to his teachings to come up and give a testimony that he had corrupted them by looking to him. Of all those present and who heard Socrates frequently, not one was willing to testify against him (Peterson, 2011).
Socrates’ influence on his fellow Greeks is immeasurable, Plato worshipped Socrates to the extent of becoming the principal author of his life and times. He would go on to quote Socrates in all his future works and with his prospective students like Aristotle. The Oracle of Delphi identified Socrates as the wisest man in Greece, for which he was modest to accept and said he was only able to locate his obliviousness (Guthrie, 2012). Similarly, Socrates’ influence on the contemporary civilization can also not be gauged since he was an ultimate model of how an individual should live and respect his principles, even though finally, this did cost him his life. Few people can say the same about the complexity of their convictions. Twenty-four centuries since his death, it is remarkable to note how Socrates still influences the philosophers as well as the moral and ethics students. It is still evident that the future generation will even recognize Socrates for his visionary insights into our convictions. It is believed that Socrates studied the doctrines of Anaxagoras, Parmenides, and Heraclitus, all who were early philosophers in Greece (Guthrie, 2012).
Famous writings
Socrates is best known for the very spirit of the ‘above line,’ and he never authored a book himself; instead, his students authored books based on his teachings. The famous writing about his teachings is “The Republic,” written by Plato. In these dialogues, Socrates chatted with a student, often a naive one where he would ask the learner to explain an elementary concept (Peterson, 2011). Socrates would then ask questions and change the idea of every question progressively without his students realizing, making their answers appear wrong.
The second famous writing is “The Apology,” which is Plato’s version of the speech Socrates gave in court. It is a perfect piece of forensic and incredibly polished rhetoric. The statement turns on two distinct thoughts which Socrates lays to his opponents and to the jury which is about to convict him. Socrates says he is faced with two classes of accusations, an old one and a new one. The old accusation being the pervasive feeling meted against him in the city, his study of metaphysics and that he makes the worse argument strong and teaches his students to do the same (Peterson, 2011). The new charge being he corrupts the young and makes them fail to trust in the capital’s gods (Peterson, 2011).
Many Greeks resented Socrates since they thought he had wisdom and he somehow dissembles; he otherwise concedes that he also has the wisdom to know that he is not wise. The most vivid knowledge about the logical content of the Apology is the fact that it clarifies what Socrates means. Socrates says that for a significant time in his life, he had gone around talking to people who might know more than he does, and he evens shows the numerous circumstances for knowledge or understanding that each of the people he finds fails.
Conclusion
In summary, Socrates does offer a riddle with the break between where Socrates means his teachings and where he does not, and which is susceptible to clarification and account. As a consequence, the readers are able to understand what Socrates implies regarding truth and falsity. Even though he did not write about his philosophy, Socrates spoke and taught. To the Athenians, Socrates represented a rather deep and abiding threat. Among all the subversive characters; tragedians, thinkers, comic writers and the politicians who existed at the end of the Fifth century, what Socrates did in Athens did amaze them, and it is because of these threats that people who wrote and still write of him, try to solve.
References
Guthrie, W. K. C. (2012). The Greek Philosophers: From Thales to Aristotle. Routledge.
Peterson, S. (2011). Socrates and Philosophy in the Dialogues of Plato. Cambridge University Press.
