Socrates 1

Running Head: Socrates

Socrates

Cherise Drake

Wayne County Community College

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Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who is oftentimes referred to as one of the

pillars of the Western tradition of philosophy. In many cases, he is considered the first major

philosopher of Western civilization (Velasquez, 2008). Although there were other Greek

philosophers known as the Pre-Socratics that preceded him, very little of their work has survived

throughout the years to support this claim (Velasquez, 2008). Because of this, Socrates is the

first Western philosopher that we have a significant amount of knowledge about.

According to what we know, Socrates was a figure that was widely discussed among his

peers and has remained an icon of wisdom in the history of Western thought (Benson, 1992). It

is primarily because of Socrates that the West was introduced to the idea of what philosophy is,

and what it may be like to live a philosophical life (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005).

Through his teachings, Socrates shared with us what his philosophical definition of the good life

was (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005).

Since he left behind no written words of his own, we are given a glimpse of his life

mainly through the eyes of Plato, one of his philosophy students (Hooker, 1996). Plato used the

life of his teacher and the Socratic method of inquiry to advance a philosophy of idealism

(Hooker, 1996). Through these works we are able to follow the events of the life of Socrates and

go with him on a journey from the beginning of his life until the end of it. Also through the

published accounts of his students, we are able to determine how Socrates may have influenced

certain aspects of Christian thought and how he was instrumental in some aspects of the

development of Western civilization (New World Encyclopedia, 2008).

Socrates was born in Athens, Greece around 469 B.C. He was the son of the statuary

Sophroniscus and midwife Phaenarete. He later married Xanthippe who was said to be

considerably younger than him and a shrew (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). From their union
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they bore three sons. In his younger years, Socrates studied the arts of gymnastics and music. As

a teenager he sought interest in geometry and astronomy and studied the methods and doctrines

of the leaders of Greek thought and culture (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). Although he never

gave up his love for the sciences, as an adult Socrates followed the path that his father had taken

and became a sculptor. Realizing that being a sculptor wasn’t his true calling, Socrates soon

abandoned art and decided to begin the journey to discovery and educating others. He believed

that he was commissioned by higher powers to convict men of the ignorance they mistakenly

mistook for knowledge (Gulley, 1968). Because of this, he felt it was his duty to promote the

intellectual and moral improvement of others through the art of teaching (Gulley, 1968).

Socrates lived his entire life in Athens Greece. During his lifetime he experienced both

the Golden Age as well as the defeat of Athens at the end of Peloponnesian War. The city’s

Golden Age was established by the Greek’s victory over two invading Persian armies in 490 and

480 (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). As a result, Athens emerged from that victory

not only as one of the most important commercial centers of the Mediterranean world, but also as

the leader of a military alliance that quickly transformed the city into a dominant naval power

(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). Through their alliance, Athens was able to funnel

a significant amount of money into a building program that turned the city into a place of

architecture splendor (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005).

Although the Golden Age was a blissful time for the citizens of Athens, the

Peloponnesian war was quite the opposite. Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian war was pretty

much the downfall of the city of Athens and eventually proved to be a disaster not only for

Athens but for most other Greeks as well (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). The

Peloponnesian war lasted much longer than what was expected and eventually devastated the
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population of Athens, causing conflict, wiping out entire cities, ruining industry and commerce

channels, brutalizing Greek life, and in the long run subjected most of Greece to the power of

foreign empires and rules (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005). Greece never fully

recovered from the events between 431 and 404. The only Athenian achievement that survived

the war intact was Greek intellectual culture (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005).

Together with Greek as the international language of educated people it established itself as a

dominant life-shaping force in the Mediterranean world for centuries to come (Stanford

Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2005).

Socrates lived his life in the grandeur experienced in the Golden Age as well as in the

brutality experienced as a result of the Peloponnesian War. Both of these events shaped his social

and cultural context and explain to large extent the nature of his work. As a result, Socrates did

not identify with the culture and many of the concepts of his day (Brickhouse, 1994). To

understand Socrates the philosopher we must understand how much he stood against the very

essence of the culture of his age (Brickhouse, 1994). Socrates was a deliberate outsider, an

intellectual stranger, and his critical distance to the culture and society that surrounded him was a

significant part of what defines him as a philosopher (Brickhouse, 1994).

Socrates made a clear distinction between true knowledge and opinion. Based upon his

ideas regarding the immortality of the soul, Socrates defined true knowledge as eternal,

unchanging, and absolute compared to the opinion, which are temporal, changing, and relative

(Hooker, 1996). He was convinced that true knowledge and moral virtues are inscribed within

the soul of every person (Hooker, 1996). According to this theory, Socrates felt that learning

cultivated the soul helping individuals to understand the concept of explicit truth. Socrates found
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himself engaging in conversations not only to teach knowledge, but also in order to awaken the

soul of the person he was conversing with (Hooker, 1996).

Socrates felt that truth wasn’t something that should simply be discussed. He felt that

truth should be embodied and reflect how one should live and practice in life (New World

Encyclopedia, 2008). Understanding that the care of the soul was the primary task of

philosophy, Socrates fought against moral relativists feeling that they mistakenly replaced the

effort to discover truth with the practice of rhetorical skills understood as tools for social success,

and substituted the pursuit of pleasure for the attainment of genuine happiness (New World

Encyclopedia, 2008).

One of his contributions to Western thought was based on the Socratic method, a

dialogical method of inquiry, which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts

such as the good and justice (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). In this method, a number of

questions are asked to an individual or group of people in order to determine where their beliefs

lie and what their level of their knowledge is (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). This method is

sometimes seen as a negative method of hypothesis elimination, in that identifying and

eliminating those find better hypotheses, which sometimes leads to contradictions. It is designed

to force one to examine their beliefs and the validity of those beliefs (New World Encyclopedia,

2008).

According to Socrates, philosophical theories and views are supported by a person’s

convictions or beliefs at a deeper level. He tried to awaken the soul of the person he was

conversing with rather than giving them knowledge, so that they would be led to self-realization

about their own beliefs and their validity (New World Encyclopedia, 2008). Socrates also felt
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that there are a number of obstacles that prevent one from attaining true knowledge with the

greatest obstacle being one’s conviction.

Socrates also believed that his wisdom came from an awareness of his own ignorance.

He never claimed to actually be wise. He only claimed to understand the path that must be taken

in order to become wise. On one hand, he drew a clear line between human ignorance and ideal

knowledge (Brickhouse & Smith, 1994). On the other hand he described a method for obtaining

wisdom (Brickhouse & Smith, 1994). He felt that the world of true knowledge or external truth is

superior to the world of everyday reality. He also believed in inexhaustible openness, vastness

claiming that one cannot grasp this world through conceptual language (Brickhouse & Smith,

1994). Socrates was aware of the reality of this world and claimed that he only knew the path or

gate to it but not the world itself.

As a result of his ideals, Socrates was prosecuted, imprisoned, and sentenced to death for

charges of impiety and corrupting youth, a legal but unjust prosecution (Grube, 1975). By

questioning everything and everyone particularly those that claimed to have knowledge, Socrates

offended the leaders of his time (Grube, 1975). Since he refused to compromise with politically

motivated opponents, Socrates was brought to trial and was found guilty as charged, and

sentenced to death by poison. Although his friends and students bribed the prison guard and

prepared a method of escape, Socrates refused to leave. Instead he took poison preferring an

honorable death than flight from Athens to preserve his life (Grube, 1975). By doing this he is

revered as a martyr for the truth of philosophy (Grube, 1975).

Although one may argue that Socrates’ philosophical inquires do not result in final

answers, the activity of questioning assumptions critically and analyzing possible answers is not

a waste of time according to philosophy. What was ultimately the most important about Socrates
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inquires was the unceasing practice and habit of being critical and thoughtful. He felt that we

should not be blinded by our own unfounded convictions and presuppositions (Brickhouse &

Smith, 1994). Thoughtfulness and critical self-awareness as a way of life is what Socrates stands

for which is why know himself was one of the main maxims for his life (Brickhouse & Smith,

1994). Life according to him, is not something that is short lived by following blindly popular

convictions or time honored customs. He felt the good life is one that questions and thinks about

things, and is full of contemplation, self-examination, and open mindedness (Brickhouse &

Smith, 1994). It is simply an inner life, a life of inquiring and expanding the mind.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who is oftentimes referred to as a pillar of Western

philosophy. Although he left behind no written words of his own, we come to know his teachings

through the works of his students. Born in Athens Greece to a statuary and a midwife, Socrates

lived through the Golden Age and the Peloponnesian War. Socrates developed the Socratic

method and other philosophical theories that supported his view about truth and knowledge. As a

result of what he had experienced in his life and the ideals that he held, he did not identify with

many of the concepts that were held by his peers. As a deliberate outsider, an intellectual

stranger and a person who was always asking questions, Socrates often offended the leaders of

his time. As a result he was sentenced to death by poison. Choosing to hold on to his dignity

instead of escaping, Socrates died for what he believed in.

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References:

Benson, H.H. (1992). Essays on the Philosophy of Socrates. New York: Oxford.

Brickhouse, T.C. & Smith, N.D. (1994). Plato’s Socrates. New York: Oxford.

Gulley, N. (1968). The Philosophy of Socrates. London: Macmillan.

Grube, G.M.A. (1975). Plato: The Trial and Death of Socrates. Indianapolis: Hackett.

Hooker, R. (1996). Greek philosophy: Socrates Retrieved July 19, 2010 from

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/SOCRATES.HTM) wsu.edu.

New World Encyclopedia. (2008). Socrates. Retrieved July 20, 2010 from

http://www.neworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Socrates.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2005). Socrates. Retrieved July 19, 2010 from

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/.

Velasquez, M. (2008). Philosophy: A Text with Readings (11th ed.). Boston, MA Clark Baxter.
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Philosopher’s Biography Paper Rubric

Content Percentage Additional Comments:

60% Earned
XX/72
All key elements of the assignment are covered in a
substantive way.
• The paper is 1,850 – 2,200 words in length.
• The paper examines the life, times, and key theories of
a selected philosopher.
• The paper identifies and evaluates the key concepts,
analyses, and contributions of the philosopher to the
field of philosophy.
 The paper explains why the student thinks this
philosopher is THE GREATEST PHILOSOPHER of
all time.
• The paper focuses on how the culture and the time
period interact(ed) with the philosopher’s ideas.
• The paper uses a minimum of five sources outside of
the text.
The content is comprehensive and accurate.
The paper links theory to relevant examples of experience
and uses the vocabulary of the theory correctly.
Major points are stated clearly and are supported by specific
details, examples, or analysis.
• The paper uses assigned readings as references.

Organization / Development Percentage Additional Comments:

30% Earned
XX/36
The paper has a structure that is clear, logical, and easy to
follow.
The paper develops a central theme or idea directed toward
the appropriate audience.
The introduction provides sufficient background on the topic
and previews major points.
The conclusion is logical, flows from the body of the paper,
and reviews the major points.
Transitions between sentences/paragraphs/sections aid in
maintaining the flow of thought.
The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment.

Mechanics Percentage Additional Comments:

10% Earned
XX/12
The paper is laid out with effective use of headings, font
styles, and white space.
Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed.
Sentences are complete, clear, concise, and varied.
Spelling is correct.

Total Percentage Additional Comments:

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100% Earned
XX/120