Socrates
(c. 469-399 BC)
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Socrates
was born in Athens
in 469 BC.
He was
also sentenced to death and executed in Athens in 399 BC.
His father,
Sophroniscus, was a sculptor
and his mother,
Phaenarete, was a midwife. Socrates himself was also a sculptor by
profession
but he never worked at it much. He was relatively poor although he did
manage
to marry
and raise a family. In 431 BC, when
war
broke out between Athens
and
Sparta,
Socrates served in the Athenian army as a hoplite
and gained a reputation for bravery in battle. There
is a popular story that
Chaerephon, a friend of Socrates’, asked the Oracle
at Delphi
if there was any one wiser than Socrates. Uncharacteristically, the
Oracle gave a very unambiguous answer; "no." When Socrates
was
told of this he is reported as saying that he possessed no special
wisdom and
went about trying to understand what he thought must have been a very
clever
riddle given by the Oracle. To better understand what the Oracle had
said,
Socrates began to talk with the citizens
of Athens such as doctors,
craftsmen,
scholars,
sophists,
and just about anyone else who would speak with him. While talking to
these
individuals he began to see that, while they were all clearly wise in
their own
fields, they believed that made them wise in all things. After learning
this,
Socrates had to admit that he did indeed possess a certain kind of
wisdom that
allowed him to see that he did not know everything. Because
he felt he had no
special wisdom or knowledge of his own, Socrates did not write any
works (all
that is written about him was done so later by Plato
and Xenophon) or charge for his services. He held open discussions with
any
citizen who was willing to converse with him. Their topics included love,
politics,
war,
friendship,
poetry,
religion,
science
and government
but all centered around a central theme of "how should a man live his
life?" In these discussions Socrates would employ what is now known as
the
Socratic Method (in his honor). Instead of lecturing his students,
he would invite them to consider the question with him. The goal was
not for
Socrates to teach his students what he thought of the various subjects
but
rather to teach them to think critically about the subjects for
themselves.
Very often this involved asking one of his followers for the meaning of
some concept
such as piety, morality, or something similar. Socrates and the other
students
then subjected that definition to analysis and criticism. Sometimes
these
exercises were used simply to find an agreed-upon meaning for some
term. Most
often, however, these discussions were used to show that the common
definition
or understanding of the term was inconsistent or unacceptable. At
the core of his philosophy,
Socrates believed that no one did wrong willingly and that those who do
wrong
do it out of ignorance of what was the right thing to do. He offered
the maxim
"Virtue = Knowledge." Socrates had established a sort of moral scale
by which to measure the inherent good of things. At the bottom of this
scale
was external good; money,
possessions and material wealth. Near the middle of the scale was the
good of
the body; health,
strength,
and the like. At the top of the scale was the good of the soul; wisdom
and
moral integrity. Accepting this scale to be true leads to the idea that
it is
better to suffer an injustice, even if it results in the loss of your
possessions or even your life, than to commit an injustice. By refusing
to
commit injustice you retain your moral integrity. If the virtue of a
man is his
soul’s possession of the knowledge of what is good or bad then, indeed,
knowledge
equals virtue. Socrates
was, by his own
admission, not a sophist.
Like the sophists
he desired a better understanding of human nature and advocated
education for
the young who would some day lead the city. Unlike the sophists,
however, Socrates claimed to hold no special wisdom of his own. He
never
charged for his services. He believed that self-education or
self-discovery was
the only true way to learn and never wrote any papers or books
of his own. He believed that he was duty-bound to share his philosophy
to all
who would listen even if it meant his death which, as we will see, it
eventually did. In 399 BC
Socrates was
brought to trial
in the city of Athens.
In the Apology, Plato
records Socrates’ trial. He was charged with not believing in the gods
of
the city and with corrupting the youth. As was the custom of the day,
when the
jury found him guilty, Socrates and his accusers proposed what they
thought to
be a fair sentence in light of his "crime." Socrates’ accusers
demanded the death penalty. Socrates countered saying that free meals
for life at the public’s expense would be a just reward for his
efforts.
Undoubtedly Socrates knew that the jury would accept the prosecutor’s
proposal.
Socrates makes it very clear that, even if he is ordered to do so by
the court,
he will never cease to practice philosophy
and to share it with others. Socrates is ultimately sentenced to death. |