Life Of Socrates Research Paper

In his defense, Socrates claims over and again that he is innocent and is not at all wise, “…for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great.” Throughout the rest of his oration he seems to act the opposite as if he is better than every man, and later he even claims that, “At any rate, the world has decided that Socrates is in some way superior to other

Socrates spent most of his time in the streets and marketplace of Athens, approaching people like the sophist and other powerful leaders about whether they had any knowledge of what they spoke of. For example, he would question leaders on whether they had any knowledge of the terms they used; what is virtue? Eventually, Socrates would get them to realize that they didn’t have any idea of what they were talking about therefore, showing their ignorance. In his quest of truth, Socrates managed to offend many powerful leaders, which lead to his enemies conspiring against him and getting him executed for corrupting the youth and failing to acknowledge the gods of Athens. After Socrates’ death, Plato picks up where Socrates leaves off and comes up “with his metaphysical theory called the theory of forms.” (Socrates and Plato intro lecture 10)

Socrates was a great thinker and debater dedicated to truth. He spent his golden years walking the streets of Athens in pursuit of wisdom. Socrates lived the destiny that was revealed to him in the Oracle. He created and perfected his own cross-examination technique; we today know it as the Socratic Method. He was thorough and unrelenting. His subjects were often humiliated. Socrates would methodically disprove anyone he thought was wrong. In his eyes, most of the people he interviewed were blind. It did not matter if one was wealthy and influential or if they were young and impressionable. Socrates could question anyone and turn him or her inside out. Unfortunately, he did so without regard to the

Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own

Because of Socrates we know that it is a positive thing to think deeper, search harder, and accept what we can’t understand or control. Yet, the analysis of Socrates’ thought is handicapped by the infamous “problem of socrates”: he didn’t document or write anything. However, others, such as Plato and Xenophon, did document the dirty life and times of Mr. Socrates. The debate, supposedly, is how fabricated the stories truly are. Much like the story of Jesus Christ, there isn’t nothing written by him or even till late in his life, or perhaps after, so it is hard for one to accept Socrates’ ideas as an absolute truth. Socrates believes that knowledge is one of the most paramount ways in which a man can ‘succeed.’ True knowledge is something one understands to be true because of having lived it out for one’s self. Every scenario that a person lives through only makes that person more understanding. Wiser, if you will. People are flawed. However, if they learn from the negative situation, the situation is no longer negative. On the contrary, the situation actually becomes even more positive then it once was negative. This theory relates to all people and

Socrates has a unique position in the history of philosophy. On one hand he is the most influential on another he is the least known. In his later life he is seen to stalk the streets barefoot, to spite shoemakers. He went about arguing and questioning people and revealing inconsistencies in their beliefs. He began teaching students but never accepted payments for doing so. This was possible because of the inheritance left by his father. Socrates wrote nothing of himself so we are dependent upon the works of both his students and associates who present a view as close to

The Athenian general and politician Alcibiades, widely respected for his heritage and upbringing, was a brilliant, although unscrupulous leader. Known for his extraordinary ambition and pride, Alcibiades proves to be somewhat of an enigma, attracting attention and creating tension in all areas of his life. In Plato’s Symposium, the disorder and revel brought about by the intoxicated Alcibiades serves to illustrate a fundamental misunderstanding of Socrates and his philosophical way of life. In Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War, Alcibiades is instead portrayed as the physical manifestation of Athenian imperialism at its most potentially destructive and powerful. Socrates’ philosophical conceptions on the forms are in opposition to imperialism and thereby offer a more fruitful model for political enterprise than Alcibiades’ intertwined empiric and personal pursuits.

Socrates was accused of being a sophist because he was "engaging in inquiries into things beneath the earth and in the heavens, of making the weaker argument appear the stronger," and "teaching others these same things." (Apology, Plato, Philosophic Classics page 21) Socrates is also accused of denying the existence of the gods, and corrupting the youth. Socrates goes about trying to prove his innocence. The jury that Socrates was tried by was made up of 501 Athenian citizens of all classes of society. While he fails to convince the Athenian jury of his innocence, he does a wonderful job in this effort. I personally believe that Socrates is innocent, and that the Athenian jury made the wrong decision.

One of the main sources for this is Plato’s Apology, which is Plato’s rendition of the trial of Socrates. Plato shows Socrates as a figure that lives for his community. Although the depiction of Socrates in Apology attempts to help the public with all of his effort and resources, he never got the recognition he deserved. In fact, he was hated by the people of Athens and ended up getting executed for his actions to help the general public. He even neglected his personal life in an attempt to make the lives of the people living in Athens but was still viewed unfavorably by them. He was even made fun of in popular plays and shows of Ancient Greece. Socrates was also a teacher to Plato and Aristotle, two other great greek philosophers. His teachings lead them to also be masters of thought just as he was. While this is all important, it should be noted that Plato's Apology is not necessarily trustworthy evidence to know things about ancient Greece and Socrates, as there isn't substantial proof that it is a historically accurate account of what happened at Socrates' trial. In addition, there isn't enough confirmation to support that Socrates actually committed the crimes he was accused of. Therefore what we know about the life of Socrates may or may not be accurate, and this leaves much of what happened in his life unknown. Nonetheless, Socrates still affects modern life today, regardless of whether what we knew about him was correct or

Socrates is an influential character in The Republic. He is probably most influential in this one than any other. He says interesting things that make even the most scholarly people think. He believes in things that are controversial to what everyone believed in his time, and what a lot of people believe now. What he says makes sense and makes he or she rethink about what they believe.

However, Socrates views went beyond these societal barriers by encouraging the practice of open-mindedness. I firmly believe that Socrates is an admirable and inspirational figure to both philosophers and the people through his use of words throughout the dialogues of Plato.

Ultimately, when making decisions and understanding your place in life and its situations, people really are not derived by normality and regularities, but they are shaped or modified through having a sense of profound self-confidence and searching for fulfillment. The foundation to rationalize and reason is inherently embedded in people. Socrates supported that people have the capability to put together constructive concepts or opinions if they exercised that behavioral reflect. Socrates sort out by having the ability to listen and ask questions, it is the root for happiness and salvation because it permits the formation of accepting oneself and acknowledges a person’s position in society and what their phenomenon remains in the environment

Socrates was born in Athens in 470 B.C. His mother was Phaenarete and his was

Socrates believes that the everyday world is an illusion compared to the world of knowledge. People are often too distracted by money and materialistic things to appreciate truth and reality. Socrates says, “the capacity for knowledge is innate in each man’s mind.” This exemplifies the point that man has the ability to look into the world of truth, but when one is caught up in superficiality then truth does not receive the attention and glory that it should. This is why Socrates feels that the arts, such as poetry, should be censored; it would help decrease the digression of society’s intellect.

His early life started out in Ciria Greece in 470 B.C the reason why we know this is because again of his followers. He grew up not in a noble family and received no high class education and a lower class family. Socrates father was a stonemason and a sculptor and he learned his father's sculpting ways. His first job started out as a sculptor for many years until he gave it up on philosophy and was paid to be a philosopher. Later on in life he married and had three sons which he had no connection with, but a short time after he joined the greek army and was in the infantry and later after the war ended he then turned to philosophy.