The Use Of Simply Asking Questions: A Useful Strategy For Socrates

Socrates was a Western Ancient Athenian Greek philosopher who lived from 469 BCE until his death in 399 BCE. He was a student to another philosopher, Sophists, Socrates was different from most Greek philosophers he wanted to get at the truth and find out how one can truly be ‘good’ and moral in life. “To Socrates the soul is identified with the mind; it is the seat of reason and capable of finding the ethical truths, which will restore meaning and value of life” (ADD IN-TEXT CITATION SEMINAR). We continue to use many of Socrates teachings today, such as, ‘The Socratic method’, which is known as asking a question and within these questions you lead it to the answer you wanted to hear, many uses this as a teaching technique and is shown to be highly effective. A great number of Athenians looked up to Socrates and considered him the wise man of Athens, he had many followers whom would ask questions and seek answers. As popularity and following of Socrates grew so did accusations. The charges laid on Socrates by the Athenians were unjust and therefore his death was highly wrong in the eyes of true democracy that Athens was apparently known for. In this paper, I will discuss how Socrates was wrongfully convicted for the corruption of the youth despite having many young followers, introducing new Gods while still being considered an Atheist, and the main reason he was seen as a threat to Athens was that he brought change to the city.

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

On the other hand, Socrates unlike Antigone had a strategy that was effective in reaching his aim in order to improve the health of the city. Socrates strategy unlike Antigone’s was actually well conceived and because of that was far more effective. According, to the book The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato, Socrates tells the jury that he was able to in fact able to accomplish his goal by living a private life instead of a public life in order to give himself more time to accomplish his goal (Apology pg. 34). This strategy is not only very thought through but is effective for three reasons. First, by trying to accomplish his goal privately instead of publicly he granted himself more time to reach his goal since if he tried to do this publicly the Athenian council would have silenced him long ago. Second, by trying to reach his goal privately he was able to reach a larger audience since anyone could have heard him speak about various topics and debate those who claimed to be wise. As a result,of this Socrates gained many followers like Crito and Plato, who helped him spread his message in order to reach his goal. Third, by initiating this strategy Socrates unlike Antigone was able to directly improve the health of the city by successfully providing a service that the people of Athens clearly needed.

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

Ever since the start of time, from stories being told by mothers to their children all the way through modern films, good versus evil has been a very common theme. Disney classic movies such as Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Hercules, and many others would always have a plot centered on this idea, along with love, for little kids. The kids that watched the movies since they were little would always be glad to watch it again when they are older because it is a very simple theme that outstands the test of time unlike any other movie that’s a trend now such as the annoying, overrated, Twilight series. At least for me I still love the Disney Classics and probably always will. In The Scarlet Letter there are many

The use of Socrates’ inquiry in the Meno is a perfect example to show how Socrates pushed his listeners to question their own knowledge. Socrates never told Meno his definitions were wrong and his own were right, rather continued to question Meno’s conclusions to show him that he did not know the true meaning of virtue. The people of Athens were unable to accept the fact that many of them were ignorant on topics such as the definition of virtue, whereas Socrates himself was able to admit it. The Athenians disguised Socrates’ true desire to teach people for corruption and impiety because they believed he was trying to humiliate them. Although the people of Athens were blind of Socrates’ true intentions, his method of inquiry did in fact benefit the city of Athens. Socrates’ methods eliminated ignorance and increased proper knowledge on important things such as virtue and knowledge within the city of Athens, which is what he meant when he said he was “a gift of the gods to the city of Athens.”

Socrates spent his time questioning people about things like virtue, justice, piety and truth. The people Socrates questioned are the people that condemned him to death. Socrates was sentenced to death because people did not like him and they wanted to shut him up for good. There was not any real evidence against Socrates to prove the accusations against him. Socrates was condemned for three major reasons: he told important people exactly what he thought of them, he questioned ideas that had long been the norm, the youth copied his style of questioning for fun, making Athenians think Socrates was teaching the youth to be rebellious. But these reasons were not the charges against him, he was charged with being an atheist and

As an Athenian philosopher, Socrates spent his life in constant pursuit of insight. He loved engaging in conversations that helped him derive philosophical views on a number of different issues. The birth of ideas through critical reasoning can be credited back to his method of teaching, which is now known as the Socratic Method. Although widely respected today, many of his teachings were found controversial in Athenian times. Socrates was placed on trial and put to death soon after because of the disapproval of his ideas.

In addition to a strategic approach to his teaching, Socrates also had very high expectations for successful students of his, and their thought processes. Not only were his questions intentional, he had specific expectations from each of his students. “Socrates wasn't after brainless disciples. He was trying to create a new breed of thinkers, ones who explored the world with their mind,” (MythologyTeacher.com). Socrates expected students to pick up on his teaching approach and be courageous enough to propel his discussions forward with their own questions. An example of a model student,

The skepticism found within Socrates' logic leads us to realize that he has no claims that he has answers, yet he is living and dying for the ideal that "an unexamined life is not worth living." There is no point at which Socrates is looking for followers, much like a prophet would look for disciples, for his ideals appeal to reason, not faith. Although this may be the case, he has left his contemporaries, ancient and modern day philosophers, as well as any other students of his teachings in a complete paradox. For centuries, many have attempted to carve out a middle path between the severity of his claim on the examined life, and the predestined state of doubt that surfaces with the search for justice and virtue.

Philosophy can be defined as the pursuit of wisdom or the love of knowledge. Socrates, as one of the most well-known of the early philosophers, epitomizes the idea of a pursuer of wisdom as he travels about Athens searching for the true meaning of the word. Throughout Plato’s early writings, he and Socrates search for meanings of previously undefined concepts, such as truth, wisdom, and beauty. As Socrates is often used as a mouthpiece for Plato’s ideas about the world, one cannot be sure that they had the same agenda, but it seems as though they would both agree that dialogue was the best way to go about obtaining the definitions they sought. If two people begin on common ground in a conversation, as Socrates often tries to do, they are

The problem with Socrates concerns the problem with the role of value and reason. Nietzsche believes that the bulk of philosophers claim that life is a corrupt grievance for mankind. Nietzsche reasoned that these life deniers were decadents of Hellenism, as a symptom of some underlying melancholy. For someone to paint life in such a negative light they must have suffered a great deal through the course of their own life. Furthermore, these no-sayers agreed in various physiological ways and thus adopted the same pessimistic attitudes towards life. Socrates was ugly, alike decadent criminals and by ways of these similarities was decadent as well. Nietzsche also claims ugliness as a physiological symptom of life in its decline supported by studies in phenology.

In the quote, “people generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for,” Harper Lee is saying that people have the right to think what they want to think. The quote itself means that if a person is looking for something, they will see and hear it. However, it is important to look and listen for the truth in all situations, not only what you want to be true. One can look and listen for the truth by not being biased in the situation. Observing all sides of the situation will aid in this.

Caffeine is a common central nervous system stimulant drug which occurs in nature as part of the coffee, tea, yerba mate and other plants, can be said to be the most psychoactive substance in the world. ( Fredholm et al. 1999). It is also an additive in many consumer products, most notably beverages advertised as energy drinks. Caffeine can also be found in soft drinks such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, where, on the ingredients listing, it is designated as a flavouring agent. It is regarded as the most widely consumed stimulant drug in the world based on Nehlig, Daval, & Debry (1992) research. The interaction of caffeine with adenosine receptors in the brains makes an individual more alert. A moderate intake of caffeine results in small healthy

Socrates was a Greek philosopher who is known for his method of questioning referred to as the “Socratic method”. He is considered a very wise philosopher and that can be attributed to his views of knowledge and ignorance. He searches for a deeper understanding of the topics by questioning. The view that Socrates is wise contrasts his own view of himself as he does not believe that he has all the answers because his methods search for a deeper comprehensive truth of a topic but does not always provide answers. Although Socrates’ method has limitations in increasing knowledge, his method of questioning effectively combat ignorance by providing boundaries for his knowledge along with the knowledge of others.