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• Born: 469 B.C.


• Birthplace: Athens, Greece
• Died: 399 B.C. (execution by poison)
• Best Known As: The great Greek philosopher who drank hemlock
Socrates is the ancient Greek thinker who laid the early foundations for Western philosophical
thought. His "Socratic Method" involved asking probing questions in a give-and-take which
would eventually lead to the truth. Socrates was born in Athens and fought as a foot soldier in the
Peloponnesian War with Sparta, but in later years became a devotee of philosophy and argument.
He spent years in the public places of Athens, engaging his fellow citizens in philosophical
discussions and urging them to greater self-analysis. Socrates's iconoclastic attitude didn't sit
well with everyone, and at age 70 he was charged with heresy and corruption of local youth.
Convicted, he carried out the death sentence by drinking hemlock, becoming one of history's
earliest martyrs of conscience. Socrates's most famous pupil was Plato, who in turn instructed the
philosopher Aristotle.

Socrates

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Biography: Socrates
The Greek philosopher and logician Socrates (469-399 B.C.) was an important formative
influence on Plato and had a profound effect on ancient philosophy.
Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, an Athenian stone mason and sculptor. He learned his
father's craft and apparently practiced it for many years before devoting his time almost
completely to intellectual interests. Details of his early life are scanty, although he appears to
have had no more than an ordinary Greek education. He did, however, take a keen interest in the
works of the natural philosophers, and Plato (Parmenides, 127C) records the fact that Socrates
met Zeno of Elea and Parmenides on their trip to Athens, which probably took place about 450
B.C. Socrates wrote nothing; therefore evidence for his life and activities must come from the
writings of Plato and Xenophon. It is likely that neither of these presents a completely accurate
picture of him, but Plato's Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Symposium contain details which must be
close to fact.
From the Apology we learn that Socrates was well known around Athens, that uncritical thinkers
linked him with the rest of the Sophists, that he fought in at least three military campaigns for the
city, and that he attracted to his circle large numbers of young men who delighted in seeing their
pretentious elders refuted by Socrates. His notoriety in Athens was sufficient for the Athenian
comic poet Aristophanes to lampoon him in The Clouds, although the Socrates who appears
there bears little resemblance to the dialectician in Plato's writings. His endurance and prowess in
military campaigns are attested by Alcibiades in the Symposium. He tells of Socrates's valor in
battle, which allowed Alcibiades to escape when he was in a perilous situation. He also recounts
an incident which reveals Socrates's habit of falling into a kind of trance while thinking. One
morning Socrates wandered a short distance off from the other men to concentrate on a problem.
By noon a small crowd had gathered, and by evening a group had come with their bedding to
spend the night watching him. At the break of day, he offered up a prayer to the sun and went
about his usual activities.
In addition to these anecdotes about Socrates's peculiar character, the Symposium provides details
regarding his physical appearance. He was short and Silenus-like, quite the opposite of what was
considered graceful and beautiful in the Athens of his time. He was also poor and had only the
barest necessities of life. He was not ascetic, however, for he accepted the lavish hospitality of
the wealthy on occasion (Agathon, the successful tragic poet, was host to the illustrious group in
the Symposium) and proved himself capable of besting the others not only at their esoteric and
sophistic sport of making impromptu speeches on the god Eros but also in holding his wine.
Socrates's physical ugliness was no bar to his appeal. Alcibiades asserts in the same dialogue that
Socrates made him feel deep shame and humiliation over his failure to live up to the high
standards of justice and truth. He had this same effect on countless others.
His Thought
There was a strong religious side to Socrates's character and thought which constantly revealed
itself in spite of his penchant for exposing the ridiculous conclusions to which uncritical
acceptance of the ancient myths might lead. His words and actions in the Apology, Crito,
Phaedo, and Symposium reveal a deep reverence for Athenian religious customs and a sincere
regard for divinity. Indeed, it was a divine voice which Socrates claimed to hear within himself
on important occasions in his life. It was not a voice which gave him positive instructions, but
instead warned him when he was about to go astray. He recounts, in his defense before the
Athenian court, the story of his friend Chaerephon, who was told by the Delphic Oracle that
Socrates was the wisest of men. That statement puzzled Socrates, he says, for no one was more
aware of the extent of his own ignorance than he himself, but he determined to see the truth of
the god's words. After questioning those who had a reputation for wisdom and who considered
themselves, wise, he concluded that he was wiser than they because he could recognize his
ignorance while they, who were equally ignorant, thought themselves wise. He thus confirmed
the truth of the god's statement.
Socrates was famous for his method of argumentation. His "irony" was an important part of that
method and surely helped account for the appeal which he had for the young and the disfavor in
which he was held by many Athenians. An example comes from the Apology. Meletus had
accused Socrates of corrupting the youth. Socrates begins by asking if Meletus considers the
improvement of youth important. He replies that he does, whereupon Socrates asks who is
capable of improving the young. The laws, says Meletus, and Socrates asks him to name a person
who knows the laws. Meletus responds that the judges there present know the laws, whereupon
Socrates asks if all who are present are able to instruct and improve youth or whether only a few
can. Meletus replies that all of them are capable of such a task, which forces Meletus to confess
that other groups of Athenians, such as the Senate and the Assembly, and indeed all Athenians
are capable of instructing and improving the youth. All except Socrates, that is. Socrates then
starts a parallel set of questions regarding the instruction and improvement of horses and other
animals. Is it true that all men are capable of training horses, or only those men with special
qualifications and experience? Meletus, realizing the absurdity of his position, does not answer,
but Socrates answers for him and asserts that if he does not care enough about the youth of
Athens to have given adequate thought to who might instruct and improve them, he has no right
to accuse Socrates of corrupting them.
Thus the Socratic method of argumentation begins with commonplace questions which lead the
opponent to believe that the questioner is a simpleton, but ends in a complete reversal. It is a
method not calculated to win friends, especially when used in public.
Socrates's true contributions to the development of ancient thought are difficult to assess. Plato's
dialogues, although they are our single most important source, are not entirely reliable because
Socrates is used, especially in the later dialogues, merely as a mouthpiece. It is probable,
however, that the Socrates we find in the Apology Crito, and a few of the other early dialogues
represents a fair approximation of the man and his thinking. Thus his chief contributions lie not
in the construction of an elaborate system but in clearing away the false common beliefs and in
leading men to an awareness of their own ignorance, from which position they may begin to
discover the truth. Socrates's contribution, then, was primarily the negative one of exposing
fallacies, but equally important was the magnetism of his personality and the effect which he had
on the people he met. It was his unique combination of dialectical skill and magnetic
attractiveness to the youth of Athens which gave his opponents their opportunity to bring him to
trial in 399 B.C.
His Death
Meletus, Lycon, and Anytus charged Socrates with impiety and with corrupting the youth of the
city. Since prosecution and defense speeches were made by the principals in Athenian legal
practice, Socrates spoke in his own behalf. It is uncertain if the charges were the result of his
associations with the Thirty or resulted from personal pique. Callias, Plato's uncle, had been the
leader of the unpopular Thirty, but it is difficult to imagine that Socrates could have been
considered a collaborator when in fact he risked death by refusing to be implicated in their
crimes. He had, however, made a great number of enemies for himself over the years through his
self-appointed role as the "gadfly" of Athens, and it is probable that popular misunderstanding
and animosity toward his activities helped lead to his conviction. His defense speech was not in
the least conciliatory. After taking up the charges and showing how they were false, he proposed
that the city should honor him as it did Olympic victors. He was convicted and sentenced to
death. Plato's Crito tells of Crito's attempts to persuade Socrates to flee the prison (Crito had
bribed the jailer, as was customary), but Socrates, in an allegorical dialogue between himself and
the Laws of Athens, reveals his devotion to the city and his obligation to obey its decrees even if
they lead to his death. In the Phaedo, Plato recounts Socrates's discussion of the immortality of
the soul; and at the end of that dialogue, one of the most moving and dramatic scenes in ancient
literature, Socrates takes the hemlock prepared for him while his friends sit helplessly by. He
died reminding Crito that he owes a cock to Aesculapius.
Socrates was the most colorful figure in the history of ancient philosophy. His fame was
widespread in his own time, and his name soon became a household word although he professed
no extraordinary wisdom, constructed no philosophical system, established no school, and
founded no sect. His influence on the course of ancient philosophy, through Plato, the Cynics,
and less directly, Aristotle, is incalculable.
Further Reading
Sources for Socrates's life are the dialogues of Plato, especially the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and
Alcibiades's speech in the Symposium, and Xenophon's Memorabilia, all of which are available
in a variety of editions and translations. A comprehensive and major study of Socrates's thought
is Norman Gulley, The Philosophy of Socrates (1968). See also Eduard Zeller, Socrates and the
Socratic Schools (1885; 3d rev. ed. 1962); A. E. Taylor, Socrates (1933); and Anton-Hermann
Chroust, Socrates: Man and Myth (1957).
A dramatic version of Socrates's accusation, self-defense, imprisonment, and death is rendered in
simplified, colloquial English by I. A. Richards in Why So Socrates? A Dramatic Version of
Plato's Dialogues Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo (1964). Critical treatment of Socrates and
his place in the development of ancient thought is in Eduard Zeller, Outlines of the History of
Greek Philosophy (trans. 1890; 13th ed. revised by Wilhelm Nestle, 1931); John Burnet, Greek
Philosophy (1914); and Wilhelm Windelband, History of Ancient Philosophy, translated by
Herbert E. Cushman (1956).
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Political Dictionary: Socrates

(469-399 BC) Greek philosopher. In 399 BC he was put to death by the Athenian democracy on a
charge of failing to worship the city's gods, introducing new deities, and corrupting the youth. It
was commonly accepted that political motives lay behind the indictment (and religion in any
case was a state concern). Socrates taught that politics is an art which requires for its basis
knowledge of the good; most people, however, including most contemporary politicians, do not
possess this knowledge and thus cannot acquire the political art. Such views ran counter to the
Athenian democratic ideal, which required that in matters of general policy each man's voice
carry equal weight, and he was linked with the oligarchic faction which had briefly ruled Athens
in 411 BC and 404-403 BC and which was still perceived as a danger. Its numbers also included
several of his former associates. His death raises questions about the threat intellectuals may be
thought to pose to the political order.

Socrates nevertheless believed that each citizen owed his state obedience in all matters which did
not contradict his conscience. He consequently refused offers to help him escape from prison,
giving three main reasons:
(1) The relation between state and citizen is the unequal one of parent and child: the citizen owes
the state gratitude for his upbringing.
(2) By freely electing to remain in Athens and receive the benefits of her protection, he has made
an implicit contract with her to abide by her laws (compare Locke on consent).
(3) To break any of the state's laws, even if they are wrongly administered, would result in a
dangerous undermining of the authority of law per se.
— Angela Hobbs
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Socrates

(click to enlarge)
Socrates, herm with a restored nose probably copied from the Greek original by Lysippus, c. … (credit: Courtesy of
the Soprintendenza alle Antichita della Campania, Naples)
(born c. 470, Athens — died 399 BC, Athens) Greek philosopher whose way of life, character,
and thought exerted a profound influence on ancient and modern philosophy. Because he wrote
nothing, information about his personality and doctrine is derived chiefly from depictions of his
conversations and other information in the dialogues of Plato, in the Memorabilia of Xenophon,
and in various writings of Aristotle. He fought bravely in the Peloponnesian War and later served
in the Athenian boule (assembly). Socrates considered it his religious duty to call his fellow
citizens to the examined life by engaging them in philosophical conversation. His contribution to
these exchanges typically consisted of a series of probing questions that cumulatively revealed
his interlocutor's complete ignorance of the subject under discussion; such cross-examination
used as a pedagogical technique has been called the "Socratic method." Though Socrates
characteristically professed his own ignorance regarding many of the (mainly ethical) subjects he
investigated (e.g., the nature of piety), he did hold certain convictions with confidence, including
that: (1) human wisdom begins with the recognition of one's own ignorance; (2) the unexamined
life is not worth living; (3) ethical virtue is the only thing that matters; and (4) a good person can
never be harmed, because whatever misfortune he may suffer, his virtue will remain intact. His
students and admirers included, in addition to Plato, Alcibiades, who betrayed Athens in the
Peloponnesian War, and Critias (c. 480 – 403 BC), who was one of the Thirty Tyrants imposed on
Athens after its defeat by Sparta. Because he was connected with these two men, but also
because his habit of exposing the ignorance of his fellow citizens had made him widely hated
and feared, Socrates was tried on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth and condemned to
death by poisoning (the poison probably being hemlock) in 399 BC; he submitted to the sentence
willingly. Plato's Apology purports to be the speech that Socrates gave in his own defense. As
depicted in the Apology, Socrates' trial and death raise vital questions about the nature of
democracy, the value of free speech, and the potential conflict between moral and religious
obligation and the laws of the state.
For more information on Socrates, visit Britannica.com.
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Classical Literature Companion: Socratēs
Socratēs (469–399 BC), Greek philosopher, born in the Attic deme of Alōpekē near Athens. His
father was Sophroniscus, a sculptor or stonemason, and his mother Phaenaretē, a midwife. He
himself was a stonemason. Rather late in life he married the reputedly shrewish Xanthippē, by
whom he had three sons, who were still young at the time of his death. He fought in the
Peloponnesian War and as a soldier he was distinguished by his courage and physical resilience.
Although he generally avoided public affairs, when he did take part his behaviour accorded with
his principles. Under the Thirty Tyrants, for example, he refused to assist in the arrest of an
innocent man whom the Thirty had condemned to death, thus risking his own life. He preferred
to follow his own conviction, irrespective of the will of either the people or the oligarchs. His
manner of life won him many enemies, and in 399 he was brought to trial by Anytus (a
democratic politician), Meletus, and Lycon on the charge of not believing in the gods whom
Athens believed in but of introducing new gods, and of corrupting the youth of the city; the death
penalty was asked for.

Two versions of Socrates' speech in his own defence exist in the Apology (Gk. apologia,
‘defence’) by Plato and (in a less authentic form) in that by Xenophon, but neither makes exactly
clear the precise significance of the charges. They were connected, however, with Socrates' well-
known association with many of the Thirty Tyrants who overthrew the democracy, notably
Alcibiades and Critias. The attack on him was not merely because of the political views of his
protégés; it was also felt that he had undermined the traditional morality and religion of the city,
the practice of which had in former times, it was felt, made Athens great; Alcibiades was
suspected of sacrilege and Critias was an atheist. It is unlikely that Socrates' accusers wished or
expected the death penalty to be inflicted; it would have been possible for him to follow the
usual course of going into voluntary exile before the verdict, or of proposing banishment as an
alternative to the death penalty, when it would probably have been accepted. However, his
unconditional belief that he had done no harm to the city led to his obviously unacceptable
counter-proposal that he should be dined for life at public expense (a privilege afforded to great
benefactors of the state) or alternatively that his friends should pay a fine on his behalf; perhaps
not surprisingly a greater number of the jury voted for the death penalty than had condemned
him in the first place. Execution was postponed, Xenophon says for a month, during the absence
of the state ship on a sacred embassy (see DELOS); during this period Socrates was in prison and
visited by his friends, their conversations recorded in Plato's dialogues Crito and Phaedo. The
latter dialogue movingly describes Socrates' unflinching acceptance of the cup of hemlock (by
which the death penalty was carried out at Athens).

Socrates himself wrote no books, and we are dependent mainly upon the widely diverging
descriptions of Aristophanes, Xenophon, and above all Plato for our knowledge of his beliefs and
also for our understanding of his uncompromising adherence to the philosophic life. This had
such a profound effect upon his contemporaries and, through Plato, on subsequent philosophy,
that all earlier Greek philosophers are referred to as the Presocratics. Xenophon conveys the deep
reverence he felt for the man, but was unable to understand his philosophical concerns.
Aristophanes' malicious and satirical portrayal in the Clouds reflected the anti-intellectual
prejudices of his audience, depicting Socrates as no different from the other intellectuals of the
day, the sophists. (In Plato's Apology Socrates refers to the influence of ‘the comic poets’ as a
factor in his unpopularity; Plato in the Symposium is at pains to show that a friendly relationship
existed between Socrates and Aristophanes in real life.) Plato's picture of Socrates is also in some
measure his own creation, but it is possible to identify from it some features genuinely those of
Socrates: his concern with the difference between true knowledge and opinion which may merely
happen to be correct; his search for definitions (What is courage? What is justice?) without
which true knowledge is unattainable, in the belief that there are such things as courage and
virtue; his particular method of inquiry by question and answer (see ELENCHUS) in order to
reach these definitions; the question of whether ‘goodness’ (aretē, ‘virtue’, ‘excellence of
character’) can be taught, as the sophists said it could; the feeling that goodness is connected
with knowledge of the good, and that once one has that knowledge one cannot deliberately act
badly (‘no one errs deliberately’). And all this intellectual examination was aimed, as Socrates
insisted, at the practical end of achieving happiness in this life by right living: ‘the unexamined
life is not worth living.’

There is no doubt that this kind of questioning made Socrates highly unpopular with his fellow
citizens, if not with the young who enjoyed seeing their elders ridiculed. He compared himself
with the gadfly, stinging people out of their complacency. (Alcibiades compared him with a
sting-ray, inducing a state of numb helplessness.) Unlike the people he questioned, he himself
professed complete ignorance, asking his questions purely for information. When his friend
Chaerephon visited the Delphic Oracle to enquire if any man was wiser than Socrates, and
returned with the answer that there was none, Socrates concluded that his wisdom consisted of
knowing his own ignorance, as others did not know theirs. Some thought his assumption of
ignorance was merely a pose and described it as an example of ‘Socratic irony’. In a famous
passage of Plato's Theaetetus Socrates is represented as comparing himself with a midwife; he is
not a teacher and cannot himself give birth to wisdom, but he can help others to discover and
bring to birth the truth within themselves.

Both Plato and Xenophon refer to a less rational aspect of Socrates, his daimonion or ‘divine
sign’, which he often called simply ‘the customary sign’. Plato has Socrates describe it in the
Apology (where Socrates supposes it to be the reason behind his indictment for introducing new
gods into the city) as a kind of inner voice which since childhood has turned him back from
action but never urged him towards it; it was this divine sign that prevented him from taking part
in politics. He believed that the sign was sent by the gods, in whom, unlike most of the sophists,
he believed unquestioningly. He differed from his sophist contemporaries in many other respects:
for example, he did not teach, in the sense that he did not impart formal knowledge, nor did he
ever take fees from the young men who associated with him; far from being sceptical or a moral
relativist, he believed that there was such a thing as virtue, that it was knowable, and that the
good life had little to do with material success. But the effect on others of his questioning
unexamined assumptions had its destructive and demoralizing aspect.

With his broad, flat, turned-up nose, prominent bulging eyes, thick lips, and a paunch, Socrates
was famous for his ugliness. Yet his appearance in no way detracted from his magnetic
personality. Alicibiades in Plato's Symposium contrasted his outward appearance with his inner
worth. (See also SILENUS.)

Much of Socrates' later influence was due not so much to his doctrines as to the integrity and
consistency of his life and death, and to the memory he left behind of an inspired talker and an
outstanding intellect. The scantiness of and uncertainty about his positive doctrines led to schools
of the most diverse opinions being founded by his disciples, by Plato, Antisthenēs the Cynic,
Eucleidēs of Megara, and Aristippus, the predecessor of Epicurus.

See also MEMORABILIA and SYMPOSIUM of Xenophon.


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Philosophy Dictionary: Socrates
(c. 470-399 BC) The engaging and infuriating figure of the early dialogues of Plato, Socrates
represented the turning point in Greek philosophy, at which the self-critical reflection on the
nature of our concepts and our reasoning emerged as a major concern, alongside cosmological
speculation and enquiry. The historical Socrates cannot easily be distinguished from the Platonic
character, as there are few other sources for Socrates' life and doctrines (Xenophon is one). He
served as a soldier in the Peloponnesian War, and was married to Xanthippe, by whom he had
three male children. He was of strong build, great endurance, and completely indifferent to
wealth and luxury.

His subordination of all other concerns to a life spent inquiring after wisdom is the most
commanding example, seldom approached, of the proper way of living for a philosopher. He
remains the model of a great teacher, but it is uncertain whether he had anything in the nature of
a formal school. His friendship with some of the aristocratic party in Athens is often supposed to
explain why he was eventually brought to trial, on charges of introducing strange gods and
corrupting the youth. Plato's Crito and Phaedo record the inspirational manner in which he
refused to break the laws of Athens and escape during the thirty days between his trial and
execution, and they celebrate the fortitude with which he met his death. Whilst his skill at the
dialectical, questioning method is unquestioned, his positive contributions and doctrines are
matters of some debate, and opinions vary between ascribing to him many of the positive
doctrines of Plato, and denying that he had any doctrines at all of his own, apart from his
attachment to rigorous dialectical method as the instrument for separating truth from error. All
the Greek schools of philosophy conceived of themselves as owing much to Socrates, except for
the Epicureans who disliked him intensely, calling him ‘the Athenian buffoon’.
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Columbia Encyclopedia: Socrates
(sŏk'rətēz) , 469–399 B.C., Greek philosopher of Athens. Famous for his view of philosophy as a
pursuit proper and necessary to all intelligent men, he is one of the great examples of a man who
lived by his principles even though they ultimately cost him his life. Knowledge of the man and
his teachings comes indirectly from certain dialogues of his disciple Plato and from the
Memorabilia of Xenophon. In spite of conflicting interpretations of his teachings, the accounts of
these two writers are largely supplementary.
Life
Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, a sculptor. It is said that in early life he practiced his
father's art. In middle life he married Xanthippe, who is legendary as a shrew, although the
stories have little basis in ascertainable fact. It is not certain who were Socrates's teachers in
philosophy, but he seems to have been acquainted with the doctrines of Parmenides, Heraclitus,
Anaxagoras, and the atomists. He was widely known for his intellectual powers even before he
was 40, when, according to Plato's report of Socrates's speech in the Apology, the oracle at
Delphi pronounced him the wisest man in Greece. In that speech Socrates maintained that he was
puzzled by this acclaim until he discovered that, while others professed knowledge without
realizing their ignorance, he at least was aware of his own ignorance.
Socrates became convinced that his calling was to search for wisdom about right conduct by
which he might guide the intellectual and moral improvement of the Athenians. Neglecting his
own affairs, he spent his time discussing virtue, justice, and piety wherever his fellow citizens
congregated. Some felt that he also neglected public duty, for he never sought public office,
although he was famous for his courage in the military campaigns in which he served. In his self-
appointed task as gadfly to the Athenians, Socrates made numerous enemies.
Aristophanes burlesqued Socrates in his play The Clouds and attributed to him some of the faults
of the Sophists (professional teachers of rhetoric). Although Socrates in fact baited the Sophists,
his other critics seem to have held a view similar to that of Aristophanes. In 399 B.C. he was
brought to trial for corrupting youth and for religious heresies. Obscure political issues
surrounded the trial, but it seems that Socrates was tried also for being the friend and teacher of
Alcibiades and Critias, both of whom had betrayed Athens. The trial and death of Socrates, who
was given poison hemlock to drink, are described with great dramatic power in the Apology, the
Crito, and the Phaedo of Plato.
Philosophy
Socrates's contributions to philosophy were a new method of approaching knowledge, a
conception of the soul as the seat both of normal waking consciousness and of moral character,
and a sense of the universe as purposively mind-ordered. His method, called dialectic, consisted
in examining statements by pursuing their implications, on the assumption that if a statement
were true it could not lead to false consequences. The method may have been suggested by Zeno
of Elea, but Socrates refined it and applied it to ethical problems.
His doctrine of the soul led him to the belief that all virtues converge into one, which is the good,
or knowledge of one's true self and purposes through the course of a lifetime. Knowledge in turn
depends on the nature or essence of things as they really are, for the underlying forms of things
are more real than their experienced exemplifications. This conception leads to a teleological
view of the world that all the forms participate in and lead to the highest form, the form of the
good. Plato later elaborated this doctrine as central to his own philosophy. Socrates's view is
often described as holding virtue and knowledge to be identical, so that no man knowingly does
wrong. Since virtue is identical with knowledge, it can be taught, but not as a professional
specialty as the Sophists had pretended to teach it. However, Socrates himself gave no final
answer to how virtue can be learned.
Bibliography
See N. Gulley, The Philosophy of Socrates (1968); G. X. Santas, Socrates (1982); L. E. Navia,
Socrates: The Man and His Philosophy (1989); T. C. Brickhouse and N. D. Smith, Socrates on
Trial (1989).
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Quotes By: Socrates
Quotes:

"The fewer our wants the more we resemble the Gods."

"Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire; the other is to get it."

"Whenever, therefore, people are deceived and form opinions wide of the truth, it is clear that the
error has slid into their minds through the medium of certain resemblances to that truth."

"If I tell you that I would be disobeying the god and on that account it is impossible for me to
keep quiet, you won't be persuaded by me, taking it that I am ionizing. And if I tell you that it is
the greatest good for a human being to have discussions every day about virtue and the other
things you hear me talking about, examining myself and others, and that the unexamined life is
not livable for a human being, you will be even less persuaded."

"The hour of departure has arrived and we go our ways; I to die, and you to live. Which is
better? Only God knows."

"To fear death, my friends, is only to think ourselves wise, without being wise: for it is to think
that we know what we do not know. For anything that men can tell, death may be the greatest
good that can happen to them: but they fear it as if they knew quite well that it was the greatest
of evils. And what is this but that shameful ignorance of thinking that we know what we do not
know?"
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Wikipedia: Socrates
Western Philosophy
Ancient philosophy

Socrates

Name Socrates (Σωκράτης)

Birth ca. 470 BC

Death 399 BC

School/tradition Classical Greek, Socratic school

Main interests epistemology, ethics

Notable ideas Socratic method, Socratic irony

Influences Anaxagoras, Parmenides, Prodicus, Diotima

Influenced Plato, Aristotle, Western philosophy


This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. For the Portuguese prime minister,
see José Sócrates. For other uses of Socrates, see Socrates (disambiguation).
Socrates (Greek: Σωκράτης, invariably anglicized as [ˈsɔkɹətiːz], Sǒcratēs, SOCK-ruh-teez; c.
470 BC–399 BCE) was a Classical Greek philosopher. The most reliable source of information
concerning Socrates is Plato. However, classical scholars disagree as to whether a historically
accurate portrayal of Socrates can be extracted from any of the sources. Even Plato is alleged to
create an incompatible portrayal of Socrates: his dialogues portray Socrates as a teacher who
denies having disciples, as a man of reason who obeys a divine voice in his head, and a pious
man who is executed for the state's own expediency; Socrates disparages the pleasures of the
senses, yet is excited by beauty; he is devoted to the education of the citizens of Athens, yet
indifferent to his own sons.
Life
Details about Socrates are derived from three contemporary sources: the dialogues of Plato and
Xenophon (associates or students of Socrates), and the plays of Aristophanes. There is no
evidence that Socrates himself published any writings. He has been depicted by some scholars,
including Eric Havelock and Walter Ong, as a champion of oral modes of communication,
standing up at the dawn of writing against its haphazard diffusion.[1]
Aristophanes' play The Clouds portrays Socrates as a clown who teaches his students how to
bamboozle their way out of debt. Most of Aristophanes' works, however, function as parodies.
Thus, one should not take his portrayal of Socrates at face value.

Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, by Jean-Baptiste Regnault
(1791).
According to Plato, Socrates' father was Sophroniscus and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife.
Socrates married Xanthippe, who was much younger than her husband. She bore him three sons,
Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. His friend Crito criticized him for abandoning his
sons when he refused to try to escape before his execution.
It is unclear how Socrates earned a living. According to Timon of Phlius and later sources,
Socrates took over the profession of stonemasonry from his father. There was a tradition in
antiquity, not credited by modern scholarship, that Socrates crafted the statues of the Three
Graces, which stood near the Acropolis until the second century AD.[2] There is evidence which
indicates that Socrates never engaged in a profession: In Xenophon's Symposium, Socrates is
reported as saying he devotes himself only to what he regards as the most important art or
occupation: discussing philosophy. Aristophanes portrays Socrates as accepting payment for
teaching and running a sophist school with Chaerephon, in The Clouds, while in Plato's Apology
and Symposium and in Xenophon's accounts, Socrates explicitly denies accepting payment for
teaching. More specifically, in the Apology Socrates cites his poverty as proof that he is not a
teacher.
Several of Plato's dialogues refer to Socrates' military service. Socrates says he served in the
Athenian army during three campaigns: at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium. In the Symposium
Alcibiades describes Socrates' valor in the battles of Potidaea and Delium, recounting how
Socrates saved his life in the former battle (219e-221b), although killing many of his troops in
the process. Socrates' exceptional service at Delium is also mentioned in the Laches, by the
general the dialogue is named after (181b). In the Apology Socrates compares his military service
to his courtroom troubles, and says that anyone on the jury who thinks he ought to retreat from
philosophy must also think that soldiers should retreat when it looks like they will be killed in
battle.
Trial and death
See main article: Trial of Socrates

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787).


The trial and execution of Socrates was the climax of his career and a central event in the
dialogues of Plato.
Socrates admits in this series of dialogues that he could have avoided the trial by abandoning
philosophy and going home to mind his own business. After his conviction, he could have
avoided the death penalty by escaping with the help of his friends. The reason for his cooperation
with the state's mandate forms a valuable philosophical insight in its own right, and is best
articulated by the dialogues themselves, especially in his dialogue with Crito.
Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian Hegemony to its
decline with the defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens
was seeking to stabilize and recover from its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public may have
been entertaining doubts about democracy as an efficient form of government. Socrates appears
to have been a critic of democracy, and his trial is interpreted by some scholars to be an
expression of political infighting.
Despite claiming death-defying loyalty to his city, Socrates' pursuit of virtue and his strict
adherence to truth clashed with the current course of Athenian politics and society. Here it is
telling to refer to Thucydides: "Applause, in a word, went to one who got in first with some evil
act, and to him who cheered on another to attempt some crime that he was not thinking of."[3] He
praises Sparta, arch rival to Athens, directly and indirectly in various dialogs.[4] But perhaps the
most historically accurate of Socrates' offences to the city was his position as a social and moral
critic. Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development of immorality within
his region, Socrates worked to undermine the collective notion of "might makes right" so
common to Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the gadfly of the state, insofar
as he irritated the establishment with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness. His
attempts to improve the Athenian's sense of justice may have been the source of his execution.
According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend
Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded
that none was wiser than Socrates. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a riddle,
considering there is no record of the oracle ever giving individuals praise for their achievements
or knowledge. He proceeded to test the riddle through approaching men who were considered to
be wise by the people of Athens. He questioned the men of Athens about their knowledge of
good, beauty, and virtue. Finding that they knew nothing and yet believed themselves to know
much, Socrates came to the conclusion that he was wise only insofar as "that what I don't know, I
don't think I know." Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly
questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing.
Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates is asked to
propose his own punishment, he suggests a wage paid by the government instead, to finance the
time he spends as Athens' benefactor.[5]
He was nevertheless found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and sentenced
to death by drinking a mix of the poisonous hemlock. Socrates' death is described at the end of
Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After
drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his limbs felt heavy. After he lay
down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his
legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before dying,
Socrates spoke his last words to Crito saying, "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't
forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that
Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom, of the soul from
the body. The Roman philosopher Seneca attempted to emulate Socrates' death by hemlock when
forced to commit suicide by the Emperor Nero.
According to Xenophon and Plato, Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were
able to bribe the prison guards. After escaping, Socrates would have had to flee from Athens.
However, Socrates refused to escape for several reasons. 1. He believed that such a flight would
indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has. 2. Even if he did leave, he,
and his teaching, would fare no better in another country. 3. Having knowingly agreed to live
under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes
by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his
'contract' with the state, and by so doing harming it, an act contrary to Socratic principle. The full
reasoning behind his refusal to flee is the main subject of the Crito.
According to Xenophon's story of Socrates' defense to the jury, Socrates purposefully gives a
defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead." Xenophon's
explanation goes on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and
how Socrates will be glad to circumvent these by being sentenced to death. It is also understood
that Socrates not only wished to avoid the pains of old age, but also to die because he "actually
believed the right time had come for him to die."
Philosophy

Part of a series on
Platonism
Platonic idealism
Platonic realism
Middle Platonism
Neoplatonism
Articles on Neoplatonism
Platonic epistemology
Socratic method
Socratic dialogue
Theory of forms
Platonic doctrine of recollection
Form of the Good
Individuals
Plato
Socrates
Alcibiades
Protagoras
Parmenides
Discussions of Plato's works
Dialogues of Plato
Metaphor of the sun
Analogy of the divided line
Allegory of the cave
Third Man Argument
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Socratic method
See main article: Socratic method
Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry,
known as the Socratic Method or method of elenchos, which he largely applied to the
examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato
in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a problem, you would ask a question and when finding the
answer, you would also have an answer to your problem. This led to the beginning of the
Scientific Method, in which the first step says to name the problem in the form of a question. For
this, Socrates is customarily regarded as the father of political philosophy and ethics or moral
philosophy, and as a fountainhead of all the main themes in Western philosophy in general. (The
method may have been suggested by Zeno of Elea, but Socrates refined it and applied it to
ethical problems.)
In this method, a series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine their
underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. The Socratic method is a negative method
of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and
eliminating those which lead to contradictions. It was designed to force one to examine one's
own beliefs and the validity of such beliefs. In fact, Socrates once said, "I know you won't
believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others."[6]
Philosophical beliefs
The beliefs of Socrates, as opposed to those of Plato, are difficult to discern. Little in the way of
concrete evidence demarcates the two. The lengthy theories given in most of the dialogues are
those of Plato, and it is thought that Plato so adapted the Socratic style as to make the literary
character and the philosopher himself impossible to distinguish. Others argue that he did have his
own theories and beliefs, but there is much controversy over what these might have been, owing
to the difficulty of separating Socrates from Plato and the difficulty of interpreting even the
dramatic writings concerning Socrates. Consequently, distinguishing the philosophical beliefs of
Socrates from those of Plato and Xenophon is not easy and it must be remembered that what is
attributed to Socrates might more closely reflect the specific concerns of these thinkers.
If anything in general can be said about the philosophical beliefs of Socrates, it is that he was
morally, intellectually, and politically at odds with his fellow Athenians. When he is on trial for
heresy and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, he uses his method of elenchos to
demonstrate to the jurors that their moral values are wrong-headed. He tells them that they are
concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they ought to be
worried about the "welfare of their souls." Socrates's belief in the immortality of the soul, and his
conviction that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary seemed to provoke if not
annoyance, at least ridicule. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine that arete (that is,
virtue) can be taught. He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent military
general Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence
was more a matter of divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to
his lack of anxiety about the future of his own sons.
Socrates frequently says that his ideas are not his own, but his teachers'. He mentions several
influences: Prodicus the rhetor and Anaxagoras the scientist. Perhaps surprisingly, Socrates
claims to have been deeply influenced by two women besides his mother. He says that Diotima, a
witch and priestess from Mantinea taught him all he knows about eros, or love, and that Aspasia,
the mistress of Pericles, taught him the art of funeral orations. John Burnet argued that his
principal teacher was the Anaxagorean Archelaus but that his ideas were as Plato described them;
Eric A. Havelock, on the other hand, considered Socrates' association with the Anaxagoreans to
be evidence of Plato's philosophical separation from Socrates.
Knowledge
Bust of Socrates, Roman marble, Louvre museum
Socrates seems to have often said that his wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own
ignorance. Socrates may have believed that wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance, that
those who did wrong knew no better. The one thing Socrates consistently claimed to have
knowledge of was "the art of love" which he connected with the concept of "the love of
wisdom", i.e., philosophy. He never actually claimed to be wise, only to understand the path that
a lover of wisdom must take in pursuing it. It is debatable whether Socrates believed that humans
(as opposed to gods like Apollo) could actually become wise. On the one hand, he drew a clear
line between human ignorance and ideal knowledge; on the other, Plato's Symposium (Diotima's
Speech) and Republic (Allegory of the Cave) describe a method for ascending to wisdom.
In Plato's Theaetetus (150a) Socrates compares himself to a true matchmaker (προμνηστικός), as
distinguished from a panderer (προᾰγωγός). This distinction is echoed in Xenophon's
Symposium (3.20), when Socrates jokes about his certainty of being able to make a fortune, if he
chose to practice the art of pandering. For his part as a philosophical interlocutor, he leads his
respondent to a clearer conception of wisdom, although he claims that he is not himself a teacher
(Apology). His role, he claims, is more properly to be understood as analogous to a midwife
(μαῖα). Socrates explains that he is himself barren of theories, but knows how to bring the
theories of others to birth and determine whether they are worthy or mere "wind eggs"
(ἀνεμιαῖον). Perhaps significantly, he points out that midwives are barren due to age, and women
who have never given birth are unable to become midwives; a truly barren woman would have
no experience or knowledge of birth and would be unable to separate the worthy infants from
those that should be left on the hillside to be exposed. To judge this, the midwife must have
experience and knowledge of what she is judging.
Virtue
Socrates believed that the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather
than the pursuit of material wealth. He always invited others to try to concentrate more on
friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt that this was the best way for people
to grow together as a populace. His actions lived up to this: in the end, Socrates accepted his
death sentence when most thought he would simply leave Athens, as he felt he could not run
away from or go against the will of his community; as mentioned above, his reputation for valor
on the battlefield was without reproach.
The idea that humans possessed certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates' teachings.
These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person to have, foremost of which
were the philosophical or intellectual virtues. Socrates stressed that "virtue was the most valuable
of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows
of existence, and that it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know."
Ultimately, virtue relates to the form of the Good; to truly be good and not just act with "right
opinion"; one must come to know the unchanging Good in itself. In the Republic, he describes
the "divided line", a continuum of ignorance to knowledge with the Good on top of it all; only at
the top of this line do we find true good and the knowledge of such.
Politics
It is often argued that Socrates believed "ideals belong in a world that only the wise man can
understand", making the philosopher the only type of person suitable to govern others. According
to Plato's account, Socrates was in no way subtle about his particular beliefs on government. He
openly objected to the democracy that ran Athens during his adult life. It was not only Athenian
democracy: Socrates objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a
perfect republic led by philosophers, and Athenian government was far from that. It is, however,
possible that Plato's account is coloured here by his own views. During the last years of Socrates'
life, Athens was in continual flux due to political upheaval. Democracy was at last overthrown
by a junta known as the Thirty Tyrants, led by Plato's relative, Critias, who had been a student of
Socrates. The Tyrants ruled for about a year before the Athenian democracy was reinstated, at
which point it declared an amnesty for all recent events. Four years later, it acted to silence the
voice of Socrates.
This argument is often denied, and the question is one of the biggest philosophical debates when
trying to determine what, exactly, it was that Socrates believed. The strongest argument of those
who claim that Socrates did not actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is Socrates'
constant refusal to enter into politics or participate in government of any sort; he often stated that
he could not look into other's matters or tell people how to live their lives when he did not yet
understand how to live his own. He believed he was a philosopher engaged in the pursuit of
Truth, and did not claim to know it fully. Socrates' acceptance of his death sentence, after his
conviction by the Boule (Senate), can also be seen to support this view. It is often claimed that
much of the anti-democratic leanings are from Plato, who was never able to overcome his disgust
at what was done to his teacher. In any case, it is clear that Socrates thought that the rule of the
Thirty Tyrants was at least as objectionable as democracy; when called before them to assist in
the arrest of a fellow Athenian, Socrates refused and narrowly escaped death before the Tyrants
were overthrown. He did however fulfill his duty to serve as prytanis when a trial of a group of
generals who presided over a disastrous naval campaign were judged; even then he maintained
an uncompromising attitude, being one of those who refused to proceed in a manner not
supported by the laws, despite intense pressure.[7] Judging by his actions, he considered the rule
of the Thirty Tyrants less legitimate than that of the democratic senate who sentenced him to
death.
Mysticism
In the dialogues of Plato, Socrates often seems to purport a mystical side, discussing
reincarnation and the mystery religions; however, this is generally attributed to Plato[citation needed].
Regardless, this cannot be dismissed out of hand, as we cannot be sure of the differences
between the views of Plato and Socrates; in addition, there seem to be some corollaries in the
works of Xenophon. In the culmination of the philosophic path as discussed in Plato's
Symposium and Republic, one comes to the Sea of Beauty or to the sight of the form of the Good
in an experience akin to mystical revelation; only then can one become wise. (In the Symposium,
Socrates credits his speech on the philosophic path to his teacher, the priestess Diotima, who is
not even sure if Socrates is capable of reaching the highest mysteries.) In the Meno, he refers to
the Eleusinian Mysteries, telling Meno he would understand Socrates' answers better if only he
could stay for the initiations next week. Further confusions result from the nature of these
sources, insofar as the Platonic dialogues are arguably the work of an artist-philosopher, whose
meaning does not volunteer itself to the passive reader nor again the lifelong scholar. Plato
himself was a playwright before taking up the study of philosophy. His works are, indeed,
dialogues; Plato's choice of this, the medium of Sophocles, Euripides, and the fictions of theatre,
may reflect the interpretable nature of his writings. What is more, the first word of nearly all
Plato's works is a, or the, significant term for that respective study, and is used with the
commonly approved definition in mind. Finally, the Phaedrus and the Symposium each allude to
Socrates' coy delivery of philosophic truths in conversation; the Socrates of the Phaedrus goes so
far as to demand such dissembling and mystery in all writing. The mysticism we often find in
Plato, appearing here and there and couched in some enigmatic tract of symbol and irony, is
often at odds with the mysticism that Plato's Socrates expounds in some other dialogue. These
mystical resolutions to thitherto rigorous inquiries and analyses fail to satisfy caring readers,
without fail. Whether they would fail to satisfy readers who understood them is another question,
and will not, in all probability, ever be resolved.
Perhaps the most interesting facet of this is Socrates' reliance on what the Greeks called his
"daemonic sign", an averting (ἀποτρεπτικός) inner voice that Socrates heard only when he was
about to make a mistake. It was this sign that prevented Socrates from entering into politics. In
the Phaedrus, we are told Socrates considered this to be a form of "divine madness", the sort of
insanity that is a gift from the gods and gives us poetry, mysticism, love, and even philosophy
itself. Alternately, the sign is often taken to be what we would call "intuition"; however, Socrates'
characterization of the phenomenon as "daemonic" suggests that its origin is divine, mysterious,
and independent of his own thoughts.
An Ahmadiyyah Scholar, Mirza Tahir Ahmad, (the Fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyyat Movement
in Islam) argues that Socrates experienced what can be called a prophetic revelation. He writes in
his book, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth, that "Socrates seems to have a very
personalized and intense relationship with the Supreme Being. His very personality is built on
the pattern of the messengers of God."[8]
Satirical playwrights
He was prominently lampooned in Aristophanes' comedy The Clouds, produced when Socrates
was in his mid-forties; he said at his trial (according to Plato) that the laughter of the theater was
a harder task to answer than the arguments of his accusers. Soren Kierkegaard believed this play
was a more accurate representation of Socrates than those of his students. In the play, Socrates is
ridiculed for his dirtiness, which is associated with the Laconizing fad; also in plays by Callias,
Eupolis, and Telecleides. In all of these, Socrates and the Sophists were criticised for "the moral
dangers inherent in contemporary thought and literature".
Prose sources
Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle are the main sources for the historical Socrates; however,
Xenophon and Plato were direct disciples of Socrates, and presumably, they idealize him;
however, they wrote the only continuous descriptions of Socrates that have come down to us.
Aristotle refers frequently, but in passing, to Socrates in his writings. Almost all of Plato's works
center around Socrates. However, Plato's latter works appear to be more his own philosophy put
into the mouth of his mentor.
The Socratic dialogues
See main article: Socratic dialogues
The Socratic dialogues are a series of dialogues written by Plato and Xenophon in the form of
discussions between Socrates and other persons of his time, or as discussions between Socrates'
followers over his concepts. Plato's Phaedo is an example of this latter category. Although his
Apology is a monologue delivered by Socrates, it is usually grouped with the dialogues.
The Apology professes to be a record of the actual speech that Socrates delivered in his own
defense at the trial. In the Athenian jury system, an "apology" is composed of three parts: a
speech, followed by a counter-assessment, then some final words. "Apology" is a transliteration,
not a translation, of the Greek apologia, meaning "defense"; in this sense it is not apologetic
according to our contemporary use of the term.
Plato generally does not place his own ideas in the mouth of a specific speaker; he lets ideas
emerge via the Socratic method, under the guidance of Socrates. Most of the dialogues present
Socrates applying this method to some extent, but nowhere as completely as in the Euthyphro. In
this dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro go through several iterations of refining the answer to
Socrates' question, "...What is the pious, and what the impious?"
In Plato's dialogues, learning appears as a process of remembering. The soul, before its
incarnation in the body, was in the realm of Ideas (very similar to the Platonic "Forms"). There, it
saw things the way they truly are, rather than the pale shadows or copies we experience on earth.
By a process of questioning, the soul can be brought to remember the ideas in their pure form,
thus bringing wisdom.
Especially for Plato's writings referring to Socrates, it is not always clear which ideas brought
forward by Socrates (or his friends) actually belonged to Socrates and which of these may have
been new additions or elaborations by Plato — this is known as the Socratic problem. Generally,
the early works of Plato are considered to be close to the spirit of Socrates, whereas the later
works — including Phaedo and the Republic — are considered to be possibly products of Plato's
elaborations.
See also
• Socrate, a symphonic drama by Erik Satie.
• The Plot To Save Socrates, a science fiction novel by Paul Levinson.
• On the Concept of Irony with Continual Reference to Socrates, a treatise on Socrates and
Socratic irony by Søren Kierkegaard.
• Jacques-Louis David, La Mort de Socrate, paint, 1787, MET, New-York
• Francesco Albamonte, The Death of Socrates, short measuring, 2007, with music by the
Ensemble Kérylos.
Notes
1. ^ See for example Walter J. Ong. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
(second edition). Routledge, London and New York, 2002, pp. 78-79.
2. ^ The ancient tradition is attested in Pausanias, 1.22.8; for a modern denial, see Kleine
Pauly, "Sokrates" 7; the tradition is a confusion with the sculptor, Socrates of Thebes,
mentioned in Pausanias 9.25.3, a contemporary of Pindar.
3. ^ Trans. based on Gomme, Commentary on Thucydides 2.384.
4. ^ For example, Crito 52e.
5. ^ Brun, Jean (1978 (sixth edition)). Socrate. Presses universitaires de France, 39-40.
ISBN 2-13-035620-6.
6. ^ Coppens, Philip, "Socrates, that’s the question," Feature Articles - Biographies,
PhilipCoppens.com.
7. ^ Kagan, Donald. The Fall of the Athenian Empire. First. Ithaca, New York: Cornell
University Press, 1987.
8. ^ Mirza Tahir Ahmad, Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth, Chapter, Greek
Philosophy.
Further reading
• Bruell, C. (1994). “On Plato’s Political Philosophy,” Review of Politics, 56: 261-82.
• Bruell, C. (1999). On the Socratic Education: An Introduction to the Shorter Platonic
Dialogues, Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
• Egan, K. The educated mind : how cognitive tools shape our understanding. (1997)
University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-226-19036-6 p. 137-144
• Grube, G.M.A.(2002). " Plato, Five Dialogues". Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.
• Hanson, V.D. (2001). "Socrates Dies at Delium, 424 B.C.," What If? 2, Robert Cowley,
editor, G.P. Putnam's Sons, NY.
• Luce, J.V. (1992). An Introduction to Greek Philosophy, Thames & Hudson, NY.
• Maritain, J. (1930, 1991). Introduction to Philosophy, Christian Classics, Inc.,
Westminster, MD.
• Robinson, R. (1953). Ch. 2: "Elenchus", Plato's Earlier Dialectic, 2nd edition (Clarendon
Press, Oxford).
• Robinson, R. (1953). Ch. 3: "Elenchus: Direct and Indirect," Plato's Earlier Dialectic,
2nd edition (Clarendon Press, Oxford).
• Taylor, C.C.W. , Hare, R.M. & Barnes, J. (1998). Greek Philosophers — Socrates, Plato,
and Aristotle, Oxford University Press, NY.
• Taylor, C.C.W. (2001). Socrates: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
• Vlastos, Gregory. (1991). "Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher". Ithaca, NY: Cornell
University Press
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Socrates

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:


Socrates
• Apology of Socrates, by Plato.
• Greek Philosophy: Socrates
• Project Gutenberg e-texts on Socrates, amongst others:
○ The Dialogues of Plato (see also Wikipedia articles on Dialogues by Plato)
○ The writings of Xenophon, such as the Memorablia and Hellenica.
○ The satirical plays by Aristophanes
○ Aristotle's writings
○ Voltaire's Socrates
• A free audiobook of the Socratic dialogue Euthyphro at LibriVox
• Socratic Method Research Portal
• Socrates, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2005)

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Persondata
NAME Socrates
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sokrates; Σωκράτης (Greek)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Greek philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH circa 470 BC
PLACE OF BIRTH Athens
DATE OF DEATH 399 BC
PLACE OF DEATH Athens
be-x-old:Сакратeml:Sócretcdo:Sŭ-gáh-lăk-dā̤pms:Sòcratecu:Сѡкратъdiq:Sokrates

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