Bits of Information about Socrates

Socrates - Synopsis
Socrates was born circa 470 BC, in Athens, Greece. We know of his life through the
writings of his students, including Plato and Xenophon. His "Socratic method," laid the
groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy. When the political climate of
Greece turned, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in 399 BC. He
accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile.

Socrates was known for his courage in battle and fearlessness, a trait that stayed with
him throughout his life. After his trial, he compared his refusal to retreat from his legal
troubles to a soldier's refusal to retreat from battle when threatened with death.

Plato's Symposium provides the best details of Socrates's physical appearance. He was
not the ideal of Athenian masculinity. Short and stocky, with a snub nose and bulging
eyes, Socrates always seemed to appear to be staring. However, Plato pointed out that in
the eyes of his students, Socrates possessed a different kind of attractiveness, not based
on a physical ideal but on his brilliant debates and penetrating thought. Socrates always
emphasized the importance of the mind over the relative unimportance of the human
body.

http://www.biography.com/people/socrates-9488126


Socrates
Socrates (* 469 BC in Athens, 399 BC) is fundamental in Western thinking. Almost all
the major philosophical schools of antiquity have to rely on Socrates. Michel de
Montaigne (French Philosopher) called him the "master of masters" and Karl Jaspers
wrote, "Socrates to have in mind is one of the essential conditions of our philosophy
Socrates is widely regarded as the spiritual father of today's scientific thought. He was
an advocate of reason and was highly involved with deciphering truth. What is true and
what is wrong? What is the way of a true life? Socrates had no ready answers. He left it
to each of his students to find their own truth.
Three things he gave them along the way:
1. Keep interested in the truth.
2. Make sure that your soul is as good as possible.
3. To get a good soul, maintain the four virtues of prudence, temperance, courage and
charity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_happiness



Thinking Like Socrates
Socrates possessed qualities of the mind and character that continue to inspire us today. Here
are only a few:

1. Humility - he never claimed to know anything or wielded his great mind arrogantly over less
capable minds. He only asked questions and always admitted that he did not know.

2. Open-mindedness: is a natural friend to humility and the recognition of one's fallibility as a
knower.

To be open-minded is . . . to be critically receptive to alternative possibilities, to be willing to
think again despite having formulated a view, and to be concerned to defuse any factors that
constrain ones thinking in predetermined ways.

The Socratic Method
The ancient Socrates pioneered a method of inquiry, which has been dubbed "The Socratic
Method". The method consists of asking questions in order to penetrate deeper into various
arguments and understandings about lifes big questions and issues. This logical tool is vastly
helpful in challenging arguments non-coercively and allows a speaker to have an audience
declare answers, rather than the inquirer. This tool can be used to challenge any belief or
opinion, and can be very helpful for philosophers of all ages. The Socratic Method can be applied
to challenging every position that a given person has; indeed, if each person were to challenge
his/her views and take the opposite position on any issue, they would learn the perspective of
other people and would learn more about the position they had initially chosen, which might
lead to a deeper consideration of the possible beliefs one may have.

https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/socratic-teaching/606