Socrates
4:14 PM
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.
Born circa 470
BC in Athens, Greece, Socrates's life is chronicled through only a few
sources—the dialogues of Plato and
Xenophon and the plays of Aristophanes. Because these writings had other
purposes than reporting his life, it is likely none present a completely
accurate picture. However, collectively, they provide a unique and vivid
portrayal of Socrates's philosophy and personality.
Socrates was the
son of Sophroniscus, an Athenian stone mason and sculptor, and Phaenarete, a
midwife. Because he wasn't from a noble family, he probably received a basic
Greek education and learned his father's craft at a young age. It is believed
Socrates worked as mason for many years before he devoted his life to
philosophy. Contemporaries differ in their account of how Socrates supported
himself as a philosopher. Both Xenophon and Aristophanes state Socrates
received payment for teaching, while Plato writes Socrates explicitly denied accepting
payment, citing his poverty as proof.
Socrates married
Xanthippe, a younger woman, who bore him three sons—Lamprocles, Sophroniscus
and Menexenus. There is little known about her except for Xenophon's
characterization of Xanthippe as "undesirable." He writes she was not
happy with Socrates's second profession and complained that he wasn’t
supporting family as a philosopher. By his own words, Socrates had little to do
with his sons' upbringing and expressed far more interest in the intellectual
development of Athens' young boys.
Athenian law
required all able bodied males serve as citizen soldiers, on call for duty from
ages 18 until 60. According to Plato, Socrates served in the armored
infantry—known as the hoplite—with shield, long spear and face mask. He
participated in three military campaigns during the Peloponnesian War, at
Delium, Amphipolis, and Potidaea, where he saved the life of Alcibiades, a
popular Athenian general. 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. This credo inspired Plato’s philosophy of
dividing reality into two separate realms, the world of the senses and the
world of ideas, declaring that the latter was the only important one.
Socrates
believed that philosophy should achieve practical results for the greater
well-being of society. He attempted to establish an ethical system based on
human reason rather than theological doctrine. He pointed out that human choice
was motivated by the desire for happiness. Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing
oneself. The more a person knows, the greater his or her ability to reason and
make choices that will bring true happiness. Socrates believed that this
translated into politics with the best form of government being neither a
tyranny nor a democracy. Instead, government worked best when ruled by
individuals who had the greatest ability, knowledge, and virtue and possessed a
complete understanding of themselves.
For Socrates,
Athens was a classroom and he went about asking questions of the elite and
common man alike, seeking to arrive at political and ethical truths. Socrates
didn’t lecture about what he knew. In fact, he claimed to be ignorant because
he had no ideas, but wise because he recognized his own ignorance. He asked
questions of his fellow Athenians in a dialectic method (the Socratic Method)
which compelled the audience to think through a problem to a logical
conclusion. Sometimes the answer seemed so obvious, it made Socrates's
opponents look foolish. For this, he was admired by some and vilified by
others.
During
Socrates's life, Athens was going through a dramatic transition from hegemony
in the classical world to its decline after a humiliating defeat by Sparta in
the Peloponnesian War. Athenians entered a period of instability and doubt
about their identity and place in the world. As a result, they clung to past
glories, notions of wealth, and a fixation with physical beauty. Socrates
attacked these values with his insistent emphasis on the greater importance of
the mind. While many Athenians admired Socrates's challenges to Greek
conventional wisdom and the humorous way he went about it, an equal number grew
angry and felt he threatened their way of life and uncertain future.
The jury was not
swayed by Socrates's defense and convicted him by a vote of 280 to 221.
Possibly the defiant tone of his defense contributed to the verdict and he made
things worse during the deliberation over his punishment. Athenian law allowed
a convicted citizen to propose an alternative punishment to the one called for by
the prosecution and the jury would decide. Instead of proposing he be exiled,
Socrates suggested he be honored by the city for his contribution to their
enlightenment and be paid for his services. The jury was not amused and
sentenced him to death by drinking a mixture of poison hemlock.
Before
Socrates's execution, friends offered to bribe the guards and rescue him so he
could flee into exile. He declined, stating he wasn't afraid of death, felt he
would be no better off if in exile and said he was still a loyal citizen of
Athens, willing to abide by its laws, even the ones that condemned him to
death. Plato
described Socrates's execution in his Phaedo dialogue: Socrates drank
the hemlock mixture without hesitation. Numbness slowly crept into his body
until it reached his heart. Shortly before his final breath, Socrates described
his death as a release of the soul from the body.
Source : http://www.biography.com/people/socrates-9488126?page=2
0 comments