Socrates-A brief description

Socrates (Greek: Σωκράτης c. 469 / 471 BC–399 BC[1]), was a Classical Greek philosopher. Considered one of the founders of Western philosophy[1], he strongly influenced Plato, who was his student, and Aristotle, whom Plato taught. His work continues to form an important part of the study of philosophy to this day.
Principally renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, Socrates also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic Method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas, writings, and approach, remains strong in providing a foundation for much western philosophy which followed.


The 'Socratic Problem'
Forming an accurate picture of the historical Socrates and his philosophical view points is problematic at best. This issue is known as the Socratic problem.
Socrates himself did not write philosophical texts. Our knowledge of the man, his life, and his work is based on writings by his students and contemporaries. Foremost among them is Plato, however, works by Xenophon, Aristotle, and Aristophanes also provide important insights.[2] The difficulty of finding the “real” Socrates arises because these works are often philosophical or dramatic texts rather than straight forward histories. A corollary of this is that these sources don't claim to be historically accurate. Given there are no known writings by Socrates, historians are therefore faced with the challenge of reconciling the various texts that come from these men to create an accurate and consistent account of Socrates' life and work.
In general, Plato is viewed as the most reliable and informative source of information about Socrates' life and philosophy.[3] However, it is also clear from other writings, and historical artefacts that Socrates was not simply a character, or invention, of Plato's. The testimony of Xenophon and Aristotle, alongside some of Aristophanes' work within The Clouds, can be usefully engaged in fleshing out our perception of Socrates beyond Plato's work.

[edit] Life

Carnelian gem imprint representing Socrates, Rome, 1st century BCE-1st century CE.
Details about Socrates are derived from three contemporary sources: the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon (both students of Socrates), and the plays of Aristophanes. 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.[4]
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.
According to Plato, Socrates' father was Sophroniscus and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife. Though characterized as unattractive in appearance and short of stature, Socrates married Xanthippe, who was much younger than him. She bore him three sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. His friend Crito of Alopece 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.[5]
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). Socrates' exceptional service at Delium is also mentioned in the Laches by the general after whom the dialogue is named (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.

[edit] Trial and Death
See main article: Trial of Socrates

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787).
There is some controversy as to whether or not Socrates' actions at the time of his death were justified. The trial and execution of Socrates was the climax of his career and a central event in the dialogues of Plato.
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.[6] He praises Sparta, arch rival to Athens, directly and indirectly in various dialogues. But perhaps the most historically accurate of Socrates' offenses 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 (as the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung Athens), 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. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a riddle, because he believed that he possessed no wisdom whatsoever. He proceeded to test the riddle through approaching men who were considered to be wise by the people of Athens such as statesmen, poets, and artisans in order to refute the pronouncement of the Oracle. Questioning them, Socrates came to the conclusion that while each man thought he knew a great deal and was very wise, they in fact knew very little and were not really wise at all. Socrates realized that the Oracle was correct in that while so-called wise men thought themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not wise at all which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his own ignorance. 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.[7] He was nevertheless found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.
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."
Both Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards. However, Socrates chose to stay and refused to escape for several reasons:
He believed that such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has.
Even if he did flee Athens he and his teaching would fare no better in another country, as he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their displeasure as well.
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 "social 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.
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 laid 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 his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "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.