Greek Philosophers Biographies - Socratism school Part 1
2015-12-20 : the website is under construction. THE PROVERBS ARE O.K., but It will take me a few hours to re-insert the images of the greek philosophers, which for some reason were lost, after my last revision, which i have done a few days ago. so until i remove the sign 'website - under - construction' ... you can study the proverbs with safety !. Please stay on Alert !.
Notes: 1. Diogenes of Sinope ... and ... Sinope ... is the same Greek Philosopher
2. Heraclitus of Ephesus ,,, and ... Ephesus is the same Greek Philosopher
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Greek Philosophers Biographies - Socratism school Part 1 in English
The Greek philosophers were among the most influential people in history because they invented both philosophy and science. By asking questions about themselves and the world around them, these philosophers helped create modern civilization.
Interestingly enough, the Greek philosophers thought of themselves as scientists rather than thinkers. They called themselves seekers and lovers of wisdom and often studied a wide variety of subjects, including history, physics, law, sociology, politics, mathematics, and biology. The famous philosophers were also teachers, educating wealthy children and operating schools as well as thinkers.
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Author Birth - Death
14 SOCRATISM - Socrates 469 BC - 399 BC
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14 SOCRATISM - Socrates
Σωκράτης
A bust of Socrates in the Louvre
Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure by Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1791)
Socrates and Alcibiades, by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg
Carnelian gem imprint representing Socrates, Rome, 1st century BC-1st century AD.
The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787)
Socrates prepares to take hemlock: ‘For the ancients, suicide was not a simple solipsistic escape for the weak of character.
Statue of Socrates in front of the Academy of Athens (modern)
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Classical Greek philosophy - Socrates
Socrates, born in Athens in the 5th century BCE, marks a watershed in ancient Greek philosophy. Athens was a center of learning, with sophists and philosophers traveling from across Greece to teach rhetoric, astronomy, cosmology, geometry, and the like. The great statesman Pericles was closely associated with this new learning and a friend of Anaxagoras, however, and his political opponents struck at him by taking advantage of a conservative reaction against the philosophers; it became a crime to investigate the things above the heavens or below the earth, subjects considered impious. Anaxagoras is said to have been charged and to have fled into exile when Socrates was about twenty years of age. There is a story that Protagoras, too, was forced to flee and that the Athenians burned his books. Socrates, however, is the only subject recorded as charged under this law, convicted, and sentenced to death in 399 BCE (see Trial of Socrates). In the version of his defense speech presented by Plato, he claims that it is the envy he arouses on account of his being a philosopher that will convict him.
While philosophy was an established pursuit prior to Socrates, Cicero credits him as "the first who brought philosophy down from the heavens, placed it in cities, introduced it into families, and obliged it to examine into life and morals, and good and evil." By this account he would be considered the founder of political philosophy. The reasons for this turn toward political and ethical subjects remain the object of much study.
The fact that many conversations involving Socrates (as recounted by Plato and Xenophon) end without having reached a firm conclusion, or aporetically, has stimulated debate over the meaning of the Socratic method. Socrates is said to have pursued this probing question-and-answer style of examination on a number of topics, usually attempting to arrive at a defensible and attractive definition of a virtue.
While Socrates' recorded conversations rarely provide a definite answer to the question under examination, several maxims or paradoxes for which he has become known recur. Socrates taught that no one desires what is bad, and so if anyone does something that truly is bad, it must be unwillingly or out of ignorance; consequently, all virtue is knowledge. He frequently remarks on his own ignorance (claiming that he does not know what courage is, for example). Plato presents him as distinguishing himself from the common run of mankind by the fact that, while they know nothing noble and good, they do not know that they do not know, whereas Socrates knows and acknowledges that he knows nothing noble and good.
Numerous subsequent philosophical movements were inspired by Socrates or his younger associates. Plato casts Socrates as the main interlocutor in his dialogues, deriving from them the basis of Platonism (and by extension, Neoplatonism). Plato's student Aristotle in turn criticized and built upon the doctrines he ascribed to Socrates and Plato, forming the foundation of Aristotelianism. Antisthenes founded the school that would come to be known as Cynicism and accused Plato of distorting Socrates' teachings. Zeno of Citium in turn adapted the ethics of Cynicism to articulate Stoicism. Epicurus studied with Platonic and Stoic teachers before renouncing all previous philosophers (including Democritus, on whose atomism the Epicurean philosophy relies). The philosophic movements that were to dominate the intellectual life of the Roman empire were thus born in this febrile period following Socrates' activity, and either directly or indirectly influenced by him. They were also absorbed by the expanding Muslim world in the 7th through 10th centuries CE, from which they returned to the West as foundations of Medieval philosophy and the Renaissance, as discussed below.
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
Even though he was one of the most important Greek philosophers, Socrates was not a teacher and he never wrote down his teachings; instead, he was a master stonemason and social critic. Socrates became famous for encouraging people to critically question everything. Socrates' greatest contribution to philosophy was the Socratic Method in which discussion, argument, and dialogue are used to discern the truth. The method is usually regarded as a set of questions that are tests of logic. Socrates' most famous student was Plato. Socrates eventually gave his life for liberty. He was tried and convicted for criticizing the government and religion. Socrates then chose death by suicide over exile from his homeland of Athens.
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Socrates the Enigmatic Philosopher
Socrates is considered today as the founder of Western philosophy. His notions of ethics, virtue and truth passed through centuries. Although we have no manuscipts of Socrates himself, his life and ideology are vividly presented in the works of Plato and Xenophon, his direct students, while some accounts are also found in Aristotle and Aristophanes. Socrates believed that the real truth is hidden in every man and all he has to do is to discover it. Because of his philosophical teachings, he was accused of corrupting the youth and was sentenced to death by the Athenian politicians. He died in prison drinking poison.
Socrates (469-399 BC) is considered as the original founder of Western Philosophy. He was the man to develop the notion of ethics the most till his time and to introduce a new method of pedagogy, where the student actually finds the truth himself through a series of questions. The surprising thing is that we actually have no writings of Socrates and the only descriptions we have of him and his philosophy is through the manuscripts of his famous students, the philosopher Plato, the historian Xenophon and of the comedy writer Aristophanes, who actually mocks Socrates in one of his plays, The Clouds.
Personal life
The father of Socrates was Sophroniscus and his mother was Phaenarete, a midwife by profession. In fact, Socrates used frequently the profession of his mother to describe his teaching methods: as a midwife is helping a woman give birth to her child, so was Socrates helping people to give birth to the truth, which is hidden inside everyone of us. The figure of Socrates was unattractive: he is said to have been short, fat, with a malformed face. However, he got married to a girl much younger than him, Xanthippe, and had three sons. According to some historical accounts, he earned his living orating philosophy to his students whereas others mention that he followed the footsteps of his father, a stone sculpture. Some believe that the figurines of the Three Graces that once adorned the Acropolis were actually his work. Apart from that, Socrates was also a brave soldier and fought in the battles of Potidaea, Amphipolis and Delium.
Historical context
The time Socrates was born, Athens was living the golden years under the ruling of Pericles, a charismatic politician who gave emphasis on culture and arts and who made the town the strongest naval power of that time. However, as Socrates was growing old, the decline was starting for Athens, with the beginning of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC, the final defeat of Athens in 404 BC and the fall of the Athenian democracy. The social decline thus led to a moral decline in the society of the city-state. Therefore, the concept of moral virtues and ethics that Socrates was teaching was not made understood by many of its citizens.
The philosophy of Socrates
Socrates believed that every man hides a set of truths in his heart and he tried to make each one reveal these truths. His whole philosophical ideology circulated around some basic principles. First of all, he believed that nobody likes to do immoral actions and if one acts immorally, this is because he doesn't know the moral thing. Moreover, he believed that righteousness leads to knowledge and also that righteousness is the only bringer of happiness in people and in society. The inclination of Socrates to moral virtues, his explicit thoughts about honesty and justice and moreover his belief in doing good actions made him become an unfavourable figure to all the politicians of his time. At this point, the people of Athens were quite taken aback after their defeat in the Peloponnesian War. They started to doubt the effect of the reign of democracy in their country.
The trail and death
Seeing this, the politicians blamed Socrates for corrupting the minds of the young boys with such thoughts. Moreover, they also accused that it was him who taught them to disregard the Athenian Gods and who filled their minds with ideas of listening to an inner voice called daemonion. The Athenian politicians were also infuriated for one more thing: in public discussions, Socrates was mocking their knowledge and would make them look unintelligent to people. Socrates believed that no man in wise, if he doesn't acknowledge his unawareness of the truth. He frequently said for himself I know one thing, that I know nothing, claiming his lack of knowledge. In 399 BC, Socrates was put to trial under the accusation of corrupting the young Athenians. In his defense, he compared himself to an annoying stable fly which disturbs people from their inactivity and forces them to turn their head towards the truth. When he was asked to propose a punishment for himself, he ironically answered that the Athenian state should pay him and give him free diners for his lifetime, as long as he is a benefactor to the people. Socrates was eventually found guilty and was sentenced to death by drinking the poison hemlock. Although his students had prepared everything for him to escape prison and death, Socrates refused. He believed that the time had come for him to die. After all, if he escaped, he would be proved disobedient to the rules of the state, so he would harm his own city. He also stressed that the fear of death doesn't indicate any true philosopher, as death actually frees the immortal soul from the mortal body. Socrates is probably the philosopher with the greatest influence ever. Plato and Aristotle, the other famous philosophers of classical Athens, were actually his students and on their work the whole Western philosophy was based. His busts can be seen in most philosophical universities, as a tribute to this great thinker.
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for more information, please visit the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia in the following web page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
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