Socrates

1. 3 Questions

1.1. Why did you think like this?

1.2. What influenced your lifestyle?

1.3. Have you made unethical decision in life?

2. Quotes

2.1. I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.

2.2. Stupid people already know the answer, where the smart learn from everything and everyone.

2.3. I cannot teach anyone anything, but make them think about something

3. Influences

3.1. Socrates is often thought to have studied the doctrines of Parmenides, Heraclitus, Anaxagoras, who were early Greek philosophers. It is clear that these were early influences to the young Socrates and that he used their teachings as a basis for his own.

4. Key Events

4.1. Born on 479BC

4.2. Death:399 BC?

4.3. Socrates also served as hoplite or citizen soldier at the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). In 432 BC, at Potidaea, he saved the life of popular Athenian general, Alcibiades

4.4. In 423 BC, he became known to the broader public through Aristophanes’ play, ‘Clouds’. In this caricature, he was depicted as a scruffy and untidy fool, whose philosophy amounted to teaching how to get out of debts.

4.5. In 407 BCE Plato meets Socrates, abandons aspiration to be playwright.

5. Key Philosophical Ideas

5.1. Socrates had a unique teaching method. Instead of lecturing, he would ask questions and then discuss possible answers. They would lead to further questions and eventually to further answers and finally into a deeper understanding of the subject.

5.2. He believed that human choice was driven by a wish to be happy and the ultimate happiness comes from knowing oneself. Therefore, he tried to remove their false belief through dialogues; thus making them aware of their ignorance, which in turn, helped them to discover the truth about themselves.