Socrates Project Essay, Research Paper
Socrates? Project
?The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.? Albert Einstein
Philosophy shifted from natural philosophy, which was concerned with the nature of the physical realm, to classic philosophy, which compared the process of knowing and understanding. The leader of this new philosophical movement was a commoner named Socrates. Socrates lived in Athens during an era which emphasized the importance of the individual and his place in society. Athens was the cultural locus of the Greek world. Since Socrates grew up in this culturally strong location, he was familiar with the rhetoric of the Sophists.
During this era of Athenian Empire, a group of intellectual lecturers, philosophers, and teachers sprouted in Athens. This ?philosophical? group called the Sophists portrayed themselves as knowledgeable and distributors of truth. Unlike true philosophers, the Sophists charged people for the dispersal of their knowledge and they made a healthy living from it. The Sophists created a new form of philosophy that was often confused by the people of Athens with true philosophy. This group of intellectual persons popularized the ideas of various early philosophers. Based on their understanding of prior philosophic thought, most of them concluded that truth and morality were essentially matters of opinion. Thus, in their own teaching, they tended to emphasize forms of persuasive expression, such as the art of rhetoric, which provided pupils with skills useful for achieving success in life, particularly public life. The Sophists, like the natural, pre-Socratic philosophers shunned the notions of Greek mythology. On the other hand, they denounced philosophical thought and proclaimed that even though answers of the most enigmatic philosophical questions may exist, no one has the ability know the absolute truth about the quirks and unexplainable events that happen on earth and in the universe otherwise known as skepticism.
The Sophists contributed to the ?democentric? society in Athens. One Sophist named Portagoras once said, ?Man is the measure of all things? . Protagoras meant through this statement that all moral standards is correlated and decided differently between individuals. The Sophists created great conflict in Athens by declaring that there were no moral absolute norms. Socrates begged to differ; he tried to display that there are norms that were absolute. The Sophists were the first relativists much like today?s society.
Socrates? attitude towards politics and Sophism changed the culture of Athens forever. ?Socrates believed that he had received a call to pursue philosophy and could serve his country best by devoting himself to teaching, and by persuading the Athenians to engage in self-examination and in tending to their souls.? Socrates desired for things to change. He changed great culture through his art of dialogue/teaching, his teaching of true philosophy or his project, and his guides to insight.
Socrates had a unique way of teaching and expressing his ideas and thoughts. Instead of lecturing like most teachers did, Socrates chose the method of discussing and questioning. This method also known as the Socratic method which consisted of asking probing questions that forced his students to think deeply about the meaning of life, truth, and justice. In a conversation, Socrates would ask as if he knew nothing of which was being discussed. By doing this, Socrates would breakdown and depict every little detail in his opponent?s argument and recognize the weaknesses. Socrates would then corner his opponent to realize what is correct and incorrect. Through this ignorant, inquisitive method, Socrates forced people to use their common sense. This enabled him to continually expose the weaknesses in people?s thinking. Questions are much more powerful than any answer, and that is why Socrates shocked so many people and was eventually sentenced to drink the hemlock.
Socrates used this procedure to aid people to recollect true and correct insight. Socrates believed that he could not force a person understand true thought and insight, for he recognized that understanding comes from within a person. Socrates believed that everyone had the ability to use their innate reason to grasp philosophical truths; innate reason already exists in everyone. He referred to this enlightening change as ?giving birth?.
Socrates project was to spread insightful philosophy to everyone. Socrates lived at the same time as the Sophists. Influenced by the era, Socrates was concerned with man and his place in society rather than the physical world just as the Sophists were. Socrates would never consider himself being a sophist though. For a Sophist, according to culture, was referred to as a wise, knowledgeable philosopher. Unlike the Sophists, Socrates did not teach for money, rather he taught for understanding. Socrates exhibited the true definition of a philosopher: an unsatisfied lover of wisdom. ?A philosopher is therefore someone who recognizes that there is a lot he does not understand, and is troubled by it? . As Socrates once said, ?One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing?. There is a story that the oracle of Delphi was asked if Socrates was the wisest man that has ever lived and the oracle responded that Socrates is the wisest man. Once told of this story, Socrates was befuddled and was destined to find out the truth. He went to see many ?wise? people and found their answers dissatisfying and not fulfilling. After his mission, Socrates concluded that ?God only is wise; and by his answer he intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth little or nothing; he is not speaking of Socrates, he is only using my name by way of illustration, as if he said, He, O men, is the wisest, who, like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing? . Socrates felt that it was necessary to establish a concrete basis for human knowledge. He believed that this foundation was created by man?s reason. By concluding this, Socrates was considered a rationalist.
Socrates? contribution to philosophy was ethical in character. Belief in a purely objective understanding of such emotions like justice, love, and virtue, were the basis of his teachings. He believed that all evil was a product of ignorance toward truth, basically meaning he who knows right will act rightly. In contrast with the Sophists, Socrates believed that people?s reason, not society, distinguished the discernment between right and wrong, good and evil. Socrates thought that not a single person could be happy if they acted against their judgment of what is right. A man who knew how to be happy would be happy, much like good and evil.
Socrates? project, to spread truth and reason throughout the world was important to society in general. Socrates stressed the importance of individual thinking not just accepting what is factually true. This project had cost him his live. Socrates was charged in 399 B.C. with neglecting the gods of the states and corrupting the morals of the young, leading them further away from the concrete foundations of democracy. According to historical documentaries, Socrates was ?destined? to die. Much like Christ, he was given numerous opportunities to escape this punishment or even deny what he stood for much like Christ. He felt that in order for him to make an impact he would have die for his cause.
Socrates claimed he knew nothing and yet he was the cleverest person in Athens. In the late twentieth century, humans have progressed in studies, technologies, and philosophy, but we still maintain our human nature. This nature of acceptance where humans lose their desire to know and just accept everything is predominant in modern day culture. Attitudes that exhibit ignorance and complacence plague the human race today. Some people believe that it is unimportant to learn and to study. Society today is similar to the Sophists. There has been a death of truth. Everything is relative. Through relativism, people question the importance of learning because if everything is relative then how can it be self-applied.
Socrates obtained the will to learn and he sparked his society into growing and training their mind. Socrates? effect on America today is everywhere. The way people think is one of the prime examples of Socrates influence. The Socratic method is used throughout schools to teach students to think more efficiently. Socrates died for understanding. Christians should study and learn more about God?s creation. Proverbs 2: 1-5 states, ?My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.? (NIV)