Socrates

All About Socrates

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Socrates four hundred seventy to three hundred ninety nine before Christ.
He was a Greek philosopher from Athens. Socrates was the
founder of Western philosophy. Philosophy. Western philosophy refers to the
philosophical thought, tradition, and works of the Western world. Historically,

(00:28):
the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture,
beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy. The word philosophy itself
originated from the ancient Greek Philosophia literally the love of
wisdom Philine to love and Sophia sophia wisdom. Socrates experienced

(01:00):
a life changing event when his friend Cherafin visited the
Oracle of Delphi where the Pythia. The Pithia is an
ancient Greek priestess at the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
She was the title of the high priestess of the
Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its

(01:23):
oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. She
told him that no one in Athens was wiser than Socrates.
Socrates is the patron saint of philosophy, and he was
the first real philosopher. He wrote nothing what we know
of him comes from several sources. All that is known

(01:47):
about him comes from the accounts of others, mainly the
philosopher Plato and the historian Xenophon, who were both his pupils.
For example, Socrates as the major character in most of
Plato's dialogues. Plato is not our only source for Socrates.

(02:09):
Our earliest source for information about Socrates is aristophanes comic
play Clouds, in which Socrates is a central character. In
this drama, Aristophanes presents a caricature of Socrates that leans
towards Sophism, ridiculing Socrates as an absurd atheist. Socrates in

(02:33):
Clouds is interested in natural philosophy. In addition to Plato,
other followers of Socrates wrote Socratic dialogues. Xenophin wrote a
memoir of Socrates, and other Socratic works that have survived intact.
Among later sources, the most important as the Life of

(02:57):
Socrates by the late ancient historian of philosophy Diogenes Lardius.
At the end of the Socrates chapter in his Lives
of Eminent Philosophers, Diogenes Lardius said that there were seven
most important students. There are four Athenians, among them Anthesanseskines, Plato,

(03:22):
and Xenophen. Socrates was born in four hundred seventy or
four hundred sixty nine before Christ to Soffroniskisinfinarite, a stone
worker and a midwife, respectively in the Athenian deem of Allopes. Therefore,
he was an Athenian citizen. Socrates fulfilled his military service

(03:47):
during the Peloponnesian War and distinguished himself in three campaigns.
According to Plato, the Second Peloponnesian War four hundred thirty
one four before Christ, often called simply the Peloponnesian War,
was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta

(04:08):
and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world.
Socrates developed a critical approach now called the Socratic method
to examine people's views. Socratic method, also known as the
method of Alenkis or Socratic debate, as a form of

(04:29):
argumentative dialogue between individuals based on asking and answering questions.
The argument of disproof for refutation, Cross examining, testing, scrutiny,
especially for purposes of refutation, is the central technique of
the Socratic method. The Latin form alenkis plural elenki is

(04:55):
used in English as the technical philosophical term. The most
common ajuctital form in English is elengtic. Elinctic and elentic
are also current. This was also very important in Plato's
early dialogues. Socrates, as depicted by Plato, generally applied his

(05:20):
method of examination to concepts such as the virtues of piety, wisdom, temperance, courage,
and justice. Such an examination challenge the implicit moral beliefs
of the interlocutors, bringing out He focused on issues of
human life, youdemonia, justice, beauty, truth, and virtue. Although Socrates

(05:49):
wrote nothing himself, two of his disciples, Plato and Xenophon,
wrote about some of his conversations. Although Plato also deployed
Socrates as a fictional character in some of his dialogues,
these Socratic dialogues display the Socratic method being applied to

(06:11):
examine philosophical problems. Trial of Socrates. The accusations against Socrates
were initiated by a poet, Melodus, who asked for the
death penalty by the charge of Asbia in three hundred
ninety nine. Before Christ Socrates was formally accused of corrupting

(06:35):
the minds of the youth of Athens and for Aspia impiety,
worshiping false gods, and failing to worship the gods of Athens.
Other accusers were Anidus and Lkhan. There were two main
sources for the religion based accusations. First, Socrates rejected the

(06:58):
anthropomorphism of traditionitional Greek religion by denying that the gods
did bad things like humans do. Second, he seemed to
believe in a daemonion and inner voice, with as his
accusers suggested, divine origin. Socrates was given the chance to

(07:20):
offer alternative punishments for himself after being found guilty. He
could have requested permission to flee Athens and live in exile,
but he did not do so. One of the famous
sentences of Socrat as the quote, the only true wisdom
is in knowing you know nothing. I know only one

(07:44):
thing that I know nothing