Socrates

Socrates

Socrates’ Central Concern:

 Psyche: “true self” or “soul”

 Every soul seeks happiness, there is a clearly defined path to achieving happiness

 Truly happy: people who lead reflective, “examined” lives

 Good, wise, courageous of they pursue virtue and wisdom

 “Sleepwalking” individuals in life: motions of living, mindless pleasure

 “Physician of the soul”; people not inherently evil, simply unaware of how they ought to live to achieve what they most desire – happiness and fulfillment

 The unexamined life is not worth living.

 The truth lies within each of us. o By living an examined life, we can discover the principles of right thinking and action within us.

 We should strive for excellence in all areas of life.

 No one knowingly does evil. o Arete: virtue and excellence

o Episteme: knowledge

o Sophia: wisdom

 “It is better to suffer wickedness than to commit it.” o

Virtuous person should have no fear of death

The Trial and Death of Socrates

 Trial for his life due to “corruption of youth” and “does not believe in the gods”

 Unpopular amongst politicians: dictatorship, rebellion initiated by two of Socrates’ students

 Targeted by father, Anytus, man behind the charges against him; his son pursued philosophy rather than leather-tanning business

 Found guilty, refused to make emotional appeals in court

 Appealing to court is illogical, Socrates proved to court that charges against him are false

 Condemned to death, “gadfly”

 Used his death penalty to reflect on human issues that the trial provoked

 Lived life just and true, had no fear of death

Making Connections: Socrates’ Legacy  Socrates was the catalyst for a significant advancement in human consciousness  The unexamined life is not worth living.  Socrates was an archetypal thinker, a model of rational inquiry. o Establish clear starting points o View issues from multiple perspectives o Explore logical connections and consequences of beliefs

o Express publicly one’s own thinking process and inviting others o Willing to follow argument wherever it might lead o Open to revising one’s opinions based on insight  Socrates was committed to making our actions reflect our convictions.  Philosophical inquiry was a social activity.  A heroic martyr to enlightened thinking and virtuous living. o Died willingly for the moral principles and values, could have avoided death