WESTERN CIVILIZATION
In today's modern world, much of our own culture's beliefs and
morals are directly due to the impact of Socratic philosophy on
European thinkers, and therefore our own in the western world. This
philosophy, was based upon the thoughts of Socrates, who was an
Athenian philosopher and possibly the most enigmatic figure in the
entire history of philosophy.
To begin, after about 450 B.C., Athens was considered the cultural
center of the Greek world, and from then on, Athenian philosophy
took a new direction. In the past, the Greek world had experienced
ideas presented by the natural philosophers (or pre-Socratic, since
they were born before Socrates), which were the earliest Greek
philosophers, and were mainly concerned with the natural or physical
world and it's processes. This concept gives the pre-Socratics a
central position in the history of science.
After the pre-Socratics, emerged the sophists, whose name meant
in definition, "wise and informed people". The sophists were a group
of itinerant teachers and philosophers from the Greek hellas who
flocked to Athens, where they made a living by teaching the citizens
of Athens for money. Socrates himself had long been accused of
being a sophist (a designation he bitterly resented), as his thoughts
were very similar to those of a sophist.
During the age of the sophists, Socrates (470-399 B.C.) became
known as one to talk with the people he met in the marketplaces and
city squares of Athens, and could also have been seen standing lost
in thought for hours on end. Although he never once wrote a line,
Socrates would become one of the philosophers who has had the
greatest influence on European thought, not least because of the
dramatic manner or circumstances of his death, which have been
questioned for 2,400 years. He would however not be the first or last
to have seen things through to the bitter end, and suffer the
punishment of death for the sake of his convictions.
Since Socrates recorded none of his discussions or thoughts on
philosophy, we know of his life mainly through the works of Plato, who
was a pupil of Socrates. Plato used Socrates as his principal
mouthpiece or character in a nuraber of written dramatized
discussions on philosophy, or Dialogues. However, this idea of who
Socrates "really" was is relatively unimportant, because of the fact
that the portrayal of Socrates which Plato portrays is one that has
inspired and shaped the ways of thinkers in the western world for
almost 2,500 years.
The essence of Socrates' method of art, called discourse, was
giving the impression that he did not want to instruct but rather
discuss, like one trying to learn from those he spoke with, instead of
the traditional method of lecturing. During a discussion, the main
objective would be to allow his opponents to recognize the
weaknesses of their argument by using rhetoric, and then obligate
themselves to see the difference between right and wrong. Since
Socrates was not averse to holding debates in the middle of the city
square, one would quite commonly be made a fool publicly. Since
real understanding came from within, and cannot be imparted by
someone else, Socrates saw reason in his task of allowing people to
obtain the correct insights to their ideas. He also justified his actions with the concept of "He who knows what is good, will in turn do good,"which he proclaimed, was an action guided by a divine voice or"conscience" which told the difference between right and wrong.
A significantly profound effect which Socratic philosophy had
created in Athenian times, was simply the distinction between a
sophist and a philosopher. A sophist, was somewhat of a "self-
appointed know-it-all", who took money for teachings which did not
necessarily have any profound effect. A philosopher, on the other
hand was considered the direct opposite. The word itself really means
one who loves wisdom; a real philosopher knows that in reality he
actually knows very little about life and the world. This concept was
first proclaimed by Socrates himself- "One thing only I know, and that
is that I know nothing," which is indeed quite the opposite of a
sophist. This is why a philosopher, unlike a sophist, strives to achieve a true insight to his world. This is also a concept which has largely influenced western culture in the sense of ethics and the use of common sense among thinkers.
Since there was need to establish a foundation for human
knowledge, Socrates came up with the concept that this foundation
must lay in man's ability to reason. He therefore developed the
concept of human rationalism, and proclaimed that he was decidedly
a rationalist. This concept was and is very influential to western
culture, as it is very present in today's ideas of morals, ethics, etc.
Socrates has proven to be the single most influential philosopher
the world has yet seen, as his concepts last even in the present,
2,500 years after his death. Such impacts have been made by one
man that an entire period of philosophy has is referred to as
"Socratic" philosophy. Lasting impressions of Socrates' issues include
in a sense, questions which the philosopher himself posed. Mankind
is faced with a nuraber of difficult questions, for which their are no
satisfactory answers to. Using human reason, or rationalism, humans
should be able to separate right from wrong. Therefore, can a happy
life be led if one continually does things that deep down he or she
knows are wrong? Socratic philosophy insists that this is not so.
In today's modern world, much of our own culture's beliefs and
morals are directly due to the impact of Socratic philosophy on
European thinkers, and therefore our own in the western world. This
philosophy, was based upon the thoughts of Socrates, who was an
Athenian philosopher and possibly the most enigmatic figure in the
entire history of philosophy.
To begin, after about 450 B.C., Athens was considered the cultural
center of the Greek world, and from then on, Athenian philosophy
took a new direction. In the past, the Greek world had experienced
ideas presented by the natural philosophers (or pre-Socratic, since
they were born before Socrates), which were the earliest Greek
philosophers, and were mainly concerned with the natural or physical
world and it's processes. This concept gives the pre-Socratics a
central position in the history of science.
After the pre-Socratics, emerged the sophists, whose name meant
in definition, "wise and informed people". The sophists were a group
of itinerant teachers and philosophers from the Greek hellas who
flocked to Athens, where they made a living by teaching the citizens
of Athens for money. Socrates himself had long been accused of
being a sophist (a designation he bitterly resented), as his thoughts
were very similar to those of a sophist.
During the age of the sophists, Socrates (470-399 B.C.) became
known as one to talk with the people he met in the marketplaces and
city squares of Athens, and could also have been seen standing lost
in thought for hours on end. Although he never once wrote a line,
Socrates would become one of the philosophers who has had the
greatest influence on European thought, not least because of the
dramatic manner or circumstances of his death, which have been
questioned for 2,400 years. He would however not be the first or last
to have seen things through to the bitter end, and suffer the
punishment of death for the sake of his convictions.
Since Socrates recorded none of his discussions or thoughts on
philosophy, we know of his life mainly through the works of Plato, who
was a pupil of Socrates. Plato used Socrates as his principal
mouthpiece or character in a nuraber of written dramatized
discussions on philosophy, or Dialogues. However, this idea of who
Socrates "really" was is relatively unimportant, because of the fact
that the portrayal of Socrates which Plato portrays is one that has
inspired and shaped the ways of thinkers in the western world for
almost 2,500 years.
The essence of Socrates' method of art, called discourse, was
giving the impression that he did not want to instruct but rather
discuss, like one trying to learn from those he spoke with, instead of
the traditional method of lecturing. During a discussion, the main
objective would be to allow his opponents to recognize the
weaknesses of their argument by using rhetoric, and then obligate
themselves to see the difference between right and wrong. Since
Socrates was not averse to holding debates in the middle of the city
square, one would quite commonly be made a fool publicly. Since
real understanding came from within, and cannot be imparted by
someone else, Socrates saw reason in his task of allowing people to
obtain the correct insights to their ideas. He also justified his actions with the concept of "He who knows what is good, will in turn do good,"which he proclaimed, was an action guided by a divine voice or"conscience" which told the difference between right and wrong.
A significantly profound effect which Socratic philosophy had
created in Athenian times, was simply the distinction between a
sophist and a philosopher. A sophist, was somewhat of a "self-
appointed know-it-all", who took money for teachings which did not
necessarily have any profound effect. A philosopher, on the other
hand was considered the direct opposite. The word itself really means
one who loves wisdom; a real philosopher knows that in reality he
actually knows very little about life and the world. This concept was
first proclaimed by Socrates himself- "One thing only I know, and that
is that I know nothing," which is indeed quite the opposite of a
sophist. This is why a philosopher, unlike a sophist, strives to achieve a true insight to his world. This is also a concept which has largely influenced western culture in the sense of ethics and the use of common sense among thinkers.
Since there was need to establish a foundation for human
knowledge, Socrates came up with the concept that this foundation
must lay in man's ability to reason. He therefore developed the
concept of human rationalism, and proclaimed that he was decidedly
a rationalist. This concept was and is very influential to western
culture, as it is very present in today's ideas of morals, ethics, etc.
Socrates has proven to be the single most influential philosopher
the world has yet seen, as his concepts last even in the present,
2,500 years after his death. Such impacts have been made by one
man that an entire period of philosophy has is referred to as
"Socratic" philosophy. Lasting impressions of Socrates' issues include
in a sense, questions which the philosopher himself posed. Mankind
is faced with a nuraber of difficult questions, for which their are no
satisfactory answers to. Using human reason, or rationalism, humans
should be able to separate right from wrong. Therefore, can a happy
life be led if one continually does things that deep down he or she
knows are wrong? Socratic philosophy insists that this is not so.