Socrates

1 Pages 318 Words

“Socrates”

The most interesting and influential thinker from a Logic perspective was Socrates, whose dedication to careful reasoning transformed the entire enterprise of Philosophy. Since he sought genuine knowledge rather than mere victory over an opponent, Socrates employed the same logical tricks developed by the Sophists to a new purpose, the pursuit of truth. We know much about his life, methods and results from the writings of his students such as Plato, as he himself never wrote anything. The problem some scholars have with Plato is that he had a tendency to interject his own theories and commentary into dialogues that were presented to the world as discussions between Socrates and other famous figures of the day. During his life, Socrates utilized four aspects in his approach to philosophy. They are; Ironic Modesty, Questioning Habit, Devotion to Truth, and Dispassionate Reason. His philosophy, sadly, ultimately lead him to trial in the Athenian court, where he was sentenced to death. Rather than give up his philosophy, he chooses death. His friends even came up with a foolproof plan to free him, but as the plot was starting, he calmly engaged in a rational debate of the moral value of such action. Socrates reasoned that 1) One ought to never do wrong, 2) But it is always wrong to disobey the state, 3) Hence one ought never disobey the state. Since avoiding his sentence of death would be such an action of disobedience to the state, Socrates is not compelled to escape. In the end, Socrates himself was entirely convinced that these arguments hold, so he concluded that it would be wrong for him to escape from prison. As is many similar cases before, his actions conformed to the outcome of his reasoning. Socrates chose to honor his commitment to truth and morality even though it cost him his life....