Socrates

2 Pages 413 Words

Socrates was born in Athens on 470?BC and died on 399?BC. Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus. Socrates received the regular elementary education in literature, music, and gymnastics. Later he familiarized himself with the Sophists. Socrates followed the talent of his father he also believed in the power of argument over writing. For that reason he spent the greater part of his life in the marketplace and public places of Athens, engaging in discussion and argument with anyone who would listen or who would submit to questioning. Socrates was unattractive in appearance and short of height but was also very tough and self-controlled. He enjoyed life greatly and achieved social popularity because of his ready wit and a keen sense of humor.
Socrates was very obedient to the laws of Athens. He believed that he had received a call to practice philosophy and could serve his country best by devoting himself to teaching. He wrote no books and set up no regular school of philosophy. All that is known about his personality and his way of thinking is taken from the works of two of his well-known scholars: Plato, and the historian Xenophon. Plato portrayed Socrates as hiding behind a profession of ignorance that enabled him to go through arguments with great facility. Justice, love, virtue, and the self-knowledge that he instilled, were the basis of his teachings. He believed that all vice is the result of ignorance, and that no person is bad. Socrates was also the teacher of Aristippus. Although a patriot and a man of deep religious belief, Socrates was regarded with suspicion by many of his colleagues, who disliked his attitude toward the Athenian state and the established religion. He was charged in 399 BC with neglecting the gods of the state and introducing new divinities.


He was also charged with demeaning the morals of the young. He was condemned to die. Socrates proposed only to pay a small fine because of his value to the state as a...