The study of Socrates' philosophical beliefs is not a simple one: since he left no writings of his own, we can only explore them in the accounts of Plato and Xenophon, which are often contradictory, and so it is always a subject of debate as to which account is closer to the truth. Some believe that Socrates did not have any particular beliefs, but only interrogated each one, and that Plato's lengthy theories in the Ideal State were actually Plato's own ideas. It is quite difficult to distinguish between Plato's and Socrates' concepts from the records, and even more difficult to explain them. For this reason, it is not simple to find Socrates' ideas in the accounts of Plato and Xenophon, among others - one must be aware that these ideas are probably not those of Socrates himself, but may be closer to the views of the authors of these accounts themselves.
Evidence from the dialogues suggests that Socrates had only two tutors: Prodicus, a grammarian, and Diotima, a priestess who taught Socrates about love. Some dialogues also indicate that Socrates was influenced by thinkers of the time, such as Barmenides and Anaxagoras, who are often cited in historical accounts as Socrates' mentors. John Burnet, a scholar of classical history, asserts that Socrates' main mentor was the Anaxagoras scholar Archelaus, and that the account of Archelaus is in fact Socrates' own theory. Eric A. Havelock, on the other hand, argues that Socrates' relationship with the Anaxagoras proves the difference between his philosophical ideas and those of Plato.
Before Socrates, Greek philosophy had focused on questions such as what was the origin of the universe and what the world was made of, which later became known as "natural philosophy". Socrates thought that the study of these issues to save the country has no practical significance. He once said: my friends are not the trees outside the city, but the people inside the city. It is out of this concern for the fate of the country and the people that Socrates began to study mankind itself, that is, to study the ethical problems of mankind, such as what is righteousness, what is injustice; what is bravery, what is cowardice; what is honesty, what is hypocrisy; what is wisdom, and how does one get knowledge; what is the state, and what are the qualities of a person who can govern the country well and rule the world? What is the state, what are the qualities that make a man a good ruler, and how should he be trained to be a ruler, and so on. Socrates believed that the definition of a philosopher should be a person who loves wisdom, not a person who has wisdom, and later people called Socrates' philosophy "ethical philosophy". He created a new field for philosophical research, making philosophy "return from the sky to the earth", which is of great significance in the history of philosophy.
Socrates' philosophical thought is mainly reflected in the following aspects: midwifery and the dialectic of exposing contradictions
Socrates believed that all knowledge is generated from doubts, and the more one seeks to make progress, the more doubts there are, and the more doubts there are, the more progress there is. Socrates recognized that he himself had no knowledge, and he wanted to teach others knowledge. He resolved this contradiction in this way: this knowledge was not instilled in people by him, but people already had it; people had already conceived the "fetus" in their hearts, but they did not know it themselves, and Socrates was like a "midwife" who helped others to produce knowledge. Socrates is like a "midwife" who helps others to produce knowledge. Socrates' midwifery is centered on the form of "cross-examination" that he often employs, exposing the contradictions in the propositions and doctrines put forward by the other party by asking questions, in order to shake the foundation of the other party's arguments and to point out the other party's ignorance; in the cross-examination, Socrates himself does not give a positive, positive answer, because he admits his own In the cross-examination, Socrates himself does not give a positive, active answer, because he admits his ignorance. This method is generally known as "Socratic irony". This Socratic method was developed from the logical inference of the Arian school and the antinomian method of Zeno of Aelia. In the negative form of Socratic irony there is the positive result of dialectical thinking that exposes contradictions. Comparing himself to a midwife, Socrates uses the method of peeling the cocoon from the conversation so that the other person gradually understands his own ignorance, but discovers his own mistakes and establishes the correct conception of knowledge. This kind of conversation also has several characteristics: first, the conversation is with the help of questions and answers, in order to clarify the other party's thinking, so that they can discover the truth by themselves. The only thing is that while the conversation is going on, Su favors questioning; he does not answer the other person's questions easily. He only asked the other party to answer the questions he raised, and he asked questions in a modest manner, leading to information on other questions from the other party's answers, until finally, due to continuous questioning, he made the young man admit his ignorance. In the process of questioning, Socrates gave his students the highest wisdom, which is known as the Socratic irony. This Socratic method is the earliest form of dialectic in the history of Western philosophy.
From the point of view of the development of philosophical thought, Socrates put forward the distinction between spiritual and material entities, which made the opposition between idealism and materialism leave the simple state of early philosophy and enter a more mature stage; he brought the aphoristic ethical thought of the early Greek philosophers to a high philosophical level; he inspired ideas and exposed contradictions by means of logical debates, and penetrated y into the the essence of things. All this has contributed to the development of philosophical thinking. However, as the first philosopher with a systematic view of thought in the history of Western philosophy, he began the era of subjectivity and rationality, abstract thinking, and replacing religious myths with natural theism. Socrates was engaged in education all his life, had rich practical experience in education and had his own theory of education. But he did not start his own school. So where did he teach? How did he teach? Squares, temples, streets, stores, workshops, gymnasiums, etc., were all places where he taught. The young, the old, the rich, the poor, the peasants, the craftsmen, the nobles, the commoners, all were his subjects, and whoever asked him for instruction, he gave it with enthusiasm. The other teachers of the time, the wise men, charged tuition, and used teaching as a means of earning money, whereas Socrates taught without tuition; he taught for the benefit of the city-state, and was a compulsory teacher. He believed that education was very important for a person's growth. He believed that both the more naturally intelligent and the more naturally dull, if they were determined to achieve something praiseworthy, they had to study hard in order to do so.
The aim of Socrates' education was to create men who would rule the country. After the death of Pericles, Athens, because of the lack of good leaders, democracy became ultra-democracy and anarchy, and even the leaders of the state were chosen by lot or by drawing lots. Socrates was very saddened by this. He believed that the talents for ruling a country must be well educated, and advocated the cultivation of talents for ruling a country through education. In order to cultivate talents to rule the country, he gave his life's energy.
On the content of education, he advocated that firstly, we should cultivate human virtues and teach people to learn how to behave and become virtuous; secondly, we should teach people to learn broad and practical knowledge. He believed that those who govern must have broad knowledge. In all things, he said, those who are honored and praised are those who have the most extensive knowledge, while those who are condemned and despised are those who are the most ignorant; and lastly, he advocated teaching men to exercise their bodies. He believed that a healthy body was important for physical and mental activity, both in peacetime and in wartime. And a healthy body is not innate; only through exercise can one be made physically strong.
In the method of teaching, Socrates through long-term teaching practice, formed his own set of unique teaching method, people called "Socratic method", he himself called "maternity". His mother was a midwife, and he used this as a metaphor for his teaching method. His mother's method was to deliver babies, but his method was to deliver ideas, to lead people to the right ideas.
The Socratic Method is a question-and-answer session between teacher and student, which is why it is also called the "question-and-answer method". Socrates taught students to obtain a certain concept, not to tell the concept directly to the students, but first asked the students questions, let the students answer, if the students answered wrong, he did not directly correct, but put forward another question to guide the students to think, so as to step by step to arrive at the correct conclusion. It lays the foundation for heuristic teaching.
The question-and-answer method advocated by Socrates had a great influence on later generations, and it remains an important teaching method until today.
There was an incident in Socrates' teaching that occurred when, on the first day of school, Socrates said to his students, "Today we will do only one thing, each of us will try to fling our arms forward and then backward." With that, he did a demonstration. "Starting today, do 300 strokes a day, can everyone do that?" The students all laughed; who couldn't do something so simple. But a year later, when Socrates asked again, only one of his entire student body stuck to it, and later this man succeeded him as the new generation of thinkers, a man named Plato. Socrates actually had an assistant who was his true successor.
Socrates had a teaching program of his own
One day in class, the philosopher Socrates took out an apple, stood in front of the podium and said, "Please smell the air!" A student raised his hand and replied, "I smell it, it's the apple!" Socrates stepped down from the podium, held up the apple and slowly walked past each student with the admonition, "Smell the air again, everyone, carefully, does it smell like apples?" By this time half the students had raised their hands. Socrates returned to the podium and resumed the question he had just asked. This time, all but one of the students raised their hands. Socrates walked up to this student and asked, "Is it true that you don't smell anything?" The student affirmed, "I really don't smell anything!" At this point, Socrates announced to the group, "He's right, because it's a fake apple." This student was Plato, who later became a famous philosopher. Socrates often debated with people. In debates he used a question-and-answer format to make the other person correct and give up his original misconceptions and to help the person generate new ideas. There are three steps in this type of question and answer: the first step is called Socratic irony, which he believed was a necessary step to make a person wise, because unless a person is humble enough to "know his own ignorance," he cannot learn true knowledge. The second step is called Definition, which leads to clear definitions and concepts after repeated questioning and summarization in a question and answer session, and the third step is called Midwifery, which leads the student to do his own thinking and come to his own conclusions. As Socrates himself said, he was able to help others to gain knowledge even though he was ignorant, as if his mother was a midwife who was unable to bear children in her old age, but was able to deliver babies and could help to bring forth new life.
Socrates also taught his friend Euthydemus never to give them ready-made answers, but to use rhetorical questions and rebuttals to make the students unconsciously accept the influence of his ideas. See an interesting example of a question and answer session between him and his students.
Euthydemus: Socrates, what is a good deed?
Socrates: theft, cheating, selling people as slaves, are these good or bad deeds?
Euthydemus: It is an evil act.
Socrates: is cheating an enemy an evil act? Is it evil to sell a captured enemy into slavery?
Euthydemus: It is a good deed. However, I am talking about friends and not enemies.
SOCRATES: According to you, theft is evil to a friend. But if a friend is about to commit suicide and you steal the instrument he is going to use to kill himself, is that an evil act?
Euthydemus: It is a good deed.
Socrates: You say that cheating on a friend is an evil act, but, in war, the commander of an army, in order to boost his morale, says to his soldiers that reinforcements are coming. But in reality there are no reinforcements, is this deception an evil act?
Euthydemus: It is a good deed.
This method of teaching has its merits, it can inspire people's minds, make people take the initiative to analyze and think about the problem, he used dialectical method to prove that the truth is concrete, relative, and can be transformed to its opposite under certain conditions. This epistemology is of great significance in the history of European thought. Socrates, the most outstanding philosopher of ancient Greece, had a profound influence on the development of Western philosophy. Socrates continued to search for the truth throughout his life, and because of his rhetorical skill, he often refuted those shallow people who thought they were knowledgeable, so he enjoyed high prestige among the youth, but unfortunately, in 399 B.C.E., he was sentenced to death by the democratic aristocrats in a public trial on the charge of inciting the youth and insulting the gods of Athens.
According to Athenian law at the time, the method of execution was to give a cup of poisoned wine, but the court allowed the prisoner's relatives and friends to visit him during the month of detention before the execution. There were many young people who visited Socrates in prison every day, and one of them, Criton, asked Socrates if he had any last words, to which Socrates replied, "I have nothing to ask but what I have usually said to you, and I ask you to keep them in mind. You must remain temperate; if you do not live as I have said, then no matter how many promises you make to me now, you will not be able to console my dead." With that he got up and went to take a bath.
One evening in June, 399 B.C., on the night of Socrates' impending execution, he was seen in rags, emanating bare feet, while his face was composed. He dismissed his wife and daughter, and went to talk with his pupils, such as Phaedo, Simias, Cephas, and Crispus, on the subject of the immortality of the soul. Soon the jailer came in and said, "Whenever I pass orders for the prisoners to take poisoned wine, they resent and curse me, but I must carry out the orders of my superiors. You are the noblest of the many prisoners here, so I suppose you will never hate me, but will only resent those who would put you to death, and I am now ordered to carry out the order, so may you suffer less. Farewell, my friend." With these words he burst into tears and left the cell. Socrates looked at the back of the jailer and said, "Farewell, my friend, I will do as you say." Then he turned back to the youths and said amiably, "What a good man, who has come to visit me every day since I was in prison, and has sometimes talked to me in a kindly manner. Now he is shedding tears for me, what a kind man! Come here, Kriton, and if the poisoned wine is ready, send for it at once; otherwise please go quickly and mix it." Kriton replied, "It is said that some prisoners, when they hear that they are going to be executed, always delay it by all means, in order that they may enjoy a good dinner. Please don't be in a hurry, there is still time!" At this Socrates said, "It is true that you are right, and there is no excuse for those people to do so, for in their opinion they gain something by delaying the taking of the poisoned wine; but to me nothing is gained by delaying the taking of the poisoned wine; on the contrary, to stint one's life that way to gain a good meal seems to me to deserve contempt, so go and fetch the wine. Please honor my request."
At this point, Kriton had no choice but to hint with his eyes to the little child who was waiting by to be told what to do, and the child went outside. A moment later, the child walked back and led a man in. The man who came in held a cup in his hand, in which was hemlock, or poison. So the hemlock was ready to be drunk at any time. Socrates asked the man with the cup of poison in his hand, "Tell me, please, what should I do?"
The man said, "After you have drunk the cup of poison, just keep walking here and there, and if you feel that your feet are gradually getting heavier and heavier, then you lie down. This will show that the poison has taken effect." Socrates was calm and composed, his face did not change color, he raised the cup with the poisoned wine to his chest and said calmly, "The time of parting has come, I shall die and they live, whose choice is good, God only knows." He took the glass and drank it down in one gulp. No one present wept for the loss of such a dear friend as would be lost. Socrates was greatly displeased at the sight, and he said, "How can you do this? I sent away the people of the house to avoid such a scene, and it is often said that one should not be afraid of death in the face of danger. Please be strong!" Socrates proceeded to pace the chamber for a while, said his legs were numb, and lay down. The man who brought the wine came over and felt his body and felt that there was no more heat. His last words were, "Criton, I owe Asclepius (i.e., the god of medicine) a chicken (i.e., I want Criton to sacrifice to the god of medicine on his behalf), remember to pay this debt for me." After saying this, the great philosopher closed his eyes and quietly left this world.
Socrates' philosophy was integrated with the practice of his life, and his personal fate was inseparable from that of Athens. He pursued the ideal of the good for the sake of his fatherland, and his fatherland rewarded his contribution and fulfilled his philosophy with the death penalty. Socrates did not feel the slightest anger, fear or sorrow, but continued to exhort everything in his wise and sincere tone. He understood that he was a messenger of the gods, that it was all in the hands of the gods, that he had an unfinished part of his life, and that death would give him a perfect ending.
In ancient Greece, the law was regarded as the foundation of the security of the city-state, with the dignity of a goddess, and could be said to be the true protector of the city-state. Under the protection of this deity, the city-states of ancient Greece were governed by law, and no one was allowed to be above the law. Socrates believed that the law of the city-state was an agreement made by the citizens unanimously, and should be carried out unswervingly. Only by abiding by the law can the people work together and make the city-state strong and powerful, and strict adherence to the law is the fundamental guarantee of the people's happiness and the strength of the city-state, whose value is much higher than that of an individual's life.
Socrates also believed that the law, like the city-state, originated from the gods and was a principle set by the gods. Law was initially embodied in natural law, which is also known as the laws of nature, and it was purely a divine will or a deliberate arrangement by the gods. Later the laws enacted by the city-states were called human law. Although humanized law is not as universal as natural law, but rather fallible, because humanized law is derived from natural law, people's acceptance of and obedience to the guidance of humanized law means that people accept and obey the constraints of natural law, which is to say, they obey the will of God. The ideal state of a city-state must be one in which everyone abides by the law from within, and this was both the ideal and belief of Socrates' life and the inner motivation for his final generous martyrdom to the law.
Socrates was unjustly sentenced to death by his own compatriots, but still talked about "morality, justice, the law is the most precious, the rule of law is the most precious," that the value of life is nothing more than this, it is really a free spirit overflowing. Socrates is a hero, he realized the power of moral ideals, and consciously and voluntarily to realize it, even if to sacrifice his own life. His death was a tragedy, a tragedy in that both sides of the conflict had a reason to exist and were irreconcilable. So Socrates used his own body to take up this great conflict, to take up the responsibility and mission of the free personality. For Socrates, his cause was his spirit, and through him the spirit of self-consciousness, voluntariness, self-discipline, and thus freedom, was brought to the fore. Socrates loved to associate with young people and wanted them to be well educated. He believed that when a man was educated, he would not only be happy in himself and be able to manage his own household, but also make others and the city-state happy. He often gave different education to young people according to different situations. For those who are genetically superior and despise learning, Socrates told them that the better endowed they are, the more they should be educated. It is as if a strong and unruly stallion, if trained as a child, would become the most powerful and valiant horse of a thousand miles; otherwise, it would always be an incompetent horse that is difficult to handle. If a man is poorly educated, the stronger his will, the more likely he is to sin. To those who boast of their wealth and think that they do not need to be educated and that wealth will fulfill their heart's desire and bring them happiness, Socrates teaches that only fools think this way. Happiness, he points out, lies not in wealth, but in knowledge and in contributing to humanity. It is only in this way that one can gain the respect of people.
It is said that Plato's cousin Glaucon, when he was less than 20 years old, longed to be the leader of the government of a city-state, and to address a great number of people with great honor and style. In theory, it is not a bad thing for a young man to have such an ideal. Unfortunately, Glaucon's knowledge and talent in this area were lacking. Everyone in the family understands that he is over-ambitious, thinking about the wrong things, and is really afraid that he will venture into the pulpit and get dragged down and become a laughing stock. But none of them could persuade him not to do so. This matter was known to Socrates, and in view of the relationship with Plato, he decided to enlighten the uninformed youth.
One day, Socrates saw Glaucon walking toward him, and called out from a distance; "Hey, Glaucon, I hear you're determined to be the leader of our city-state; is that true?" In order to make Glaucon happy to listen to his words, Socrates deliberately put on a very enthusiastic appearance and chose the topic that Glaucon was most interested in.
"Yes. I do indeed, Socrates." Glaucon replied.
"That's great. If there is anything really good on earth, this is another good thing. For, if your purpose is accomplished, you will have whatever you wish to have; you will be able to help your friends; to make a name for your family, and to add honor to your country; and your fame, after it has spread through the whole city, will spread throughout all Greece, and even be renowned among the foreign nations. Then, wherever you go, you will be admired."
And sure enough, Glaucon was so pleased at these words that he stopped to talk with Socrates.
Seeing that Glaucon stayed, Socrates then said, "It seems obvious, Glaucon, that if you want to be honored by the people, you must contribute to the city-state."
"Just as you said." Glaucon replied.
Socrates then asked Glaucon to talk about his intentions to make a contribution. Just as Glaucon was thinking, Socrates asked him if he would first make the city-state rich, and that the way to achieve that richness was to have more taxes. Glaucon agrees. Socrates then asks where the taxes will come from. What is the total amount? What is the source of the shortfall? Glaucon replies that he has not given any thought to these questions. After that, Socrates asks for his opinion on issues that must be considered to govern the state, such as cutting expenses, defense forces, defense strategies, and food supplies. Glaucon either answered that he had not considered them, or that he was not sure, or that there was no need to take care of such matters personally.
Seeing Glaucon's difficulty, Socrates further enlightened him, saying, "The state and the family are one. The country is so populous that it is indeed difficult to talk about some of the problems, but if you can help one family, you can begin to help many more, so why don't you try to promote the welfare of your uncle's family?"
Glaucon said, "If only my uncle would listen to my advice, I could certainly be of help to them."
Socrates laughed; "What? You can't even convince your uncle, and you want to hope that the whole of Athens, including your uncle, will listen to you? Young man, be careful, you want to be famous, don't make it backfire! Look at the reality. In all things, those who are honored and praised are the most knowledgeable. On the contrary, they are the most ignorant. If you really want to be honored and praised in your city and state, you should strive to acquire the widest knowledge of what you want to do. For only in this way will you be able to excel others; and when dealing with affairs, you will easily obtain your desired goal."
Glaucon, who was arrogant and bent on being a leader, was persuaded. There was a great scholar in ancient Greece named Socrates. One day, he led some of his disciples to a field of wheat. It was harvest time, and the field was full of heavy ears of wheat. Socrates said to his disciples, "Go to the wheat field and pick the biggest ear of wheat you can find, and only go in and not back out, and I will wait for you at the end of the wheat field."
The disciples understood their teacher's request and went into the wheat field.
The field was full of ears of barley, which was the largest? The disciples buried their heads and walked forward. Looking at this one, they shook their heads; looking at that one, they shook their heads again. They always thought that the biggest ear was still ahead. Although, the disciples did try to pick a few spikes, they were not satisfied and threw them away. They always thought that there were still a lot of chances left, and there was absolutely no need to settle too early.
A long period of time passed while the disciples walked forward with their heads down, picking and choosing with care.
Suddenly, everyone heard Socrates' pale, bell-like voice: "You have come to the end." At that moment, the two-handed disciples woke up as if in a dream, and they looked back at the wheat mounds, where countless plants shook their heads as if they were feeling sorry for them.
Socrates said to the disciples, "There must be an ear of wheat in this field that is the largest, but you may not happen to see it; and even if you do, you may not be able to make an accurate judgment. Therefore the largest ear is the one you have just picked."
Socrates' disciples listened to their teacher's words and realized this truth: It is as if a man's life is also walking in a wheat field, and he is also looking for the largest spike. Some people see the full grain of "wheat", and lose no time to pick it; some people are looking around, and again and again missed the opportunity. Of course, the pursuit should be the greatest, but to take the ear in front of the hand, is the real. Once upon a time, there was a very wise man in Greece named Socrates. Young men from all over the country came to him to learn wisdom and intelligence from him. He told many happy stories. He told them in such a lively way that no one who listened to him was ever bored.
One summer he built a house for himself. The house was very small, and his neighbors wondered how it could please him.
"Is there any reason why you, such a great man, should build your house in such a small box?"
"Indeed there is no reason." He said, "But small as this place is, I shall consider myself happy if I can make it hold true friends." While Socrates was in prison, he heard a new prisoner in the next cell humming a song, a new song that he had never heard before. Socrates hurriedly asked his singing cellmate to teach him that new song.
Everyone in the cell knew that Socrates was on death row, and that the date of execution was near. Hearing his request, the singing prisoner was surprised, "Don't you realize that you are about to be executed?"
"Of course I know." Socrates replied easily.
"Then why are you learning a new song?" The cellmate asked in disbelief.
The great man replied, "So that I will know one more song when I die."
- From the Global Times Socrates, the famous ancient Greek philosopher, was known as a "wife-obsessed" man with a very powerful wife.
On one occasion, a close friend of Socrates came to his home as a guest, and just after dinner, Socrates' wife asked Socrates to help her pour the foot-washing water in front of the friend. Socrates felt humiliated and refused to do so. So his wife got very angry and made a fuss with him. In order to avoid trouble, Socrates left with his friend and went out downstairs, and when they had just stepped out of the doorway of the building, his wife suddenly threw a basin of foot-washing water on him. The scene was very embarrassing.
Friends were present, which made his wife riding on his head for a long time Socrates not annoyed angry, naturally. But the famous philosopher is different, he did not have the same as ordinary people as a lion's fury, but with a generous temperament, flirting and bantering said: "I have long known that after the thunder must rain." Easily resolved the dilemma, his wife and friends could not help but laugh. I think this great "evil wife" since the "water incident", should have been converged!