Western Philosophy Ancient philosophy
Socrates
Name This page lists some links to ancient philosophy, although for Western thinkers prior to Socrates, see Pre-Socratic philosophy. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...	Socrates (Σωκράτης)
Birth	c. 470 BC[1] Suspected of plotting to seize power in Sparta by instigating a helot uprising, Pausanias takes refuge in the Temple of Athena of the Brazen House to escape arrest. ...
Death	399 BC Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC - 390s BC - 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC Years: 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401 BC 400 BC - 399 BC - 398 BC 397 BC...
School/tradition	Classical Greek, Socratic school Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. ...
Main interests	epistemology, ethics Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief. ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ...
Notable ideas	Socratic method, Socratic irony Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... Socratic irony is feigned ignorance, and feigned belief that ones interlocutor knows the truth about something, in order to provoke discussion and advance the search for truth. ...
Influences	Anaxagoras, Parmenides, Prodicus, Diotima Anaxagoras Anaxagoras (Greek: Αναξαγόρας, c. ... Parmenides of Elea (Greek: , early 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Hellenic city on the southern coast of Italy. ... Prodicus of Ceos (Πρόδικος Pródikos, born c. ... Diotima of Mantinea plays an important role in Platos Symposium. ...
Influenced	Plato, Aristotle, Western philosophy For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ...

This page is about the Classical Greek philosopher. For the Portuguese prime minister, see José Sócrates. For other uses of Socrates, see Socrates (disambiguation).

Socrates (Greek: Σωκράτης c. 470 BC–399 BC) was a Classical Greek philosopher. He is best known for the creation of Socratic irony and the Socratic Method, or elenchus. Specifically, Socrates is renowned for developing the practice of a philosophical type of pedagogy, in which the teacher asks questions of the student in order to elicit the best answer, and fundamental insight, on the part of the student. Parthenon This article is on the term Classical Greece itself. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... José Sócrates de Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (pron. ... Socrates can refer to these people: Socrates, an Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates the Achaean, an Ancient Greek mercenary of the Ten Thousand Socrates, hipparchos of Alexander the Greats army Socrates Scholasticus, a Byzantine church historian Socrates (Petrarch), a pseudonym for one of Petrarchs addressees (Ludwig van Kempen, also known... Suspected of plotting to seize power in Sparta by instigating a helot uprising, Pausanias takes refuge in the Temple of Athena of the Brazen House to escape arrest. ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC - 390s BC - 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC Years: 404 BC 403 BC 402 BC 401 BC 400 BC - 399 BC - 398 BC 397 BC... Parthenon This article is on the term Classical Greece itself. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Socratic irony is feigned ignorance, and feigned belief that ones interlocutor knows the truth about something, in order to provoke discussion and advance the search for truth. ... Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... Socrates Scholasticus; for the Brazilian football player, see Sócrates (football player) Socrates Socrates (June 4, 470 – 399 BC) (Greek Σωκράτης Sōkrátēs) was a Greek (Athenian) philosopher and one of the most important icons of the Western... Pedagogy (IPA: ) , the art or science of being a teacher, generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction[1]. The word comes from the Ancient Greek (paidagōgeō; from (child) and (lead)): literally, to lead the child”. In Ancient Greece, was (usually) a slave who supervised the...

Socrates is credited with exerting a powerful influence upon the founders of Western philosophy, most particularly Plato and Aristotle, and while Socrates principal contribution to philosophy is in the field of ethics, he also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic. Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Theory of knowledge redirects here: for other uses, see theory of knowledge (disambiguation) According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy that studies the nature, methods, limitations, and validity of knowledge and belief. ... Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. ...

Life

Details about Socrates are derived from three contemporary sources: the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon (associates or students of Socrates), and the plays of Aristophanes. There is no evidence that Socrates himself published any writings. He has been depicted by some scholars, including Eric Havelock and Walter Ong, as a champion of oral modes of communication, standing up at the dawn of writing against its haphazard diffusion.^[2] For other uses, see Dialogue (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... This article is about the 5-4th century BC dramatist. ... Attic cup inscribed with the Greek alphabet. ... Walter Ong Walter J. Ong (November 30, 1912 – August 12, 2003) is an educator, academic, and linguist known for his work in Renaissance literary and intellectual history and in contemporary culture as well as for his more wide-ranging studies on the evolution of consciousness. ... Orality can be defined as thought and its verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy (especially writing and print) are unfamiliar to most of the population. ... Write redirects here. ...

Aristophanes' play The Clouds portrays Socrates as a clown who teaches his students how to bamboozle their way out of debt. Most of Aristophanes' works, however, function as parodies. Thus, one should not take his portrayal of Socrates at face value. The Clouds (Nephelae,Νεφέλαι) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes lampooning the sophists and the intellectual trends of late fifth-century Athens. ...

Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure, by Jean-Baptiste Regnault (1791).

According to Plato, Socrates' father was Sophroniscus and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife. Socrates married Xanthippe, who was much younger than her husband. She bore him three sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. His friend Crito criticized him for abandoning his sons when he refused to try to escape before his execution. Image File history File links Socrates-Alcibiades. ... Image File history File links Socrates-Alcibiades. ... Jean-Baptiste Regnault (October 9, 1754 - November 12, 1829), French painter, was born at Paris. ... Sophroniscus, a sculptor, was the father of the philosopher Socrates. ... Phaenarete, wife of Sophroniscus, was the mother of the Greek philosopher Socrates. ... Midwifery is a blanket term used to describe a number of different types of health practitioners, other than doctors, who provide prenatal care to expecting mothers, attend the birth of the infant and provide postnatal care to the mother and infant. ... Print portraying Socrates and Xanthippe. ...

It is unclear how Socrates earned a living. According to Timon of Phlius and later sources, Socrates took over the profession of stonemasonry from his father. There was a tradition in antiquity, not credited by modern scholarship, that Socrates crafted the statues of the Three Graces, which stood near the Acropolis until the second century AD.^[3] Timon (c. ... The craft of the stonemason has existed since the dawn of civilization - creating buildings, structures and sculpture using stone from the earth. ...

There is evidence which indicates that Socrates never engaged in a profession: In Xenophon's Symposium, Socrates is reported as saying he devotes himself only to what he regards as the most important art or occupation: discussing philosophy. Aristophanes portrays Socrates as accepting payment for teaching and running a sophist school with Chaerephon, in The Clouds, while in Plato's Apology and Symposium and in Xenophon's accounts, Socrates explicitly denies accepting payment for teaching. More specifically, in the Apology Socrates cites his poverty as proof that he is not a teacher. Xenophons Symposium records the discussion of Socrates and company at a dinner given by Callias for the youth Autolycus. ... Sophism can mean two very different things: In the modern definition, a sophism is a confusing or illogical argument used for deceiving someone. ... Chaerephon was a loyal friend and follower of Socrates. ... (The) Apology (of Socrates) is Platos version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man who corrupted the young, did not believe in the gods, and created new deities. Apology here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the... The Symposium is a philosophical dialogue written by Plato sometime after 385 BC. It is a discussion on the nature of love, taking the form of a series of speeches, both satirical and serious, given by a group of men at a symposium or drinking party at the house of...

Several of Plato's dialogues refer to Socrates' military service. Socrates says he served in the Athenian army during three campaigns: at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium. In the Symposium Alcibiades describes Socrates' valor in the battles of Potidaea and Delium, recounting how Socrates saved his life in the former battle (219e-221b). Socrates' exceptional service at Delium is also mentioned in the Laches, by the general the dialogue is named after (181b). In the Apology Socrates compares his military service to his courtroom troubles, and says that anyone on the jury who thinks he ought to retreat from philosophy must also think that soldiers should retreat when it looks like they will be killed in battle. Potidaea (Greek: Ποτίδαια Potidaia, modern transliteration: Potidea) was a colony founded by the Corinthians around 600 BC in the narrowest point in Pallene (now Kassandria) in the western point of Chalkidiki (Chalcidice) in what was known as Thrace, Potidaea was maintaining trade with Macedonia. ... Localization of Amphipolis Amphipolis (Greek, Ἀμφίπολις – Amphípolis) was an ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day periphery of East Macedonia and Thrace. ... The Battle of Delium took place in 424 BC between the Athenians and the Boeotians, and ended with the siege of Delium in the following weeks. ... Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: ; English /ælsɪbaɪədi:z/; 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. ...

Trial and death

See main article: Trial of Socrates

The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787).

There is some controversy as to whether or not Socrates' actions at the time of his death were justified. The trial and execution of Socrates was the climax of his career and a central event in the dialogues of Plato. The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787) The trial of Socrates refers to the trial and the subsequent execution of the Athenian philosopher Socrates in 399 BC. Socrates was tried and convicted by the courts of democratic Athens on a charge of corrupting the youth and disbelieving in... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Jacques-Louis David (August 30, 1748 – December 29, 1825) was a highly influential French painter in the Neoclassical style, considered to be the prominent painter of the era. ... The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787) The trial of Socrates refers to the trial and the subsequent execution of the Athenian philosopher Socrates in 399 BC. Socrates was tried and convicted by the courts of democratic Athens on a charge of corrupting the youth and disbelieving in...

Socrates admits in this series of dialogues that he could have avoided the trial by abandoning philosophy and going home to mind his own business. After his conviction, he could have avoided the death penalty by being smuggled out of his prison cell by his old friend, Crito. Crito also came to present Socrates with freedom from prison, priceless living that his friends were willing to pay, and a content life in exile. Socrates turned down Crito's plan not only because he would violate the Laws of Athens, but because he would be viewed as a hypocrite of his own work. The reason for his cooperation with the state's mandate forms a valuable philosophical insight in its own right, and is best articulated by the dialogues themselves, especially in his dialogue with Crito, in which Socrates was encouraged and begged to escape since he had so many chances to do so. Also in his dialogue with Crito, he is told that if he did not escape then he would be letting down his students, who he taught everything he knew to, and would not be able to care for his sons that loved him very much. Socrates' death would also be viewed as a horrible reflection of his friends, as they had done nothing to help Socrates escape. Socrates responded to Crito by suggesting that people worry about themselves and behaving well, but not focus on another person's reputation. The Crito (IPA [kriːtɔːn]; in English usually [ˈkɹiːtɘʊː]) is a short but important dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. ...

Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian Hegemony to its decline with the defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens was seeking to stabilize and recover from its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public may have been entertaining doubts about democracy as an efficient form of government. Socrates appears to have been a critic of democracy, and his trial is interpreted by some scholars to be an expression of political infighting. “Athenian War” redirects here. ...

Despite claiming death-defying loyalty to his city, Socrates' pursuit of virtue and his strict adherence to truth clashed with the current course of Athenian politics and society.^[4] He praises Sparta, arch rival to Athens, directly and indirectly in various dialogues. But perhaps the most historically accurate of Socrates' offences to the city was his position as a social and moral critic. Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development of immorality within his region, Socrates worked to undermine the collective notion of "might makes right" so common to Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the gadfly of the state, insofar as he irritated the establishment with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness. His attempts to improve the Athenian's sense of justice may have been the source of his execution.

According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded that none was wiser than Socrates. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a riddle, considering there is no record of the oracle ever giving individuals praise for their achievements or knowledge. He proceeded to test the riddle through approaching men who were considered to be wise by the people of Athens. Such as statesmen, poets, craftsmen, who would seem to be wise but after Socrates' questionings, they actually only were wise and knew a great deal about their job. He questioned the men of Athens about their knowledge of good, beauty, and virtue. Finding that they knew nothing and yet believed themselves to know much, Socrates came to the conclusion that he was wise only insofar as "that what I don't know, I don't think I know." Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates is asked to propose his own punishment, he suggests a wage paid by the government instead, to finance the time he spends as Athens' benefactor.^[5] Gadfly is a term for people who upset the status quo by posing upsetting or novel questions, or attempts to stimulate innovation by proving an irritant. ... Consulting the Oracle by John William Waterhouse, showing eight priestesses in a temple of prophecy An oracle is a person or persons considered to be the source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ... For other uses, see Delphi (disambiguation). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... For beauty as a characteristic of a persons appearance, see Physical attractiveness. ... Personification of virtue (Greek ἀρετή) in Celsus Library in Ephesos, Turkey Virtue (Latin virtus; Greek ) is moral excellence of a person. ...

He was nevertheless found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and sentenced to death by drinking a mix of the poisonous hemlock. Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his limbs felt heavy. After he laid down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before dying, Socrates spoke his last words to Crito saying, "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom, of the soul from the body. The Roman philosopher Seneca attempted to emulate Socrates' death by hemlock when forced to commit suicide by the Emperor Nero. Species Conium chaerophylloides (Thunb. ... Platos Phaedo (IPA: , Greek: Φαίδων, Phaidon) is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. ... Asclepius (Greek also rendered Aesculapius in Latin and transliterated Asklepios) was the god of medicine and healing in ancient Greek mythology, according to which he was born a mortal but was given immortality as the constellation Ophiuchus after his death. ... Bust, traditionally thought to be Seneca, now identified by some as Hesiod. ...

According to Xenophon and Plato, Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards. After escaping, Socrates would have had to flee from Athens. However, Socrates refused to escape for several reasons. 1. He believed that such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has. 2. Even if he did leave, he, and his teaching, would fare no better in another country. 3. Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his 'contract' with the state, and by so doing harming it, an act contrary to Socratic principle. The full reasoning behind his refusal to flee is the main subject of the Crito. John Lockes writings on the Social Contract were particularly influential among the American Founding Fathers. ... The Crito (IPA [kriːtɔːn]; in English usually [ˈkɹiːtɘʊː]) is a short but important dialogue by the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato. ...

According to Xenophon's story of Socrates' defense to the jury, Socrates purposefully gives a defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead." Xenophon's explanation goes on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and how Socrates will be glad to circumvent these by being sentenced to death. It is also understood that Socrates not only wished to avoid the pains of old age, but also to die because he "actually believed the right time had come for him to die."

The Socratic Problem

In attempting to gather accurate information about Socrates, scholars face a specific problem. The problem (widely referred to as the Socratic problem academically) is caused by a set of three circumstances: This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

• There is no evidence that Socrates wrote any texts, whether philosophical or biographical.
• The primary sources relating to Socrates amount to the writing of four men: Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, and Aristophanes.^[6]
• The information coming from these sources was written in artistic and philosophical styles that imply a level of creativity or imagination upon the part of the writer.

Therefore, the primary sources for the life of Socrates come without any claims of historical veracity. And since there are no known writings by Socrates, historians are faced with the challenge of reconciling the texts that come from these men to create an accurate and consistent account of the historical Socrates himself. Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... This article is about the 5-4th century BC dramatist. ...

Plato is the most reliable and capacious source of information about Socrates' life and philosophy.^[7] Thus, most classicists claim that any description of Socrates must cohere with what Plato wrote in his dialogues. However, information about Socrates cannot rely upon that source alone. If Plato was the only extant source of information about Socrates, there would be no reason to think that Socrates was an actual, historical figure; without further evidence, Socrates could merely be chalked up as a spokesperson for Plato's philosophy. Instead, the historians and classicists who study Socrates use the testimony of Xenophon and Aristotle (and some times alongside a careful reading of Aristophanes' The Clouds) to buttress the portrayal of Socrates within the dialogues of Plato. For other uses, see Classics (disambiguation). ... The Clouds (Nephelae,Νεφέλαι) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes lampooning the sophists and the intellectual trends of late fifth-century Athens. ...

Philosophy

Part of a series on Platonism

Platonic idealism

Platonic realism

Middle Platonism

Neoplatonism

Articles on Neoplatonism

Platonic epistemology

Socratic method

Socratic dialogue

Theory of forms

Platonic doctrine of recollection

Form of the Good

Individuals

Plato

Socrates

Alcibiades

Protagoras

Parmenides

Discussions of Plato's works

Dialogues of Plato

Metaphor of the sun

Analogy of the divided line

Allegory of the cave

Third Man Argument

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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Image File history File links Plato-raphael. ... Platonic idealism is the theory that the substantive reality around us is only a reflection of a higher truth. ... Platonic realism is a philosophical term usually used to refer to the idea of realism regarding the existence of universals after the Greek philosopher Plato who lived between c. ... Middle Platonism refers to the development of certain philosophical doctrines associated with Plato during the first and second centuries A.D. One of the outstanding thinkers of Middle Platonism was Philo Judeaus (Philo the Jew) who synthesized Platos philosophy with Jewish scripture largely through allegorical interpretation of the latter. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is the modern term for a school of religious and mystical philosophy that took shape in the 3rd century AD, founded by Plotinus and based on the teachings of Plato and earlier Platonists. ... Platonic epistemology is the belief that knowledge is innate, the development (often under the midwife-like guidance of an interrogator) of ideas buried deep in the soul. ... Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... Socratic dialogue (Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος), is a prose literary form developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BCE, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems. ... Theory of Forms typically refers to Platos belief that the material world as it seems to us is not the real world, but only a shadow of the real world. ... The Platonic doctrine of recollection is the idea that we are born possessing all knowledge and our realization of that knowledge is contingent on our discovery of it. ... Plato describes The Form of the Good in his book, The Republic, using Socrates as his mouth piece. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: ; English /ælsɪbaɪədi:z/; 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. ... Protagoras (in Greek Πρωταγόρας) was born around 481 BC in Abdera, Thrace in Ancient Greece. ... Parmenides of Elea (Greek: , early 5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Hellenic city on the southern coast of Italy. ... Plato, in The Republic (507b-509c), uses the sun as a metaphor for the source of illumination, arguably intellectual illumination, which he held to be The Form of the Good, which is sometimes interpreted as Platos notion of God. ... Plato, in The Republic Book 6 (509D–513E), uses the literary device of a divided line to teach his basic views about four levels of existence (especially the intelligible world of the forms, universals, and the visible world we see around us) and the corresponding ways we come to know... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Third Man Argument (commonly refered to as TMA), first offered by Plato in his dialogue Parmenides, is a philosophical criticism of Platos own Theory of Forms. ... Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase that translates to Who will guard the guards? or Who shall watch the watchers themselves? The question was first asked by Plato in the Republic, his great work on government and morality. ...

Socratic method

See main article: Socratic method

Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic Method or method of elenchos, which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer you seek. The influence of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the Scientific Method, in which hypothesis is the first stage. The development and practice of this method is one of Socrates most enduring contributions, and is a key factor in earning his mantle as the father of political philosophy, ethics or moral philosophy, and as a figurehead of all the central themes in Western philosophy. Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... For this articles equivalent regarding the East, see Eastern culture. ... In classical philosophy, dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is controversy, Viz. ... Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... This article is about the concept of justice. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. ... Look up Hypothesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Political philosophy is the study of fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, liberty, justice, property, rights, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why (or even if) they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what... For other uses, see Ethics (disambiguation). ... Western philosophy is a modern claim that there is a line of related philosophical thinking, beginning in ancient Greece (Greek philosophy) and the ancient Near East (the Abrahamic religions), that continues to this day. ...

To illustrate the use of the Socratic method; a series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. The Socratic method is a negative method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those which lead to contradictions. It was designed to force one to examine one's own beliefs and the validity of such beliefs. In fact, Socrates once said, "I know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others."^[8] For other uses, see Question (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Believe. ... Look up Hypothesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Broadly speaking, a contradiction is an incompatibility between two or more statements, ideas, or actions. ...

Philosophical beliefs

The beliefs of Socrates, as opposed to those of Plato, are difficult to discern. Little in the way of concrete evidence demarcates the two. The lengthy theories given in most of the dialogues are those of Plato, and it is thought that Plato so adapted the Socratic style as to make the literary character and the philosopher himself impossible to distinguish. Others argue that he did have his own theories and beliefs, but there is much controversy over what these might have been, owing to the difficulty of separating Socrates from Plato and the difficulty of interpreting even the dramatic writings concerning Socrates. Consequently, distinguishing the philosophical beliefs of Socrates from those of Plato and Xenophon is not easy and it must be remembered that what is attributed to Socrates might more closely reflect the specific concerns of these thinkers.

If anything in general can be said about the philosophical beliefs of Socrates, it is that he was morally, intellectually, and politically at odds with his fellow Athenians. When he is on trial for heresy and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, he uses his method of elenchos to demonstrate to the jurors that their moral values are wrong-headed. He tells them that they are concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they ought to be worried about the "welfare of their souls." Socrates's belief in the immortality of the soul, and his conviction that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary seemed to provoke if not annoyance, at least ridicule. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine that arete (that is, virtue) can be taught. He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent military general Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to his lack of anxiety about the future of his own sons. For the Shakespeare play, see Pericles, Prince of Tyre. ...

Socrates frequently says that his ideas are not his own, but his teachers'. He mentions several influences: Prodicus the rhetor and Anaxagoras the scientist. Perhaps surprisingly, Socrates claims to have been deeply influenced by two women besides his mother. He says that Diotima, a witch and priestess from Mantinea taught him all he knows about eros, or love, and that Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, taught him the art of funeral orations. John Burnet argued that his principal teacher was the Anaxagorean Archelaus but that his ideas were as Plato described them; Eric A. Havelock, on the other hand, considered Socrates' association with the Anaxagoreans to be evidence of Plato's philosophical separation from Socrates. Prodicus of Ceos (Πρόδικος Pródikos, born c. ... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ... Anaxagoras Anaxagoras (Greek: Αναξαγόρας, c. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Mantinea is a city in the central Peloponnese that was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history. ... For other uses, see Love (disambiguation). ... Marble herm in the Vatican Museums inscribed with Aspasias name at the base. ... For the Shakespeare play, see Pericles, Prince of Tyre. ... John Burnet (1863–1928) was a Scottish classicist. ... The name Archelaus may refer to: Archelaus (philosopher), pupil of Anaxagoras, 5th century BC Archelaus I of Macedon, reigned 413-399 BC Archelaus (general), fought in the First and Third Mithridatic Wars (1st century BC) Archelaus of Cappadocia, reigned 36 BC-AD 17 Herod Archelaus, ethnarch of Samaria, Judea, and... Eric Havelock, while at Yale. ...

Knowledge

Bust of Socrates, Roman marble, Louvre museum

Socrates seems to have often said that his wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Socrates may have believed that wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance, that those who did wrong knew no better. The one thing Socrates consistently claimed to have knowledge of was "the art of love" which he connected with the concept of "the love of wisdom", i.e., philosophy. He never actually claimed to be wise, only to understand the path that a lover of wisdom must take in pursuing it. It is debatable whether Socrates believed that humans (as opposed to gods like Apollo) could actually become wise. On the one hand, he drew a clear line between human ignorance and ideal knowledge; on the other, Plato's Symposium (Diotima's Speech) and Republic (Allegory of the Cave) describe a method for ascending to wisdom. ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 153 KB) Suject : Portrait of Socrates ; Origin : Roman (1st century), perhaps a copy of a lost bronze statue made by Lysippos ; Material : Marble ; Location : Louvre museum, Paris, France, MA 59 ; Author : Eric Gaba (User:Sting) ; Date : July 2005. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Download high resolution version (600x800, 153 KB) Suject : Portrait of Socrates ; Origin : Roman (1st century), perhaps a copy of a lost bronze statue made by Lysippos ; Material : Marble ; Location : Louvre museum, Paris, France, MA 59 ; Author : Eric Gaba (User:Sting) ; Date : July 2005. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ...

In Plato's Theaetetus (150a) Socrates compares himself to a true matchmaker (προμνηστικός), as distinguished from a panderer (προᾰγωγός). This distinction is echoed in Xenophon's Symposium (3.20), when Socrates jokes about his certainty of being able to make a fortune, if he chose to practice the art of pandering. For his part as a philosophical interlocutor, he leads his respondent to a clearer conception of wisdom, although he claims that he is not himself a teacher (Apology). His role, he claims, is more properly to be understood as analogous to a midwife (μαῖα). Socrates explains that he is himself barren of theories, but knows how to bring the theories of others to birth and determine whether they are worthy or mere "wind eggs" (ἀνεμιαῖον). Perhaps significantly, he points out that midwives are barren due to age, and women who have never given birth are unable to become midwives; a truly barren woman would have no experience or knowledge of birth and would be unable to separate the worthy infants from those that should be left on the hillside to be exposed. To judge this, the midwife must have experience and knowledge of what she is judging. Midwifery is a blanket term used to describe a number of different types of health practitioners, other than doctors, who provide prenatal care to expecting mothers, attend the birth of the infant and provide postnatal care to the mother and infant. ...

Virtue

Socrates believed that the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He always invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt that this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace. His actions lived up to this: in the end, Socrates accepted his death sentence when most thought he would simply leave Athens, as he felt he could not run away from or go against the will of his community; as mentioned above, his reputation for valor on the battlefield was without reproach.

The idea that humans possessed certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates' teachings. These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person to have, foremost of which were the philosophical or intellectual virtues. Socrates stressed that "virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and that it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know." Ultimately, virtue relates to the form of the Good; to truly be good and not just act with "right opinion"; one must come to know the unchanging Good in itself. In the Republic, he describes the "divided line", a continuum of ignorance to knowledge with the Good on top of it all; only at the top of this line do we find true good and the knowledge of such.

Politics

It is often argued that Socrates believed "ideals belong in a world that only the wise man can understand", making the philosopher the only type of person suitable to govern others. According to Plato's account, Socrates was in no way subtle about his particular beliefs on government. He openly objected to the democracy that ran Athens during his adult life. It was not only Athenian democracy: Socrates objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a perfect republic led by philosophers, and Athenian government was far from that. It is, however, possible that Plato's account is coloured here by his own views. During the last years of Socrates' life, Athens was in continual flux due to political upheaval. Democracy was at last overthrown by a junta known as the Thirty Tyrants, led by Plato's relative, Critias, who had been a student of Socrates. The Tyrants ruled for about a year before the Athenian democracy was reinstated, at which point it declared an amnesty for all recent events. Four years later, it acted to execute Socrates. A military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military; it is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military. ... The Thirty Tyrants were a pro-Spartan oligarchy installed in Athens after Athens defeat in the Peloponnesian War in April 404 BC. Its two leading members were Tharamenes and Critias, a former acolyte of Socrates. ... Critias (Greek , 460-403 BC), was born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was the uncle of Plato, leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. ... Look up Amnesty in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

This argument is often denied, and the question is one of the biggest philosophical debates when trying to determine what, exactly, it was that Socrates believed. The strongest argument of those who claim that Socrates did not actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is Socrates' constant refusal to enter into politics or participate in government of any sort; he often stated that he could not look into other's matters or tell people how to live their lives when he did not yet understand how to live his own. He believed he was a philosopher engaged in the pursuit of Truth, and did not claim to know it fully. Socrates' acceptance of his death sentence, after his conviction by the Boule (Senate), can also be seen to support this view. It is often claimed that much of the anti-democratic leanings are from Plato, who was never able to overcome his disgust at what was done to his teacher. In any case, it is clear that Socrates thought that the rule of the Thirty Tyrants was at least as objectionable as democracy; when called before them to assist in the arrest of a fellow Athenian, Socrates refused and narrowly escaped death before the Tyrants were overthrown. He did however fulfill his duty to serve as prytanis when a trial of a group of generals who presided over a disastrous naval campaign were judged; even then he maintained an uncompromising attitude, being one of those who refused to proceed in a manner not supported by the laws, despite intense pressure.^[9] Judging by his actions, he considered the rule of the Thirty Tyrants less legitimate than that of the democratic senate who sentenced him to death. In the cities (Gr. ... The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. ...

Mysticism

In the dialogues of Plato, Socrates often seems to surport a mystical side, discussing reincarnation and the mystery religions; however, this is generally attributed to Plato^{[citation needed]}. Regardless, this cannot be dismissed out of hand, as we cannot be sure of the differences between the views of Plato and Socrates; in addition, there seem to be some corollaries in the works of Xenophon. In the culmination of the philosophic path as discussed in Plato's Symposium and Republic, one comes to the Sea of Beauty or to the sight of the form of the Good in an experience akin to mystical revelation; only then can one become wise. (In the Symposium, Socrates credits his speech on the philosophic path to his teacher, the priestess Diotima, who is not even sure if Socrates is capable of reaching the highest mysteries.) In the Meno, he refers to the Eleusinian Mysteries, telling Meno he would understand Socrates' answers better if only he could stay for the initiations next week. Further confusions result from the nature of these sources, insofar as the Platonic dialogues are arguably the work of an artist-philosopher, whose meaning does not volunteer itself to the passive reader nor again the lifelong scholar. Plato himself was a playwright before taking up the study of philosophy. His works are, indeed, dialogues; Plato's choice of this, the medium of Sophocles, Euripides, and the fictions of theatre, may reflect the interpretable nature of his writings. What is more, the first word of nearly all Plato's works is a, or the, significant term for that respective study, and is used with the commonly approved definition in mind. Finally, the Phaedrus and the Symposium each allude to Socrates' coy delivery of philosophic truths in conversation; the Socrates of the Phaedrus goes so far as to demand such dissembling and mystery in all writing. The mysticism we often find in Plato, appearing here and there and couched in some enigmatic tract of symbol and irony, is often at odds with the mysticism that Plato's Socrates expounds in some other dialogue. These mystical resolutions to thitherto rigorous inquiries and analyses fail to satisfy caring readers, without fail. Whether they would fail to satisfy readers who understood them is another question, and will not, in all probability, ever be resolved. Mysticism (ancient Greek mysticon = secret) is meditation, prayer, or theology focused on the direct experience of union with divinity, God, or Ultimate Reality, or the belief that such experience is a genuine and important source of knowledge. ... This article is about the theological concept. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... The Sea of Beauty is one of many analogies and similes employed in an admittedly vain effort to describe a high vision of reality. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Revelation of the Last Judgment by Jacob de Backer Revelation is an uncovering or disclosure via communication from the divine of something that has been partially or wholly hidden or unknown, which could not be known apart from the unveiling (Goswiller 1987 p. ... Diotima of Mantinea plays an important role in Platos Symposium. ... The Eleusinian Mysteries (Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια) were initiation ceremonies held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ...

Perhaps the most interesting facet of this is Socrates' reliance on what the Greeks called his "daemonic sign", an averting (ἀποτρεπτικός) inner voice that Socrates heard only when he was about to make a mistake. It was this sign that prevented Socrates from entering into politics. In the Phaedrus, we are told Socrates considered this to be a form of "divine madness", the sort of insanity that is a gift from the gods and gives us poetry, mysticism, love, and even philosophy itself. Alternately, the sign is often taken to be what we would call "intuition"; however, Socrates' characterization of the phenomenon as "daemonic" suggests that its origin is divine, mysterious, and independent of his own thoughts. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... This article is about the art form. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Love (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Satirical playwrights

He was prominently lampooned in Aristophanes' comedy The Clouds, produced when Socrates was in his mid-forties; he said at his trial (according to Plato) that the laughter of the theater was a harder task to answer than the arguments of his accusers. Soren Kierkegaard believed this play was a more accurate representation of Socrates than those of his students. In the play, Socrates is ridiculed for his dirtiness, which is associated with the Laconizing fad; also in plays by Callias, Eupolis, and Telecleides. In all of these, Socrates and the Sophists were criticised for "the moral dangers inherent in contemporary thought and literature". This article is about the 5-4th century BC dramatist. ... A comedy is a dramatic performance of a light and amusing character, usually with a happy conclusion to its plot. ... The Clouds (Nephelae,Νεφέλαι) is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes lampooning the sophists and the intellectual trends of late fifth-century Athens. ... For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle &#8212... Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard (May 5, 1813 - November 11, 1855), a 19th century Danish philosopher, has achieved general recognition as the first existentialist philosopher, though some new research shows this may be a more difficult connection than previously thought. ... Laconophiles are those who have a love of Lacedaemon or Sparta, in Laconia, and its culture and laws. ... Callias was the head of a wealthy Athenian family, and fought at the battle of Marathon (490) in priestly attire. ... Eupolis (ca. ... A Greek Poet of comedy from the 5th century BC, and a violent opponent of Pericles. ... Sophism was originally a term for the techniques taught by a highly respected group of philosophy and rhetoric teachers in ancient Greece. ...

Prose sources

Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle are the main sources for the historical Socrates; however, Xenophon and Plato were direct disciples of Socrates, and presumably, they idealize him; however, they wrote the only continuous descriptions of Socrates that have come down to us. Aristotle refers frequently, but in passing, to Socrates in his writings. Almost all of Plato's works center around Socrates. However, Plato's latter works appear to be more his own philosophy put into the mouth of his mentor. For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ...

The Socratic dialogues

See main article: Socratic dialogues

The Socratic dialogues are a series of dialogues written by Plato and Xenophon in the form of discussions between Socrates and other persons of his time, or as discussions between Socrates' followers over his concepts. Plato's Phaedo is an example of this latter category. Although his Apology is a monologue delivered by Socrates, it is usually grouped with the dialogues. The Socratic dialogues (Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος) are prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BCE, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating the socratic method. ... The Socratic dialogues (Greek Σωκρατικός λόγος or Σωκρατικός διάλογος) are prose literary works developed in Greece at the turn of the fourth century BCE, preserved today in the dialogues of Plato and the Socratic works of Xenophon - either dramatic or narrative - in which characters discuss moral and philosophical problems, illustrating the socratic method. ... For other uses, see Dialogue (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , ca. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... (The) Apology (of Socrates) is Platos version of the speech given by Socrates as he defends himself against the charges of being a man who corrupted the young, did not believe in the gods, and created new deities. Apology here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the...

The Apology professes to be a record of the actual speech that Socrates delivered in his own defense at the trial. In the Athenian jury system, an "apology" is composed of three parts: a speech, followed by a counter-assessment, then some final words. "Apology" is a transliteration, not a translation, of the Greek apologia, meaning "defense"; in this sense it is not apologetic according to our contemporary use of the term.

Plato generally does not place his own ideas in the mouth of a specific speaker; he lets ideas emerge via the Socratic method, under the guidance of Socrates. Most of the dialogues present Socrates applying this method to some extent, but nowhere as completely as in the Euthyphro. In this dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro go through several iterations of refining the answer to Socrates' question, "...What is the pious, and what the impious?" Socratic Method (or Method of Elenchus or Socratic Debate) is a dialectic method of inquiry, largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts and first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. ... Euthyphro is one of Platos early dialogues, dated to after 399 BC. Shortly before the Greek philosopher Socrates is due to appear in court, he encounters a man, Euthyphro, who has gained the reputation of being a religious expert. ...

In Plato's dialogues, learning appears as a process of remembering. The soul, before its incarnation in the body, was in the realm of Ideas (very similar to the Platonic "Forms"). There, it saw things the way they truly are, rather than the pale shadows or copies we experience on earth. By a process of questioning, the soul can be brought to remember the ideas in their pure form, thus bringing wisdom. For other uses, see Soul (disambiguation). ... IDEA may refer to: Electronic Directory of the European Institutions IDEA League Improvement and Development Agency Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Indian Distance Education Association Integrated Data Environments Australia Intelligent Database Environment for Advanced Applications IntelliJ IDEA - a Java IDE Interactive Database for Energy-efficient Architecture International IDEA (International Institute... For the apocryphal book of the Bible, see Book of Wisdom. ...

Especially for Plato's writings referring to Socrates, it is not always clear which ideas brought forward by Socrates (or his friends) actually belonged to Socrates and which of these may have been new additions or elaborations by Plato — this is known as the Socratic problem. Generally, the early works of Plato are considered to be close to the spirit of Socrates, whereas the later works — including Phaedo and the Republic — are considered to be possibly products of Plato's elaborations. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... The Republic (Greek: ) is an influential work of philosophy and political theory by the Greek philosopher Plato, written in approximately 360 BC. It is written in the format of a Socratic dialogue. ...

Legacy

Immediate Influence

Immediately, the students of Socrates' set to work both on exercising their perceptions of his teachings in politics as well as developing many new philosophical schools of thought. Some of Athens' controversial and anti-democratic tyrants were contemporary or posthumous students of Socrates including Alcibiades and Critias. Critias' cousin, Plato would go on to found the Academy in 385 BC - which gained so much notoriety that its name Academy became the base word for educational institutions in later European languages such as English, French, and Italian. Plato's protege, another classic figure of the Hellenistic era, Aristotle went on to tutor Alexander the Great as well as to found his own school in 335 BC- the Lyceum, whose name also now means an educational institution. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Alcibiades Cleiniou Scambonides (Greek: ; English /ælsɪbaɪədi:z/; 450 BC–404 BC), also transliterated as Alkibiades, was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. ... Critias (Greek , 460-403 BC), was born in Athens, son of Callaeschrus, was the uncle of Plato, leading member of the Thirty Tyrants, and one of the most violent. ... For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Academy (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 430s BC 420s BC 410s BC 400s BC 390s BC - 380s BC - 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC 330s BC Years: 390 BC 389 BC 388 BC 387 BC 386 BC - 385 BC - 384 BC 383 BC... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... For other uses, see Aristotle (disambiguation). ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Centuries: 5th century BC - 4th century BC - 3rd century BC Decades: 380s BC 370s BC 360s BC 350s BC 340s BC - 330s BC - 320s BC 310s BC 300s BC 290s BC 280s BC Years: 340 BC 339 BC 338 BC 337 BC 336 BC - 335 BC - 334 BC 333 BC... A Lyceum can be an educational institution (often a school of secondary education in Europe), or a public hall used for cultural events like concerts. ...

However, whereas Socrates was shown to demote the importance of institutional knowledge such as mathematics or science in relation to the human condition in his dialogues, Plato would emphasize it with metaphysical overtones mirroring that of Pythagoras - the former who would dominate Western thought well into the Renaissance. Aristotle himself was as much of a philosopher as he was a scientist with rudimentary work in the fields of biology and physics. For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... Pythagoras of Samos (Greek: ; between 580 and 572 BC–between 500 and 490 BC) was an Ionian (Greek) philosopher[1] and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ... Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology (from Greek: βίος, bio, life; and λόγος, logos, knowledge), also referred to as the biological sciences, is the study of living organisms utilizing the scientific method. ... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ...

Socratic thought along the lines of challenging conventions, especially in stressing a simplistic way of living, became divorced from Plato's more detached and philosophical pursuits but was inherited heavily by one of Socrates' older and diehard students, Antisthenes who became another originator of a philosophy in the years after Socrates' death - Cynicism. Antisthenes attacked Plato and Alcibiades over what he deemed as their betrayal of Socrates' tenets in his writings. Portrait bust of Antisthenes Antisthenes (Greek: , c. ... This article is about the current understanding of the word cynicism. ...

The idea of austerity being hand in hand with an ethical life or one with piety, ignored by Plato and Aristotle and somewhat dealt with by the Cynics, formed the core of another philosophy in 281 BC - Stoicism when Zeno of Citium would discover Socrates' works and then learn from Crates, a Cynic philosopher. None of the schools however, would inherit his tendency to openly associate with and respect women or the regular citizen. Austerity is a term from economics that describes a policy where nations reduce living standards, curtail development projects, and generally shift the revenue stream out of the physical economy, in order to satisfy the demands of creditors. ... A restored Stoa in Athens. ... Zeno of Citium Zeno of Citium (The Stoic) (sometime called Zeno Apathea) (333 BC-264 BC) was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus. ... Crates of Thebes, a Hellenistic philosopher, was one of the Cynics and the teacher of Zeno of Citium. ... This article is about the ancient Greek school of philosophy. ... Diotima of Mantinea plays an important role in Platos Symposium. ...

Later Historical Effects

While some of the later contributions of Socrates to Hellenistic Era culture and philosophy as well as the Roman Era has been lost to time, his teachings began a resurgence in both medieval Europe and the Islamic Middle East alongside those of Aristotle and Stoicism. Socrates is mentioned in the dialogue Kuzari by Jewish philosopher and rabbi Yehuda Halevi in which a Jew instructs the Khazar king about Judaism. al-Kindi, a well-known Arabic philosopher, introduced and tried to reconcile Socrates and Hellenistic philosophy to an Islamic audience. The term Hellenistic (derived from Héllēn, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that we