Bull Tiger Biographical Library · Giant Hundred -- Socrates

Author: Wang Fengxian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-10-01
Features: Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC) was a famous ancient Greek philosopher. Together with one of his students, Plato, and Plato's student Aristotle, he is known as the "Three Sages of Greece." He was born during the Golden Age of Athens under Pericles' rule and died during the decline of Athens (the period after the fall of the Thirty Tyrants following the end of the Peloponnesian War). Born into poverty, his father was a sculptor and his mother a midwife. Socrates was a distinctive, controversial, and legendary historical figure. He was Plato's teacher and never wrote any works himself; his speeches and thoughts are primarily found in the works of Plato and Xenophon, such as Memorabilia of Socrates. Socrates was eventually forced to drink poison hemlock and die for offending the interests of the ruling elite, being accused of corrupting the youth. He long dedicated himself to teaching, and Socrates' teaching methods were unique, often using methods of inspiration and debate. Socrates was the founder of the philosophical tradition of Plato. He emphasized ethics and was the first ancient Greek to propose using reason and thought to seek universal morality. He is the founder of moral philosophy, emphasizing that morality is guided by reason, hence the belief that "virtue is knowledge," that good arises from knowledge and evil from ignorance. He was one of the earliest in European philosophy history to propose idealistic teleology, believing that everything was created and arranged by the gods, reflecting the wisdom and purpose of the divine. He proposed the maxim "know that you know nothing," believing that only those who abandon the pursuit of nature (as it was considered the domain of the gods) and acknowledge their own ignorance are wise. The most knowledgeable are the gods, and true knowledge ultimately comes from the gods; true knowledge is obedience to the divine. In logic, Aristotle believed that Socrates proposed inductive reasoning, identifying certain conclusions from specific facts, and paid attention to the method of general definitions, providing precise explanations of concepts. Socrates' philosophical thought is primarily considered the standard of right and wrong.