Socrates: Life, Philosophy, and Influence

Socrates stands as a monumental figure in the history of Western thought, profoundly shaping the cultural and intellectual landscape of the world. His legacy is defined by his association with the Socratic method, his assertion of ignorance, and his conviction that "the unexamined life is not worth living" for human beings.

Biography: The Life of Socrates

Socrates was born in Athens in 469 B.C.E. He received an education befitting his social standing, which, by the mid-5th century B.C.E., included reading and writing for all Athenian males.

The Peloponnesian War and its Impact

Between 431 and 404 B.C.E., Athens and Sparta engaged in the Peloponnesian War, a bloody and protracted conflict. Socrates fought in this war, and it played a crucial role in his life and subsequent trial. Many of Socrates' associates developed sympathies for Sparta or even became traitors to Athens, particularly those from aristocratic families who favored Sparta's rigid hierarchy over Athens' democratic ideals. Plato, in his writings, often placed praise for Sparta in the mouth of his character Socrates. The Thirty Tyrants, who ruled after the war, executed wealthy Athenians, confiscated property, and exiled those with democratic sympathies until their overthrow in 403 B.C.E.

Sources on Socrates: A Complex Puzzle

Our understanding of Socrates is primarily derived from the writings of Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle. However, the reliability of these sources is debated. While some scholars dismiss Xenophon as a source for Socrates' philosophical views, disagreements persist regarding the other three. Aristophanes, as a comic playwright, employed considerable poetic license. Aristotle, born after Socrates' death, relied on Plato's accounts.

Aristophanes' Caricature

Aristophanes' Socrates is a caricature of emerging trends and ideas in Athens that he perceived as threatening. These included themes prevalent in Presocratic philosophy and the Sophists, encompassing natural science, mathematics, social science, ethics, political philosophy, and rhetoric. Aristophanes was concerned about the displacement of the divine by scientific explanations and the undermining of traditional morality by appeals to nature. He also worried about the potential for clever speakers to manipulate truth. These issues constituted the "new learning" of the 5th century B.C.E.

Plato's Socrates: The Most Influential Depiction

Plato, Socrates' most famous disciple, provides the most well-known account of Socrates. Born in 427 B.C.E. to a wealthy and influential family, Plato's representation of Socrates is subject to interpretive challenges, particularly concerning the order of his dialogues. Thrasyllus organized the dialogues into tetralogies based on their intended reading order. Modern scholars often group them into early, middle, and late periods based on Plato's development as a philosopher. In the early dialogues, Plato portrays Socrates in short conversations about ethics and virtue. Later, Plato introduces his own philosophical views, such as the doctrine of Forms, which Socrates defends. These "middle" dialogues are considered Platonic rather than strictly Socratic.

Aristotle's Perspective

Aristotle offers a distinct perspective on Socrates, making four key claims. First, Socrates focused on ethics rather than natural science. Second, he sought universal definitions of ethical terms. For example, he would ask, "What is courage?" to understand the essence of courage applicable to all instances. Third, Socrates was the first to explore definitions. Fourth, unlike Plato, Socrates did not separate universals from their particular instances. For Plato, the knowable object was the separate universal, while Socrates focused on the "what is it" question.

Socrates and the Presocratics

The Presocratics were not merely those who preceded Socrates; some were his contemporaries. The term "Presocratic" refers to thinkers who were not influenced by Socrates and sought to explain the world through inherent principles. For example, Thales believed water was the fundamental principle, Anaximander proposed the indefinite (apeiron), and Anaximenes posited air. In Plato's Apology, Socrates rhetorically asks if Meletus is prosecuting Anaxagoras.

Socrates' Core Beliefs

Socrates emphasized the importance of caring for one's soul above all else. He observed that his fellow citizens prioritized wealth, reputation, and physical well-being while neglecting their souls. He believed his divine mission was to examine and persuade them that the health of the soul was paramount.

Virtue as Knowledge

Socrates held the view that virtue is a form of knowledge. This implies that wrongdoing stems from ignorance, not malice. No one knowingly chooses what is bad for them.

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The Worst Harm: Injustice

Socrates argued that committing an injustice is the worst thing a person can do to themselves, as it corrupts the soul. Therefore, suffering injustice is preferable to inflicting it.

Philosophical Conversation and Happiness

Socrates suggested that philosophical conversation is the greatest good for human beings. Meno suggests that knowledge of the good guides the soul toward happiness, and Gorgias proposes that the virtuous person, acting with wisdom, attains happiness.

Socrates' Enduring Influence

Nearly every school of philosophy in antiquity drew inspiration from Socrates.

Cynics and Stoics

Antisthenes, a student of Socrates, founded Cynicism, which emphasized virtue as the sole good and rejected conventional values. Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, characterized the human good as a smooth flow of life.

Academic Skeptics

Academic skeptics based their position that nothing can be known on Socrates' admission of ignorance in the Apology. Arcesilaus adopted Socrates' method of questioning and refuting others' positions.

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Epicureans

The Epicureans were an exception, as they did not praise Socrates or make him a cornerstone of their tradition. They opposed his perceived irony, with Epicurus criticizing Socrates for feigning ignorance while praising figures like Protagoras.

Gadamer's Hermeneutical Dialectic

Gadamer, influenced by Heidegger, argued that truth and method are inseparable in philosophy. His hermeneutics emphasized dialectic as conversation, recognizing radical finitude and viewing conversation as the site of truth.

The Socratic Problem: Reconstructing the Historical Socrates

Socrates left no written records, making it challenging to reconstruct his true thoughts reliably. This predicament is known as the Socratic problem. All that we know about him comes from the accounts of others: mainly the philosopher Plato and the historian Xenophon, who were both his pupils; the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes (Socrates's contemporary); and Plato's pupil Aristotle, who was born after Socrates's death. The often contradictory stories from these ancient accounts only serve to complicate scholars' ability to reconstruct Socrates's true thoughts reliably.

Xenophon's Portrayal

Xenophon, while honest, was not a trained philosopher and could not fully conceptualize Socrates' arguments. He admired Socrates for his intelligence, patriotism, and courage. Xenophon discusses Socrates in four works: the Memorabilia, the Oeconomicus, the Symposium, and the Apology of Socrates. He also mentions a story featuring Socrates in his Anabasis. Oeconomicus recounts a discussion on practical household management. Like Plato's Apology, Xenophon's Apologia describes the trial of Socrates, but the works diverge substantially.

Plato's Complex Representation

Plato's representation of Socrates is not straightforward. Plato was a pupil of Socrates and outlived him by five decades. How trustworthy Plato is in representing the attributes of Socrates is a matter of debate; the view that he did not represent views other than Socrates's own is not shared by many contemporary scholars. A driver of this doubt is the inconsistency of the character of Socrates that he presents. One common explanation of this inconsistency is that Plato initially tried to accurately represent the historical Socrates, while later in his writings he was happy to insert his own views into Socrates's words. Xenophon's and Plato's accounts differ in their presentations of Socrates as a person.

Aristophanes' Critique

Writers of Athenian comedy, including Aristophanes, also commented on Socrates. Aristophanes's most important comedy with respect to Socrates is The Clouds, in which Socrates is a central character. In this drama, Aristophanes presents a caricature of Socrates that leans towards sophism, ridiculing Socrates as an absurd atheist. Socrates in Clouds is interested in natural philosophy, which conforms to Plato's depiction of him in Phaedo.

Other Ancient Accounts

Other ancient authors who wrote about Socrates were Aeschines of Sphettus, Antisthenes, Aristippus, Bryson, Cebes, Crito, Euclid of Megara, Phaedo and Aristotle, all of whom wrote after Socrates's death. Aristotle was not a contemporary of Socrates; he studied under Plato at the latter's Academy for twenty years. Aristotle treats Socrates without the bias of Xenophon and Plato, who had an emotional tie with Socrates, and he scrutinizes Socrates's doctrines as a philosopher. Aristotle was familiar with the various written and unwritten stories of Socrates. His role in understanding Socrates is limited.

Modern Interpretations

In a seminal work titled "The Worth of Socrates as a Philosopher" (1818), the philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher attacked Xenophon's accounts; his attack was widely accepted. Schleiermacher criticized Xenophon for his naÃ¯ve representation of Socrates. Xenophon was a soldier, argued Schleiermacher, and was therefore not well placed to articulate Socratic ideas. Furthermore, Xenophon was biased in his depiction of his former friend and teacher: he believed Socrates was treated unfairly by Athens, and sought to prove his point of view rather than to provide an impartial account. The philosopher Karl Joel, basing his arguments on Aristotle's interpretation of logos sokratikos, suggested that the Socratic dialogues are mostly fictional: according to Joel, the dialogues' authors were just mimicking some Socratic traits of dialogue. In the mid-twentieth century, philosophers such as Olof Gigon and EugÃ¨ne DuprÃ©el, based on Joel's arguments, proposed that the study of Socrates should focus on the various versions of his character and beliefs rather than aiming to reconstruct a historical Socrates. Later, ancient philosophy scholar Gregory Vlastos suggested that the early Socratic dialogues of Plato were more compatible with other evidence for a historical Socrates than his later writings, an argument that is based on inconsistencies in Plato's own evolving depiction of Socrates. Vlastos totally disregarded Xenophon's account except when it agreed with Plato's.

Socrates' Life and Demise

Socrates was born in 470 or 469 BC to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete, a stoneworker and a midwife, respectively, in the Athenian deme of Alopece; therefore, he was an Athenian citizen, having been born to relatively affluent Athenians. He lived close to his father's relatives and inherited, as was customary, part of his father's estate, securing a life reasonably free of financial concerns. His education followed the laws and customs of Athens. Another incident that reflects Socrates's respect for the law is the arrest of Leon the Salaminian. As Plato describes in his Apology, Socrates and four others were summoned to the Tholos and told by representatives of the Thirty Tyrants (which began ruling in 404 BC) to arrest Leon for execution. Socrates attracted great interest from the Athenian public and especially the Athenian youth. He was notoriously ugly, having a flat turned-up nose, bulging eyes and a large belly; his friends joked about his appearance. Socrates was indifferent to material pleasures, including his own appearance and personal comfort.

Trial and Death

Socrates died in Athens in 399 BC after a trial for impiety (asebeia) and the corruption of the young. He spent his last day in prison among friends and followers who offered him a route to escape, which he refused. He died the next morning, in accordance with his sentence, after drinking poison hemlock. According to the Phaedo, his last words were: âCrito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius.

The Charges Against Socrates

In 399 BC, Socrates was formally accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and for asebeia (impiety), i.e. worshipping false gods and failing to worship the gods of Athens. At the trial, Socrates defended himself unsuccessfully. Socrates was charged in a politically tense climate. In 404 BC, the Athenians had been crushed by Spartans at the decisive naval Battle of Aegospotami, and subsequently, the Spartans laid siege to Athens. They replaced the democratic government with a new, pro-oligarchic government, named the Thirty Tyrants. Because of their tyrannical measures, some Athenians organized to overthrow the Tyrantsâand, indeed, they managed to do so brieflyâuntil a Spartan request for aid from the Thirty arrived and a compromise was sought. The accusations against Socrates were initiated by a poet, Meletus, who asked for the death penalty in accordance with the charge of asebeia. Other accusers were Anytus and Lycon. After a month or two, in late spring or early summer, the trial started and likely went on for most of one day.

The Accusations

There were two main sources for the religion-based accusations. First, Socrates had rejected the anthropomorphism of traditional Greek religion by denying that the gods did bad things like humans do. Plato's Apology starts with Socrates answering the various rumours against him that have given rise to the indictment. First, Socrates defends himself against the rumour that he is an atheist naturalist philosopher, as portrayed in Aristophanes's The Clouds; or a sophist. Against the allegations of corrupting the youth, Socrates answers that he has never corrupted anyone intentionally, since corrupting someone would carry the risk of being corrupted back in return, and that would be illogical, since corruption is undesirable. On the second charge, Socrates asks for clarification. Meletus responds by repeating the accusation that Socrates is an atheist.

The Aftermath of the Trial

Socrates was given the chance to offer alternative punishments for himself after being found guilty. He could have requested permission to flee Athens and live in exile, but he did not do so. According to Xenophon, Socrates made no proposals, while according to Plato he suggested free meals should be provided for him daily in recognition of his worth to Athens or, more in earnest, that a fine should be imposed on him. The jurors favoured the death penalty by making him drink a cup of hemlock (a poisonous liquid). In return, Socrates warned jurors and Athenians that criticism of them by his many disciples was inescapable, unless they became good men. After a delay caused by Athenian religious ceremonies, Socrates spent his last day in prison.

Motivations Behind the Conviction

The question of what motivated Athenians to convict Socrates remains controversial among scholars. There are two theories. The argument for religious persecution is supported by the fact that Plato's and Xenophon's accounts of the trial mostly focus on the charges of impiety. In those accounts, Socrates is portrayed as making no effort to dispute the fact that he did not believe in the Athenian gods. Against this argument stands the fact that many skeptics and atheist philosophers during this time were not prosecuted. According to the argument for political persecution, Socrates was targeted because he was perceived as a threat to democracy. It was true that Socrates did not stand for democracy during the reign of the Thirty Tyrants and that most of his pupils were against the democrats. The case for it being a political persecution is usually challenged by the existence of an amnesty that was granted to Athenian citizens in 403 BC to prevent escalation to civil war after the fall of the Thirty.

The Socratic Method: A Tool for Inquiry

A fundamental characteristic of Plato's Socrates is the Socratic method, or the method of refutation (elenchus). It is most prominent in the early works of Plato, such as Apology, Crito, Gorgias, Republic I, and others. The typical elenchus proceeds as follows. Socrates initiates a discussion about a topic with a known expert on the subject, usually in the company of some young men and boys, and by dialogue proves the expert's beliefs and arguments to be contradictory. Socrates initiates the dialogue by asking his interlocutor for a definition of the subject. As he asks more questions, the interlocutor's answers eventually contradict the first definition. The conclusion is that the expert did not really know the definition in the first place. The interlocutor may come up with a different definition. That new definition, in turn, comes under the scrutiny of Socratic questioning. With each round of question and answer, Socrates and his interlocutor hope to approach the truth. Socrates also tests his own opinions through the Socratic method. Thus Socrates does not teach a fixed philosophical doctrine. Scholars have questioned the validity and the exact nature of the Socratic method, or indeed if there even was a Socratic method. In 1982, the scholar of ancient philosophy Gregory Vlastos claimed that the Socratic method could not be used to establish the truth or falsehood of a proposition. Some scholars have argued that Socrates does not endorse the priority of definition as a principle, because they have identified cases where he does not do so. Some have argued that this priority of definition comes from Plato rather than Socrates. Philosopher Peter Geach, accepting that Socrates endorses the priority of definition, finds the technique fallacious.

Socrates' Awareness of Ignorance

Plato's Socrates often claims that he is aware of his own lack of knowledge, especially when discussing ethical concepts such as arete (i.e., goodness, courage) since he does not know the nature of such concepts. For example, during his trial, with his life at stake, Socrates says: "I thought Evenus a happy man, if he really possesses this art (technÄ), and teaches for so moderate a fee. There are varying explanations of the Socratic inconsistency (other than that Socrates is simply being inconsistent).

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