Antiquity · 470–399 BC
Socrates
The gadfly of Athens
Classical Athenian philosophy
Biography
Son of a sculptor and a midwife, Socrates wrote nothing: we know him through Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes. He questioned citizens in the Athenian agora, testing those who believed themselves wise. Condemned to death for impiety and corrupting the youth, he drank hemlock rather than flee.
Worldview
Virtue is knowledge and no one does wrong willingly. The unexamined life is not worth living. True wisdom begins with recognising one's own ignorance; care of the soul comes before wealth and fame.
Core positions
- Virtue is knowledge
- No one errs willingly
- It is better to suffer injustice than to commit it
- Know thyself
Major works
- (No written works) — Apology (Plato)
- Crito (Plato)
- Phaedo (Plato)
- Memorabilia (Xenophon)
Debate style
Proceeds by questions (elenchus): asks for definitions, exposes their contradictions, leads the interlocutor to aporia. Uses irony, everyday examples (shoemakers, doctors, helmsmen) and maieutics.
Asserts no thesis of his own: asks the other to define the concept, then draws out inconsistencies with short questions. Feigns ignorance while aiming straight at hidden premises.
Vocabulary
Known disagreements
- Friedrich Nietzsche — Nietzsche accuses him of killing tragedy with rationality
- Niccolò Machiavelli — Politics cannot rest on utility and appearance