Socrates (pronounced /ˈsɒkrətiːz/; Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of: Σωκράτης, Sōkrátēs; c. 469 BC–399 BC[1]) was a Classical Greek Classical Greece was a culture that was highly advanced and which heavily influenced the cultures of Ancient Rome and still has an enduring effect on Western Civilization. Much of modern politics, artistic thought, scientific thought, literature, and philosophy derives from this ancient society. In the context of the art, architecture, and culture philosopher Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning subjects such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy Western philosophy is the philosophical thought and work of the Western or Occidental world, as distinct from Eastern or Oriental philosophies and the varieties of indigenous philosophies, he is an enigmatic figure known only through the classical accounts of his students. Plato Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of natural philosophy, science, and Western philosophy's dialogues are the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity.[2]
Through his portrayal in Plato Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of natural philosophy, science, and Western philosophy's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about morality; that is, about concepts like good and bad, right and wrong, justice, virtue, etc, and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method The Socratic Method , named after the Classical Greek philosopher Socrates, is a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate rational thinking and to illuminate ideas. It is a dialectical method, often involving an oppositional discussion in which the defense of one, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy Pedagogy is also sometimes referred to as the correct use of teaching strategies . For example, Paulo Freire referred to his method of teaching adults as "critical pedagogy". In correlation with those teaching strategies the instructor's own philosophical beliefs of teaching are harbored and governed by the pupil's background knowledge in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. It is Plato's Socrates that also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope (limitations) of knowledge. It addresses the questions: and logic Logic, from the Greek λογικός is the study of reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activity, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. Logic examines general forms which arguments may take, which forms are valid, and which are fallacies. It is one kind of critical thinking. In, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains strong in providing a foundation for much western philosophy that followed.
As one recent commentator has put it, Plato, the idealist, offers "an idol, a master figure, for philosophy. A Saint, a prophet of the 'Sun-God', a teacher condemned for his teachings as a heretic."[3] Yet, the 'real' Socrates, like many of the other Ancient philosophers, remains at best enigmatic and at worst unknown.
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George Washington; watching Socrates ' last conversation with friends before he takes his hemlock; meeting an aging Galileo; and visiting Selma, Ala., ...
