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Biography of Socrates Essay

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Socrates is known in todays world as one of the greatest philosophers in history. He brought many revolutionary ideas to ancient Athens during his life and even after his death. He had many followers that beloved him even till death. His tragic death only led him to become a martyr for philosophy. Socrates never wrote anything down so what we know of his life is the from the records left by his followers, mainly Plato. Socrates was born around 470 B.C. in Athens to a family with moderate wealth. His father was a mason and his mother was a midwife. He followed his father’s footsteps and became a stone mason as his first job. He was a mason for a few years before he decided to become a philosopher. Because of his family’s wealth, he was …show more content…

Socrates was after the pursuit of truth. Because of this he called everything into question(Philosophypages.com). He believed that ultimate wisdom came from understanding oneself. He believed that the perfect government would come about if it was led by people that had a complete understanding of themselves because they would be able to make the best choices. He believed that knowledge and virtue were inseparable. He said that you could define virtue as right knowledge, and that right thinking and right doing can be distinguished from each other, but they can not be separated.(Sproul 31) Socrates also developed the Socratic Method which is still used to this day. The Socratic Method is the method in which you ask provocative questions in order to try to get your opponent and your audience to think through the problem and to develop their own conclusion(Biography.com). He searched for specific definitions by asking people around the city, from the common to the richest of nobles. Socrates also created ethics based on human reasons. He was deemed the wisest man in Athens by an oracle, but after much thought he realized that he was ignorant but unlike the common man, was wiser for accepting his ignorance and he came to the conclusion that ignorance was the beginning of knowledge. He believed that logic was what was left when the facts are exhausted. “One of the greatest

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