He came up with dialectic analysis where to solve a problem, he would break it down into a series of questions which gradually distill the answer a person seeks. This was used to test scientific hypothesies as well as in politics, philosophy and ethics.
Socrates is notorious for asking questions but never answering them, claiming to lack the wisdom to answer the questions he asked of others. He believes that people should be worried about the "wellfare of their souls instead of being concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities.
Socrates' belief in the immortality of the soul, and his conviction that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary seemed to provoke, if not ridicule, at least annoyance. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine that virtue can be taught. He said that successful fathers did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to his lack of anxiety about the future of his own sons.
Popular quotes:
"I know that I know nothing noble and good".
"I only know that I know nothing"
"virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know."
"ideals belong in a world only the wise man can understand"
I love how Socrates never viewed himself as a higher being, believing to hold all the "right" answers as I feel many philosophers have. He was smart enough to ask the questions, but left them open for discussion. He did not dive into his own personal beliefs and explain continuously how his answer is correct while every other idea is not. He leaves a window for personal opinion which is refreshing despite having been dead for hundreds of years.
ReplyDeleteYes, which is why I think that Socrates is the most fit to be an existentialist because he doesn't push his ideas on other people and just states them and lets them develop their own thoughts from his ideas.
DeleteIt's really interesting that from the quote, I draw that he declares in multiple instances that he knows nothing. I think this is in reference to the fact that all that he knows is that of his own reality, and what he deems appropriate. To others, he knows nothing, but in his own reality, he not only knows, but defines everything.
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