The life and death of Socrates is still of great interest not only to historians, but also to many of his admirers. Many circumstances of the fate of this thinker in our days remain a mystery. The life and death of Socrates is fanned by legends. Is it any wonder, because we are talking about one of the greatest thinkers of all time.
Origin of Socrates
Socrates is a famous Athenian philosopher who was awarded a great monument - the dialogues of Plato. In them he is the main character.
It is known that the mason (or sculptor) Sofronisk was the father of the future philosopher, and Fenareth was the mother. Probably his father was a fairly wealthy man. The researchers made this conclusion on the basis that Socrates fought as a hoplite, that is, as a heavily armed warrior. Despite the wealth of his parents, the philosopher himself did not care about property and became extremely impoverished by the end of his life.
Conflicting sources
Socrates presented his teaching exclusively in oral form. We know about him from several sources, one of which is mention and images of him in the comedies of Aristophanes, parody and lifetime. The portraits of Socrates made by Xenophon and Plato are posthumous and painted in a laudatory spirit. These sources, however, are largely inconsistent with each other. Apparently, Aristotle's messages are based on Plato. Many other authors, friendly or hostile, also contributed, as did the legends of Socrates.
Circle of communication of the philosopher, participation in the war
When the Peloponnesian War broke out, the philosopher was 37 years old. Among the people with whom he spoke before her were intellectuals from the circle of Pericles - sophist Protagoras, the learned Archelaus, musician Damon, and also the brilliant Aspasia. There is evidence that he was familiar with the famous philosopher Anaxagoras. In Plato's “Fedon,” Socrates talks about the dissatisfaction that he felt from reading the works of Anaxagoras. The philosopher that interests us studied dialectics under Zenon of Elea, later attended lectures by the sophist Prodik, and also participated in disputes with Frasimach, Gorgias, and Antiphon. Socrates distinguished himself in the war at the battle of Potidea, dating back to 432 BC. e., under Delia (424 BC) and under Amphipolis (422 BC).
Socrates - Delphic Oracle
A very important stage in the formation of this philosopher was his proclamation as the Delphic oracle, "the wisest of men." Plato speaks of this in the Apology of Socrates. The Delphic oracle himself thought a lot about these words. He compared them with his belief in the opposite, that he "only knows that he knows nothing." The philosopher came to the conclusion that this is what makes him the wisest, since many people do not even know this. The knowledge of the degree of both one’s own ignorance and the ignorance of other people is a general principle of Socrates’s research. The words that are carved at the entrance to the Delphian temple of Apollo prompt us to this. These words are: “Know thyself.”
Socrates and politics
By 423 BC e. Socrates was already quite a prominent figure, because of which he became the object of satirical attacks of two famous Athenian comedians - Ameypsius and Aristophanes. The philosopher eschewed politics, although his friends included Alcibiades, Critias, Harmid, and Feramen. The last three were the leaders of the Thirty Tyrants who overthrew democracy in Athens. But Alcibiades came to the point of treason to his hometown because of political opportunism. There is evidence that ties to these people damaged Socrates in a lawsuit.
In 406 BC e. The philosopher of interest to us tried to discourage the unlawful and hastily drawn up verdict to the strategists who were held accountable after the Athenian fleet won the battle of the Arginus Islands. It is also known that in 404 BC the philosopher neglected the command of the Thirty Tyrants to capture Leont from Salamis, who was included in the list of descriptors.
Personal life
Socrates, already in old age, tied the knot with Xanthippe. This woman gave birth to a philosopher of three children. It is possible that this was the second marriage of Socrates. The philosopher was poor. His unusual appearance and unpretentiousness were included in the saying.
The trial and death of Socrates
In 399, Socrates appeared before the court on charges of "corruption of the youth" and "wickedness." By a slight margin of vote he was found guilty. When the thinker did not want to plead guilty and did not try to ask to replace the execution with exile, a larger number of those present at the trial voted for the death of Socrates.
The philosopher was in prison for a month, then the sentence was executed. The thinker was presented with a bowl of poison (cycloid). He drank it, and as a result of this, Socrates died. Plato’s writings such as Fedon, Criton and Socrates Apologie, which describe this trial, the philosopher’s stay in prison and his execution, perpetuated the courage of the thinker we are interested in and the firmness of his convictions.
In 399 BC e. the death of Socrates. Her year is precisely known, but the number cannot be called. We can only say that the philosopher died in late June or early July. According to the testimonies of three authors of antiquity (Apollodorus of Athens, Demetrius Falersky and Plato), by the time of his death, the thinker was 70 years old. The death of Socrates (the vast majority of ancient authors agree on this) did not occur as a result of natural causes. She happened because he drank poison. The cause of Socrates' death, however, still raises doubts among some historians. Much later, Plato in his dialogue "Fedon" immortalized the image of a philosopher who is alien to death by nature, but under the circumstances it must die. However, Plato himself was not present at the death of his teacher. He personally did not see the death of Socrates. Briefly Plato described it on the basis of the testimonies of his contemporaries.
Text of the charge
The text of the charge against the philosopher, which was submitted for judicial review, has survived to the present day. For this, thanks should be expressed to such a little-known author as Diogenes Laertius. He owns an essay entitled "On the Lives of Philosophers", relating to the first half of the 3rd century AD. e. Diogenes Laertius, in turn, borrowed this important information from the works of Favorin Arelatsky. This man was an admirer of antiquity, a philosopher and a writer. He lived only a century earlier, however, unlike Diogenes, he personally saw this text in the Athenian Metroon.
The vast majority of researchers agree that it was as a result of the adoption of the poison that the heroic death of Socrates occurred. However, we cannot know exactly how everything was. The circumstances of the death of Socrates is one of the most interesting moments of his biography.
Doctrine of Socrates
Socrates, as a teacher, is a very controversial figure. Usually, the death sentence imposed on him is explained by the degeneration of democracy. But I must say that in 403 BC. e. in Athens, a regime was restored that was quite moderate and human. He relied on the principles of political amnesty, which were strictly observed. In this case, everything suggests that the most serious and specific was the accusation of Socrates in the "corruption of youth." However, one can only guess what is meant by this. In the dialogue of Plato, "Criton" refers to the protection of the philosopher from accusing him of "undermining laws." Quite possibly, this indicates that the influence of Socrates on youth at that time was considered an attempt on the very foundations of modern society.
Change in public attitudes
A young man who has already left school age, from the time of Homer received "higher education" by communicating with elders. He listened to their oral instructions, and also imitated the behavior of the mentors. Thus, the young man acquired the qualities characteristic of an adult citizen. Among the political elite, in turn, methods of exercising state power were passed down from generation to generation. But in the time of Socrates, the family circle ceased to fulfill all these functions. They were transferred to another authority, which received the form of an institution founded specifically for this purpose after Socrates died. The Plato Academy has become the prototype of this organization. At the head of this process was just the group of intellectuals to which Socrates belonged. It was these people who brought the concept of "professional" education from western Greece and Ionia.
What is the essence of the charge of "corruption of youth"
Socrates had a particularly difficult time, because he had to act in Athens. In 423 BC e. two comedians at once - Aristophanes ("Clouds") and Ameypsius (the not-preserved comedy "Conn") - branded the philosopher, since he led a newfangled school, based on the lessons of filial disobedience and youthful rebellion. This idea of the thinker we are interested in by 399 BC. e. crystallized into Socrates' famous accusation of "corruption of the youth." If we turn to the dialogues of the students of this philosopher, we will see that the question often arises in them: can elders and fathers pass on the virtue of youth, or does this need to be studied specifically?
Socrates as a forerunner of an abstract idea
Going even deeper into the consideration of the cultural crisis of the era, we will come closer to understanding why the dialectic of Socrates possessed such power. At first glance, it is not clear how to explain the fact that throughout the life of two generations, the philosophy of Socrates, whose death was quite logical, invariably fascinated the Greeks. And this despite the fact that the instrument of destruction was seen in the teachings of this thinker.
To understand this, it is necessary to consider what method of communication was adopted at the time of the birth of Socrates and how it changed later. Athens was at the stage of completing the transition to a written word from spoken language. This, in turn, influenced vocabulary, and also forced changes that occurred in the forms of consciousness. These changes can be defined as the transition from image to abstraction, from poetry to prose, from intuition to rational knowledge. At that time, the abstract idea was seen as a new, amazing discovery. It was Socrates who was her forerunner.
In the "Clouds" of Aristophanes, the philosopher is ridiculed as an abstract thinker, heading the "thought", looking for "thoughts." He was also represented by a clergyman of concepts soaring in heaven like clouds. “Thoughts” at that time caused laughter only because they were such. It should also be noted that at Aristophanes Socrates uses a new speech in conversations, speaks in abstract jargon, in which ideas take shape.
Among the students of the thinker we are interested in, the preoccupation with ideas ridiculed by Aristophanes is presented as a search for definitions for various kinds of abstract concepts, such as “fair” and “good,” as well as the process of creating an exact language with which to express non-specific experience, but conceptual knowledge.
The life, doctrine, death of Socrates - we told about all this. One could talk for a long time about this outstanding philosopher. We hope that this article has aroused your interest in him.