Socrates Flashcards
When abouts did Socrates live?
470-399 B.C.
What happened to Socrates in 399?
He was executed by the Athenian state for disbelief in the official gods, and for corrupting the youth.
What is Socrates revered for most?
He is revered not so much for his ideas, but really his way of life, his style of argument, and his passion for truth.
How do we know about Socrates?
Through the writings of Plato. As a result, his ideas are hard to disentangle from those of Plato.
What did Socrates insist?
He insisted upon living in accord with his philosophy.
What did, according to Socrates, the Oracle at Delphi tell him?
He was the wisest man, as he alone was aware of his own ignorance.
How did Socrates impact philosophy?
He exposed flaws in the reasoning of experts, and then sought to define terms (e.g. what really is Justice, or virtue). His use of dialogue as a way of finding truth inspired philosophers and educators for centuries.
What slogan is Socrates famous for?
‘The unexamined life is not worth living’
However, how did Socrates really see dialogue?
He said that the use of dialogue was subordinate to the source of truth.
What did Socrates claim could be found within everyone?
A ‘daimon’, or a ‘divinity’. He believed that everyone could truly find this by looking within.
Given the inward divinity Socrates proclaimed, state another of his famous slogans:
‘Know yourself’
What, then, constitutes the Socratic epistemology?
Dialectic, and introspection (a reflective looking inward).
How can Socrates be seen as both a rationalist, and an irrationalist?
The emphasis on dialectic renews Greek rationalist perspective.
The emphasis on introspection locates truth in individual subjectivity, and so if this cannot be related to the outside world, can be dismissed as irrationalistic.
