Have you ever asked why we think as we think today, and why the world is organized as it is organized today? What is the origin of all the thoughts that we have in our mind? The world is like a vast lock, full of mysteries, and philosophy is the key that reveals the mysteries of existence and reality to us. It tries to discover the nature of truth and knowledge, and which are the basic values and the importance in life. It also examines the relationship between humanity and nature, and between the individual and society. Philosophy increases inside us curiosity, and the desire to know and understand. It is just a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation, and speculation. What we see today with our eyes is the result of our intelligence. Socrates was the first person who put human beings in the center of his thoughts. He has not written anything; however he has left his footprints in the European’s civilization, and has inspired during almost 2.500 years the Western countries’ thinkers.
The pre-Socratics were the first Greek philosophers. Their name comes from the fact that most of them lived before Socrates’ birth. They were mainly interested in the nature and source of the Universe. These philosophers saw the Universe as a set of connected phenomena, for which thoughts and doubts could find an explanation. The importance of pre-Socratics lies not in the truth of their answers, but in the fact that they examined the questions in the first place. This has inspired and influenced on later philosophers such as Socrates.
This great philosopher of the Ancient period was born in Athens, between 470 and 469 B.C. His father, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor and his mother, Phaenarete, was a mid-wife. He acquired the traditional culture of good families, and finished his military obligations, in which participated in important battles. In his youth, he was fascinated by the philosophy of nature, but as he could not find any coherent explanation to define its existence, he started his investigations putting human beings in the center of his thoughts. He dedicated his life to the analysis of human’s intelligence, and the field of ethics. Socrates also tried to get a precise view of some abstract ideas, such as knowledge, virtue, justice and wisdom.
Athens was in that moment the cultural life of Greece. It was developing a democracy in which the only condition was that its inhabitants receive good education. As consequences, a wide group of professors and errant philosophers, known as sophists, arrived to Athens. The sophists believed in relativism, and they were paid for their teachings.These principles were against what a philosopher shoul be for Socrates. For him, a philosopher is the one that admits that he knows few things and that is constantly looking for wisdom; and in fact, he was someone like this.
Socrates employed most of his life having conversations with Athenians in public places, such as streets and parks. He used a method as a tool of his teaching, which is known as the “Socratic method”.It consisted in making simple questions to different people, and Socrates pretending to know nothing.This was called Socratic irony.But through the conversation, he started to make people realize their wrong thoughts and their lack of knowledge.He made them think and formulate better answers.This method was also related to his mother’s profession; it was said that while Socrates’ mother helped to give birth to babies, Socrates gave birth to new ideas. For him, the true knowledge comes from inside each individual.
Because of that, Socrates used to say that there was a divine voice inside him that tells him what is right and what is wrong. His correct personality led him to contract lots of enemies as he left in ridicule those people that had a conversation with him. Generally, those people were politicians, artists, and merchants. Most of them were of high position in the society and were considered wise people. In 399 B.C., he was accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and was poisoned in the same year. He would have saved his life if he had admitted that his thoughts were wrong, but he never gave up. He continued teaching to his disciples up to the last minute of his breath.
Athens was like an apathetic brawny horse, whereas Socrates was the odious fly trying to wake it up and keep it alive.His spirited and rational thoughts were the origin of most of Western people’s beliefs. He should be the desire of each individual; to have a critical and personal point of view towards every situation, and to defend it with arguments. This helps us to learn something which is discussed and analized by our own mind, and not repeat as a parrot the pre-fabricated answers or possible solutions; because what we think is what we are.
Eliana Li
The pre-Socratics were the first Greek philosophers. Their name comes from the fact that most of them lived before Socrates’ birth. They were mainly interested in the nature and source of the Universe. These philosophers saw the Universe as a set of connected phenomena, for which thoughts and doubts could find an explanation. The importance of pre-Socratics lies not in the truth of their answers, but in the fact that they examined the questions in the first place. This has inspired and influenced on later philosophers such as Socrates.
This great philosopher of the Ancient period was born in Athens, between 470 and 469 B.C. His father, Sophroniscus, was a sculptor and his mother, Phaenarete, was a mid-wife. He acquired the traditional culture of good families, and finished his military obligations, in which participated in important battles. In his youth, he was fascinated by the philosophy of nature, but as he could not find any coherent explanation to define its existence, he started his investigations putting human beings in the center of his thoughts. He dedicated his life to the analysis of human’s intelligence, and the field of ethics. Socrates also tried to get a precise view of some abstract ideas, such as knowledge, virtue, justice and wisdom.
Athens was in that moment the cultural life of Greece. It was developing a democracy in which the only condition was that its inhabitants receive good education. As consequences, a wide group of professors and errant philosophers, known as sophists, arrived to Athens. The sophists believed in relativism, and they were paid for their teachings.These principles were against what a philosopher shoul be for Socrates. For him, a philosopher is the one that admits that he knows few things and that is constantly looking for wisdom; and in fact, he was someone like this.
Socrates employed most of his life having conversations with Athenians in public places, such as streets and parks. He used a method as a tool of his teaching, which is known as the “Socratic method”.It consisted in making simple questions to different people, and Socrates pretending to know nothing.This was called Socratic irony.But through the conversation, he started to make people realize their wrong thoughts and their lack of knowledge.He made them think and formulate better answers.This method was also related to his mother’s profession; it was said that while Socrates’ mother helped to give birth to babies, Socrates gave birth to new ideas. For him, the true knowledge comes from inside each individual.
Because of that, Socrates used to say that there was a divine voice inside him that tells him what is right and what is wrong. His correct personality led him to contract lots of enemies as he left in ridicule those people that had a conversation with him. Generally, those people were politicians, artists, and merchants. Most of them were of high position in the society and were considered wise people. In 399 B.C., he was accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and was poisoned in the same year. He would have saved his life if he had admitted that his thoughts were wrong, but he never gave up. He continued teaching to his disciples up to the last minute of his breath.
Athens was like an apathetic brawny horse, whereas Socrates was the odious fly trying to wake it up and keep it alive.His spirited and rational thoughts were the origin of most of Western people’s beliefs. He should be the desire of each individual; to have a critical and personal point of view towards every situation, and to defend it with arguments. This helps us to learn something which is discussed and analized by our own mind, and not repeat as a parrot the pre-fabricated answers or possible solutions; because what we think is what we are.
Eliana Li
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