The Life of Socrates

Socrates (470-399 BC) was a credited philosopher born in the city of Athens to father Sophroniscus and mother Phaenarete. Despite his world-renowned contributions, he did not leave any written accounts of his life. His story was taught through the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, along with Aristotle and Aristophanes in various forms of dramatic texts and histories. Among others, Plato wrote many dialogues that quoted Socrates’ exact words. Much of what we know comes from this greatly influenced student. However, Plato being a literary artist, leads many to think that he brightened up Socrates’ teachings as a result of his positive bias. For this reason, much of his history remains uncertain.

Ancient texts have come to various conclusions about how Socrates’ made a living, or where he worked. Some sources presume that he did not work at all. Aristophanes recorded that Socrates accepted payment for teaching and running a sophist school, while Plato's Apology contradicts such accounts and concludes that Socrates explicitly denied accepting payment for teaching. A majority of texts report that Socrates was once a soldier who fought in the Peloponnesian War. Regardless of his possible earnings through teaching, it is clear that he devoted most of his life to teaching philosophy as well as the relationship between law and morality. Though sources are uncertain, Socrates was said to have quoted that he lacks theories of his own, but like his mother the midwife, he understood how to give birth to the theories of others and determine whether they were worthy of survival.

Socrates was famous for questioning his students in an unending search for the truth. He understood that if the series of progressing questions lead t...

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...lopment and virtue over the value of material goods. In a way, Socrates’ greatest contribution to modern law was his perception of justice as being something one should not follow merely because it is of policy, but something one agrees with because it truly reflects a good soul and morality. Socrates did not agree, nor conform to the Athenian perception of justice. His actions lead to death, but his teachings were later revived in both medieval Europe and the Islamic Middle East.

Socrates was mentioned in many dialogues written by other philosophers of various regions. Mirza Tahir Ahmad, an Islamic author argues that Socrates was a prophet to the ancient Greeks. Just as other prophets were believed to have done in the Islamic worlds, Socrates brought forth a new level of consciousness to man’s limited knowledge, and provided a new scope for truth to prevail.