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Comparison between Socrates and Aristotle
Comparison between Socrates and Aristotle
Short notes on socrates
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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.
The pursuit of truth, just as Socrates, has always been a distinguishing part of who I am and what I regard as a noble and worthwhile approach to life. My mother told me that when I was a child I always had another question for every answer she ever gave me. I remember it as if it was yesterday. My mother and I had brought back some flowers from the nursery to plant in her garden. As she went about her business laying down the mulch and arranging the flowers the way she wanted them, I began to take notice of the many bugs embedded in the so...
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own but rather aimed at bringing out the worst in his interlocutors.
There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collide—these collisions are known as contradictions. There are endless instances in which we are so determined to make a point that we resort to using absurd overstatements, demeaning language, and false accusations in our arguments. This tendency to contradict ourselves often questions our character and morals. Similarly, in The Trial of Socrates (Plato’s Apology), Meletus’ fallacies in reason and his eventual mistake of contradicting himself will clear the accusations placed on Socrates. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not guilty of corrupting the youth with the idea of not believing in the Gods but of teaching the youth to think for themselves by looking to new divinities.
Socrates: A Gift To The Athenians As Socrates said in Apology by Plato, “...the envy and detraction of the world, which has been the death of many good men, and will probably be the death of many more…”(Philosophical Texts, 34) Throughout history, many leaders have been put to death for their knowledge. In Apology, Socrates- soon to be put to death- says he was placed in Athens by a god to render a service to the city and its citizens. Yet he will not venture out to come forward and advise the state and says this abstention is a condition on his usefulness to the city.
There are scholars who argue that Socrates did not exist at all, and was only a character Plato created. However, other scholars believe Plato’s dialogues are only Socrates’ beliefs, and that Plato had no contribution to them other than simply documentation. Finally, there are scholars who believe that Plato’s earlier dialogues were expressing Socrates’ actual beliefs, and his later dialogues are only Plato’s beliefs. Unfortunately, this problem remains unsolved. If Socrates was a real person, then it is known that he was the wisest man of Athens during his
In my opinion Socrates is giving as a good model of a vocation of a philosopher. When I think of a philosopher I think of some that gets people to ask questions and think. This is exactly what Socrates does for the people of Athens. He is accused of doing wrong when he is just trying to help advance society. Another thing that makes him a great philosopher is the fact that he sticks to his moral throughout. He has the ability to escape prison but he knows that would go against all of his teachings. So he accepts death.
The portrayal of Socrates by his student Plato creates one of the most controversial characters of all time. There are few other personalities in history that have drawn criticism and praise from the furthest ends of each spectrum. Socrates has been called the inventor of reason and logic, and at the same time has been condemned as a corruptor and a flake. Perhaps he was all of these. Despite this disagreement, one is a certainty: Socrates had a very interesting and active sense of humor.
The first of Socrates ' peers to challenge his idea of justice is Thrasymachus. Thrasymachus makes the claim that " 'just ' or 'right ' means nothing but what is to the interest of the stronger party," (p. 18). Which is to say, that justice is determined by whoever happens to be in power. He makes the argument that those who have power over others determine what is just, and in
It was because of the Oracle that Socrates began to question his wisdom and the wisdom of others. He was not trying to corrupt the youth nor did he believe in false gods. Socrates was a man who believed that the Oracle’s message, “There was no one wiser than Socrates.”, was misguided and tried to prove it wrong. He went about doing that by questioning people. Socrates realized that he truly know nothing, of importance. So he tried to seek the truth. To be able to do this he ahd an open mind, and told his followers they should also have open minds. This is why Socrates was falsely accused by a culture that was both strict and hypocritical.
Plato’s “Defense of Socrates” follows the trial of Socrates for charges of corruption of the youth. His accuser, Meletus, claims he is doing so by teaching the youth of Athens of a separate spirituality from that which was widely accepted.
Socrates states that he has been doing Athens a service by improving its wisdom, virtues and beliefs. I feel that Socrates lived a life of service by contributing to the search for knowledge, but was deemed a criminal for practicing his craft. I don’t think Socrates is guilty of his accusations. Socrates is never really trying to win the trial. Socrates' defense is very logical.
“The philosopher Socrates remains, as he was in his lifetime, an enigma, an instructable individual who, despite having written nothing, is considered one of the handful of philosophers who forever changed how philosophy itself was to be conceived”(Nails). A great philosopher named Socrates once changed the very way man perceived nature. Socrates was a man that lived life to its fullest, from being a foot soldier, or hoplite, to freelancing around the town hall barefoot and smelly. Socrates, because he never wrote or recorded anything, is only known today from non-primary sources, and the majority of what we know is only from the second half of his life.
Socrates was an insightful philosopher who had an opinion on all the basic fundamental questions. He had very strong beliefs that he willed others into believing through questioning and proving ignorance in others beliefs. He has particular views on every fundamental question and particular views on how people should live their lives. He says God has spoken to him about philosophy and says that it is his destiny and it is his calling in life. Through philosophy he searches for answers to the fundamental questions and gains wisdom and knowledge. The fundamental question of condition is the question of what, if anything, has gone wrong with the world? The question of solution is what can fix the problem? Then there is Death which asks what happens
When Socrates was brought to trial for the corruption of the city’s youth he knew he had done nothing wrong. He had lived his life as it should be lead, and did what he ne...