Socrates - The Philosopher Who Knew He Knew Nothing - The Great Greek Philosophers

0:00 Socrates is one of the most renowned and well-known figures in history he was one of the most remarkable thinkers of all time and his philosophical Legacy continues to be researched studied and debated all over the world despite becoming an extremely well-known figure Socrates did not found a school nor did he write anything with his own hand what we know about his life and philosophy has come down to us through other authors three of whom are considered the main ones Plato Aristophanes and xenophon the first is certainly the best known as he was Socrates pupil and also became a very important philosopher whose philosophical Legacy is also of enormous value these three authors

0:46 portrayed Socrates in diverse ways Plato who lived between 428 and 348 BC and xenophon who lived between 430 and 355 BC proved to be great admirers of Socrates the Greek playright Aristophanes on the other hand had a less favorable view of the Athenian philosopher Aristophanes deals with Socrates in a comedy from 423 BC entitled the clouds where the Greek thinker is ridiculed and considered a false Sage as well as being seen as a corruptor of Youth and disrespectful to the Gods in his philosophy Aristophanes also presents Socrates as a sophist but we should not forget that this playright wrote some of the most famous comedies

1:32 of ancient times hence the caricatured style he used to portray the philosopher although we don't know his exact intentions Aristophanes writings are especially important for learning about the life of the great Greek philosopher despite Socrates being negatively characterized by Aristophanes he wrote things that are remarkably similar to those of xenophon and Plato for example he mentions dialectics as a communicative tool used by Socrates he also mentions the well-known Socratic method through which the philosopher questioned his counterparts the play the clouds contains some interesting and significant biographical characteristics of Socrates who is described as a simple poor man who walked Barefoot and lived

2:18 in a very modest house in fact Socrates humility was one of the main Hallmarks of his life also cited in other sources in the memorable thoughts of Socrates Zen Fawn wrote that he has no slaves his food and drink are not Exquisite his clothing is only a coarse cloak in summer and winter and he has no shoes or tunic in addition to these three authors other particularly important ones have mentioned Socrates such as diogenes lartius or cisero as well as Aristotle another brilliant Greek philosopher by combining the descriptions of these writers and researchers it has been possible to construct the the trajectory of Socrates life and philosophy Socrates

3:03 was born in Athens in 469 BC his father was the sculptor sofronis his mother was the Midwife ferate some paintings frascos and sculptures help us to better understand what the philosopher looked like physically and it seems he was not particularly beautiful but this detail is insignificant when compared to the Mastery of his thought and the greatness of his philosophical Legacy he was attractive enough for his xanthipe whom he married and had a son called lamle according to some sources he had two children with another wife he was averse to luxury dressing simply and shabbily leading a modest life without attaching importance to material possessions these traits became his trademark at times his

3:50 behavior was odd attracting the attention of some of his contemporaries on some occasions he would stand still and meditate remaining in the this state for a long time it was as if the philosopher noticed and felt nothing else around him contemplating only his thoughts in the dialogue of the Symposium Plato recounted some of these traits of the philosopher for example he wrote that socres was resilient to low temperatures and on some occasions While others were protecting themselves from frost the philosopher could face them Outdoors wearing only a blanket what's more he walked Barefoot on the ice and didn't seem to feel cold underfoot once in Po in 432 BC he reportedly spent 24

4:38 hours paralyzed looking at the Horizon and reflecting on some idea something that impressed the soldiers camped with the philosopher there also in the Symposium Plato tells us that the master drank alcohol like no other man and yet was never seen drunk for a period of his life Socrates tried to follow the same career path as his father but was unsuccessful as a sculptor during his youth he served in the military and took part in the pelian war a conflict between the cities of Athens and Sparta that began in 431 and ended in 404 BC he received a great deal of recognition for his heroism but as we know today his Destiny was different philosophy one of the great landmarks of

5:26 Socratic philosophy is the exceedingly popular phrase I know that I know nothing in a platonic dialogue Socrates recounted the origin of this famous quote on one occasion caraon a childhood friend of his consulted the Oracle of delvi a place considered sacred to the Greeks where people consulted their Destinies with the pythes who were prophetesses entering an altered state of consciousness and through the god Apollo to whom the place was dedicated they answered those who sought them out when caraon went to this place he asked if there was a wiser man in the world than Socrates the answer was negative Socrates was the wisest of them all when caraon told his friend about this the

6:13 philosopher was extremely puzzled as he was fully aware that he knew nothing according to Plato he asked himself what does the god mean and what hidden meaning does the answer have I am not aware of being wise or unwise what does he mean by declaring me the wisest curious and Keen to unravel the oracle's words he decided to seek out an acquaintance of his who was a politician and whom he considered to be wise after talking to him the Athenian philosopher realized that the politici was not so wise because he did not recognize the limits of his own ignorance Socrates concluded I am wiser than this man it is probable that neither of us knows anything important but he believes he knows something and he does not I if I

7:01 do not know it do not suppose I know either Socrates later consulted other politicians as well as talking to poets and craftsmen who were considered wise but contact with these people led him to the same conclusion he had reached with the first man he had talked to that they knew nothing although they thought the opposite Socrates became welln in Athens and one of the main reasons for this was the Socratic method which consisted of an inqu iry process through which the philosopher approached certain individuals rich or poor young or old in places such as gymnasiums public squares and banquets questioning them on subjects that were often apparently simple and straightforward for the interlocutors but which soon became

7:48 uncertain when the people he approached answered a question Socrates deconstructed these answers with new questions pointing out mistakes and inconsistencies often the interlocutor uters would learn that they did not know what they initially believed they understood amid so many unanswered questions this self-reflection allowed people to learn more about the issues and take a new perspective on the subject discussed with Socrates the philosopher wisely used dialectics which is the art of discourse as a linguistic tool in the search for truth often this helped people to realize that some Concepts accepted a priori as true after being examined critically and deeply were false and these would finally

8:33 recognize their ignorance Socrates compared this method to the profession of Midwife which as we said at the beginning of the video was that of his mother he understood that this philosophical approach helped to Foster innovative ideas since these already existed within people and he only helped to give birth to them as if he were a kind of obstetrician this labor performed by The Thinker initially questioned ing his fellow citizens and showing contradictions and misunderstandings in their reasoning then making them change their perspectives on what they thought they knew was called mudic it's important to stress that as xenophon says Socrates never received any payment for his teaching unlike the sophists

9:18 another interesting point in his philosophy is the question of virtue the most valuable of all Goods Socrates believed that the man who possessed knowledge was both virtuous and incapable of evil since evil was brought about by the ignorant who did not know what was good for this reason there was a relationship between morality and knowledge in other words if we know what good is there is no reason to do evil at 60 Socrates was accused and condemned in Athens in apology Plato recounted the Master's allegations before the three accusers anius molus and lyson as well as other people present during the conviction according to Plato Socrates was accused of corrupting Youth

10:04 and not believing in the gods that the people believe in but in new deities xenophon who also described the process of Socrates sentencing and death emphasizes how the Athenian philosopher felt wronged xenophon and Plato mention Socrates admirable peace before death during the trial Socrates told those present that he had a Divine Mission which began in child Ood when he used to hear a voice inside him this voice would be that of his demon historically the word demon has been given multiple meanings in Socrates case it was a kind of Genius or personal guide who spoke to the philosopher and gave him suggestions on what to do Socrates was eventually sentenced to death and forced to ingest

10:50 Hemlock a strong poison in Pho Plato underlines the Master's admirable and inspiring composure and and courage when faced with death the man appeared to me to be happy in his Manner and speech he faced death with fearlessness and nobility and at the end of this work he described Socrates as the best wisest and most just of men Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers of all time most writers Who quote him consider him extremely wise his philosophical Legacy is hugely significant and has influenced other subsequent thinkers Socrates among other things teaches us to better analyze our thoughts and to have a more critical perspective on the surrounding

11:36 reality through the study we realized how important it is to always maintain a critical stance towards the world and how important humility is in our quest for [Music] knowledge [Music]