Life and death of Socrates

The life and death of Socrates is still of great interest not only for historians, but also for its many admirers. Many of the circumstances of the fate of this thinker remain a mystery these days. The life and death of Socrates are fanned by legends. Is it any wonder, because we are talking about one of the greatest thinkers of all time.

Origin of Socrates

Socrates - the famous Athenian philosopher, who was awarded a great monument - Dialogues of Plato. In them he is the main character.

It is known that the father of the future philosopher was the stonemason (or sculptor) Sofronisk, and the mother - Fenaret. Probably his father was a fairly prosperous man. The researchers made this conclusion on the grounds that Socrates fought like a hoplite, that is, as a heavily armed soldier. Despite the wealth of parents, the philosopher himself did not care about the property and was extremely impoverished by the end of his life.

Contradictory sources

Socrates expounded his teaching exclusively in oral form. We know about him from several sources, one of which are references and images of him in the comedies of Aristophanes, parodic and lifelong. The portraits of Socrates made by Xenophon and Plato are posthumous and written in a laudatory spirit. These sources, however, largely do not correspond to each other. Apparently, Aristotle's reports rely on Plato. Many other authors, friendly or hostile, also contributed, like the legends of Socrates.

The circle of the philosopher's communication, participation in the war

When the Peloponnesian war broke out, the philosopher was 37 years old. Among the people with whom he communicated before her were intellectuals from the circle of Pericles - the sophist Protagoras, the scientist Archelaus, the musician Damon, and the brilliant Aspasia. There is evidence that he was familiar with the famous philosopher Anaxagoras. In the Platonic "Phaedo" Socrates talks about the dissatisfaction that he felt from reading the works of Anaxagoras. The philosopher interested in us studied the dialectic of Zeno of Elea, later attended the lectures of the sophist Prodik, and also participated in debates with Frasimachus, Gorgias and Antiphonts. Socrates distinguished himself in the war at the Battle of Potidea, dating back to 432 BC. E., Under Delia (424 BC) and under Amphipolis (422 BC).

Socrates - Delphic oracle

A very important stage in the formation of this philosopher was his proclamation by the Delphic oracle, "the wisest of men." About this Plato says in the "Apology of Socrates." The Delphic Oracle itself thought a lot about these words. He compared them with his conviction in the opposite, in that he "knows only that he does not know anything." The philosopher came to the conclusion that this is what makes him wisest, since many people do not even know this. Knowing the extent of both your own ignorance and ignorance of other people is the general principle of Socrates research. To this we are inspired by words that are carved at the entrance to the Delphic Temple of Apollo. These words are as follows: "Know thyself."

Socrates and politics

By 423 BC. E. Socrates was already quite a notable figure, because of which he became the object of satirical attacks of two famous Athenian comediographers - Amepsia and Aristophanes. The philosopher avoided politics, although among his friends were Alcibiades, Critias, Harmid and Feramen. The last three were the leaders of Thirty tyrants who overthrew democracy in Athens. And Alcibiades reached treason to his native city because of political opportunism. There is evidence that links to these people hurt Socrates at the trial.

In 406 BC. E. The philosopher of interest tried to discourage the illegal and hastily drafted strategists who were brought to justice after the Athenian fleet won the battle of the Arginus Islands. It is also known that in 404 BC. The philosopher neglected the order of Thirty tyrants to catch Leont from Salamis, who was included in the proscription lists.

Personal life

Socrates, already in his old age, bound himself by marriage to Xanthippe. This woman gave birth to a philosopher of three children. It is possible that this was Socrates' second marriage. The philosopher was poor. His unusual appearance and unpretentiousness are included in the saying.

The trial and death of Socrates

Socrates in 399 was brought to trial on charges of "corrupting youth" and "wickedness." He was found guilty by a small margin of votes. When the thinker did not want to admit guilt and did not try to ask to replace the execution with expulsion, the greater number of those present at the trial voted for the death of Socrates.

The philosopher was in prison for a month, then the verdict was executed. The thinker was brought a bowl of poison (tsikutoy). He drank it, and as a result, Socrates died. Such works of Plato as "Phaedo", "Crito" and "Apology of Socrates", which tell about this trial, about the stay of the philosopher in prison and his execution, immortalized the courage of the thinker of interest to us, the firmness of his convictions.

In 399 BC. E. The death of Socrates. A year of it is precisely known, but it is impossible to name the number. One can only say that the philosopher died in late June or early July. According to the testimony of three authors of antiquity (Apollodorus of Athens, Demetrius of Faler and Plato), at the time of death, the thinker turned 70 years old. The death of Socrates (the vast majority of ancient authors converge on this) came not as a result of natural causes. It was due to the fact that he drank the poison. The cause of Socrates' death, however, still raises doubts among some historians. Much later Plato in his dialogue "The Phaedo" immortalized the image of a philosopher who is alien to death by nature, but in the face of the circumstances that has arisen, he must die. However, Plato himself was not present at the death of his teacher. He personally did not see the death of Socrates. In short, Plato described it on the basis of the testimonies of his contemporaries.

Text of the charge

The text of the charge against the philosopher, which was submitted for judicial consideration, has survived to this day. For this it is necessary to express gratitude to such a little-known author as Diogenes Laertius. He wrote an essay entitled "On the lives of philosophers," referring to the first half of the 3rd century AD. E. This important information Diogenes Laertius, in turn, borrowed from the works of Favorin Arelatsky. This man was an admirer of antiquity, a philosopher and a writer. He lived only a century earlier, however, unlike Diogenes, I personally saw this text in the Athenian Metrona.

The overwhelming majority of researchers agree that it was the acceptance of poison that led to the heroic death of Socrates. However, we can not know exactly how things were. The circumstances of Socrates' death are one of the most interesting moments of his biography.

The doctrine of Socrates

Socrates, as a teacher, is a very controversial figure. Usually, the death sentence imposed on him is explained by the degeneration of democracy. But I must say that in 403 BC. E. In Athens, the regime was restored, which was quite moderate and humane. He relied on the principles of political amnesty, strictly observed. In this case, everything says that the most serious and concrete was the accusation of Socrates in "corrupting the youth." However, one can only guess what is meant by this. Dialog Plato "Crito" refers to the protection of the philosopher from accusing him of "undermining the laws." It is possible that this indicates that the influence of Socrates on youth at that time was considered an attempt on the very foundations of contemporary society.

Change in the social fabric

The young man, who had already graduated from school age, received "higher education" from the time of Homer by communicating with the elders. He listened to their oral instructions, and also imitated the behavior of the mentors. Thus, the young man acquired the qualities inherent in an adult citizen. Among the political elite, in turn, methods of implementing state power were passed from generation to generation. But in the times of Socrates the family circle ceased to exercise all these functions. They were transferred to another institution, which received the form of an institution founded specifically for this purpose after Socrates died. The Academy of Plato became the prototype of this organization. At the head of this process was precisely the group of intellectuals to which Socrates belonged. It was these people who brought the concept of "professional" education from Western Greece and Ionia.

What is the essence of the accusation of "corrupting youth"

Socrates was particularly difficult, because he had to act in Athens. In the year 423 BC. E. Just two comediographs - Aristophanes ("Clouds") and Ameypsy (the not-preserved comedy "Conn") - branded the philosopher, as he directed the newfangled school, based on lessons of filial disobedience and youthful rebellion. This idea of the thinker of interest to us by 399 BC. E. Crystallized into the famous accusation of Socrates in the "corruption of the youth." If we turn to the dialogues of the disciples of this philosopher, we will see that they often ask the question: can the elders and fathers convey the virtue of youth, or should this be taught specifically?

Socrates as the herald of an abstract idea

Even more deeply absorbed in the consideration of the cultural crisis of the era, we will come closer to an understanding of why Socrates' dialectic possessed such power. At first glance, it is unclear how to explain the fact that throughout the life of two generations the philosophy of Socrates invariably fascinated the Greeks , whose death was quite logical. And this despite the fact that in the teachings of this thinker saw the instrument of destruction.

To understand this, it is necessary to consider what method of communication was adopted at the time of the birth of Socrates and how it changed later. Athens was at the stage of completing the transition to a written word from oral speech. This influenced, in turn, the vocabulary, and also forced changes that occurred in the forms of consciousness. These changes can be defined as a transition from an image to an abstraction, from poetry to prose, from intuition to rational cognition. At that time, the abstract idea was seen as a new, startling discovery. It was Socrates who was herald.

In "Clouds" of Aristophanes, the philosopher is ridiculed as an abstract thinker, who heads the "thinker", seeking "thoughts." He was also a clergyman of concepts floating in the sky like clouds. "Thoughts" at that time caused laughter only because they were so. It should also be noted that in Aristophanes Socrates uses a new speech in conversations, speaks in abstract jargon, in which ideas take shape.

Among the students of the thinker we are interested in, the preoccupation with ideas, derided by Aristophanes, seems to be a search for definitions for various abstract concepts such as "fair" and "good," and also as the process of creating an accurate language, But conceptual knowledge.

Life, teaching, death of Socrates - we told all about this. It would be possible to talk about this outstanding philosopher for a long time. We hope that this article has caused you interest in it.