Greek Philosophy and Socrates

We have learned many things from the ancient Greeks, but perhaps the most important is the value of ideas. The Greeks believed in wisdom. Ancient Greece was remembered for its many great philosophers. Philosophers were people who discussed, debated, and studied wisdom. The word philosophy comes from the Greek term meaning "the love of wisdom." The ancient Greeks were concerned with rhetorical skills. Rhetoric is speech that is used to persuade someone. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were three of the greatest philosophers of ancient Greece.

Socrates (born 469BC – died 399BC was a philosopher who taught by asking questions. When teachers ask questions that encourage students to draw conclusions, they are using the "Socratic method" of teaching. The oracle of the prominent polis of Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest man in Greece. Socrates concluded that while others professed knowledge they did not have, he knew how little he knew. Socrates asked many questions, but he gave few answers. He often denied knowing the answers to the questions he asked.

Socrates was a well-known teacher in Athens. He drifted around the city with his students, engaging many people in arguments about "justice, bravery, and piety." What we know about Socrates comes from what others wrote about him. Socrates did not write any books because he believed in the superiority of argument over writing.

The leaders of Athens did not want a critic like Socrates in their city. They threatened to bring him to trial for neglecting the gods and for corrupting the youth of Athens by encouraging them to consider new ideas. The leaders expected the seventy-year-old Socrates to leave Athens before his arrest, but he remained in Athens, stood trial, and was found guilty. A friend tried to plan an escape from prison, but Socrates refused to participate. He believed that he must obey the law, even if he disagreed with it. Socrates calmly drank from a cup of poison hemlock, the customary practice of execution at that time.

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