Greece & Rome · c. 430–399 BCE
Socratic philosophy
The unexamined life is not worth living: by questioning what we think we know about virtue, we discover our ignorance and begin to live well.
How should one live, and what is virtue?
Socrates turned philosophy from the heavens to human life amid Athens’ war with Sparta, political upheaval and the sophists’ claim to teach virtue for money. He wrote nothing; we know him through Plato, Xenophon and Aristophanes. In 399 BCE Athens executed him for impiety and corrupting the young.
People act badly because they mistake what is good for them; no one does wrong knowingly. So virtue is a kind of knowledge, and the way to it is the elenchus: ask someone to define courage or justice, show that their answers contradict each other, and the shared perplexity clears the ground for real understanding.
- Virtue is knowledge; no one does wrong willingly.
- Wisdom begins in recognising one’s own ignorance.
- Care for the soul matters more than wealth or reputation.
Almost every later Greek school claimed Socrates as its ancestor, and his questioning method remains the model of philosophical dialogue and teaching.
Thinkers
c. 470–399 BCESocratesAthenian questioner, executed for impiety in 399 BCEKey texts
Where it came from
Reacted againstSophistsSocrates shared the sophists’ focus on human affairs but refused to teach persuasion for pay, insisting on seeking the truth about virtue.
What it led to
Carried on byPlatonismPlato turned Socrates’ search for definitions of the virtues into a theory of the eternal Forms that those definitions are about.Carried on by
CynicismThe Cynics took Socrates’ poverty, frankness and indifference to opinion as the whole of philosophy, dropping his theoretical inquiries.Carried on by
StoicismThe Stoics saw themselves as Socratics: virtue is knowledge, and the sage is the person who never assents to a false judgement.Carried on by
ExistentialismKierkegaard took Socrates’ irony and self-examination as the model of existing thoughtfully.