The Socratic Psyche Essay Research Paper I

The Socratic Psyche Essay, Research Paper

I will begin this paper with a brief account of Socrates. I

feel this is necessary for those who are not familiar with

Socrates. It is as follows: Socrates (C. 470-399 B.C.)

Athenian philosopher who allegedly wrote down none of his

views, supposedly from his belief that writing distorts ideas.

His chief student, Plato, is the major source of knowledge

about his life. Socrates questioned Athenians about

their moral, political, and religious beliefs, as

depicted in Plato^s dialogues; his questioning technique,

called dialectic, has greatly influenced Western philosophy.

Socrates is alleged to have said that ^the unexamined life

is not worth living.^ In 399 B. C., he was brought to

trial on charges of corrupting the youth and religious heresy.

Sentenced to die, he drank poison.

Of the early life of Socrates, there is little to go on.

Looking at W.K.C. Guthrie^s History of Greek Philosophy Vol.

III, we can extract some useful background information.

Socrates was a native Athenian and he was the son of

Sophroniscus and Phaenarete. His father is thought to have been

a stone mason or sculptor. Some even think that Sophroniscus

owned the stone-cutting shop and was quite wealthy. Socrates^

mother is believed to have come from a good family (378).

Socrates was also involved in active military service during

the Peloponnesian war as a hoplite. Socrates would to have had

the wealth and status associated with this position. Socrates

had earned high praise for his courage and coolness in battle.

He took part in three campaigns and his feats of endurance were

well known (Guthrie 379). We also know that Socrates was an

excellent soldier and that neither heat nor cold affected him

and that his fortitude was well known among fellow hoplites and

acquaintances (Symp. 220b). Socrates was not a handsome man, at

least outwardly. He had bulging eyes, a broad, flat, turned-up

nose, thick lips and a paunch (Guthrie 387). Socrates speaks

of an inner voice, given to him by a god. Socrates said that he

did not understand the meaning of this voice, but that it

guided him to seek the truth, the just, what he felt were

virtuous. This inner voice propels him to seek the truth, to

steer him away from what is wrong. As Socrates goes about

seeking the truth and knowledge, he tells people that he knows

nothing and understands even less (Apology 31d) I would call

this inner voice the morality of Socrates; the innate knowledge

of what is right/wrong and what is just/unjust, voices that are

mostly negative for people. This voice, though, leads him to

seek the answers for unresolved questions. Socrates was a

gadfly, a pest always there creating an itch, as if forcing a

person to pay constant attention. Socrates was called the

wisest man in Athens, a compliment that he brushed aside which

also baffled him. The understanding of the truth was the final

goal. Socrates^ method for attaining this was to take a

statement, have a series of cross-examinations, try to tear

down the other side^s argument and then to rebuild and reform.

The result would be the truth of a given matter. This process

is called dialectic, or elenchos. In the Euthyphro, we have a

man who professes to know the law and duty to religion.

Euthyphro had charged his father with murder. His father had

bound a servant by the hands and feet and threw him into a

ditch. The man had killed a household slave and the father went

to seek the advice of the priest in how to handle this matter.

Meanwhile, the man had died of hunger, cold and because of his

hands being bound. Socrates comes along (he was near the

king-archon^s court, for he was under indictment by one

Meletus, for corrupting the youth and religious heresy) and in

the dialogue, Socrates makes Euthphro see his error. Euthyphro

realized that after talking to Socrates he really did not know

as much as he thought he did. In fact, he understood nothing

and Socrates got poor Euthyphro so confused, that he felt like

a fool. In the aforementioned dialogue, Socrates asks

Euthyphro, ^Is the pious loved by the Gods because it is pious

or is it pious because it is loved by them.^(10.a) Do the gods

love us because we are pious to them or does the everyday

person by being pious (following the laws of the city and the

laws of the gods) make himself a better person. The problem

here is that the gods did not have a single absolute conception

of piety. The gods did not always agree. The gods were relative

in their piety and so were the citizens, (most of them) for

following what they thought was loved by the gods. The citizens

had an interesting dichotomy, on one hand they followed nomos

and on the other hand, the law of physis. Alt

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