How Did Socrates the Founder of Western Philosophy Die
The little we know
Socrates was born in Athens, Greece, around 469 B.C. Previous thinkers had examined the natural world, but Socrates worked with the human experience and focused on individual morality. He questioned what made a good life through examining social and political questions. He is considered the founder of Western philosophy.
Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates believed that for a person to have knowledge, the individual must understand themselves.
To Socrates, a person’s actions were directly related to his intelligence and the opposite of this, his ignorance. He believed people should develop personally rather than concentrate on material objects. To achieve this, he used a new unique way to approach knowledge. Socrates would forever change philosophy.
The Socratic method.
Socrates is famous for his Socratic method. The first time we see this mentioned is in Plato’s Socratic Dialogues.
Socrates and a pupil would discuss a certain issue. Then, through a series of questions, Socrates would set out to discover the driving force behind the pupil’s beliefs and opinions. By doing this, he got closer to the truth. He continually asked questions through these…
