Socrates470 – 399 BCE470–苏格拉底公元前399年.pptVIP

Socrates (470 – 399 BCE) Socrates Socrates the man (the “historical Socrates”) Socrates’ philosophical project Socrates’ main ideas The Historical Socrates I A working class man, served in the army, a bricklayer by trade The Oracle at Delphi labeled him “The wisest man in Athens” Socrates did not believe he was wise, so he set out to prove the oracle wrong “There must be someone wiser than I, since I am not wise at all” The Historical Socrates II Most of the men he questioned were Sophists, wealthy men whose profession was to teach aristocratic young men how to be successful According to the Sophists, success was the ability to gain and hold onto Wealth Fame Power The Historical Socrates III Socrates believed that the Sophists were wrong Wealth, fame, and power are not important What matters most in life is our moral goodness In order to be morally good, we need to think and re-evaluate our moral values The Historical Socrates IV Eventually Socrates got in trouble with the wealthy, famous, powerful forces in Athens He was accused of two crimes – lacking respect for the city’s gods and of poisoning the young men’s minds Questioning values was the crime; the penalty was death The Death of SocratesDavid, 1786 Socrates’ Approach to Philosophy Socrates did not write anything. Everything we know about him was written by others He pursued values in conversation with others – Goodness, Justice, Truth, Self-Knowledge He criticized the self-satisfied Sophists because they claimed to possess the final answers to all questions – wealth, fame, power Socrates - His Main Ideas I Our interior life – our “psyche” or “soul” – is the most important part of life Our psyche is “healthy” when it seeks goodness, truth, justice, and self-knowledge A soul in search of wealth, fame, and power becomes weak, sickly, ignorant Socrates – His Main Ideas II Being ignorant is to mistake the appearance of good for the reality of it All evil is caused by ignorance People who cheat, lie, steal, harm