Who is Socrates? Philosophers who choose to die with everlasting traces

Socrates (470 BC - 399 BC) was a philosopher from Athens, Greece and was one of the most important figures in the Western philosophical tradition. Socrates was born in Athens, June 4, 470 BC, and was the first generation of three great philosophers in Greece, namely Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

Plato and Aristotle were students of Socrates. Socrates father worked as a stone mason sculptor named Sophroniscos. His mother was a midwife named Phainarete, from which Socrates named his method of philosophizing with obstetric methods.

Socrates was married to a woman named Xantippe and was blessed with three children namely Ramprocles, Sophroniscos and Menexene. Socrates is an enigmatic philosopher in the history of the development of philosophy. He never wrote a line of sentences in a writing.

Socrates was a man born in Greece, he has a wife and three children. Socrates was an ordinary person, not handsome, never wearing neat clothes, or very simple.

Every day walking around barefoot around the corner of the city of Athens, visiting people and discussing philosophy. Socrates was known as the wisest man in the whole city of Athens, but he himself never considered himself wise, so he went around to approach those who were thought to be wise to discuss philosophy.
Who is Socrates? Philosophers who choose to die with everlasting traces
The purpose of Socrates' philosophy is to seek the truth that is valid forever. Here the opinion differs from the sophist teachers, who teach that everything is relative and subjective and must be faced with skeptical stances.

Socrates argues, that in seeking the truth he does not think for himself, but every time alone with others, by way of question and answer. The second person was not seen as his opponent, but as a friend who was invited together to find the truth. The truth must be born from the souls of the conversational comrades themselves.

It does not teach, but helps to expel what is stored in people's souls. Therefore the method is called maieutik. Socrates sought permanent truth with questions and answers here and there, then rounded up with understanding, then the path he took was the method of induction and definition.

The two are related. The induction which becomes the Socratic method is to compare critically. He did not try to reach by example and equation, and was also tested by witnesses and opposing witnesses.

The philosophical goal of Socrates is to seek the truth that is valid forever. Here the opinion is different from the sophist teachers, who teach that everything is relative and subjective and must be faced with a skeptical stance. Socrates argues, that the truth is permanent and must be sought.

In searching for the truth, he does not look for himself, but every time alone with others, by way of question and answer. The second person was not seen as his opponent, but as a friend who was invited together to find the truth.

Truth must be born from the soul of a dialogue friend. He does not teach, but helps to bring out what is stored in the soul of that person. Therefore his method called Maieutik, elaborates.

Socrates and His Thoughts

After that rare event, the people in the market were again busy with their business. The event just passed by for everyone. But, I still pursued Socrates who walked out of the market. Then, when it was close enough, I called out to him ...

"Socrates!"

He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at me ...

"Who are you, Socrates?" ask me.

As he continued, he said, "Come with me ..."

Not far from the market, there is a pretty big and beautiful park. The park is very green and the surrounding air is very soothing. There are many tall and big trees.

Socrates walked to one of the tallest and largest trees in the park. The tree is very leafy and thick leafy. The trunk soars high and wide. It's about 3 meters wide, maybe.

I don't know what kind of tree it is, which must be under that tree so peaceful and soothing. Plus the special chirping of birds in the morning and the sound of river water flow not far from the tree. Perfect.

Socrates sat and leaned against a tree trunk ...

"Sit down, why did you call me and follow me here, young man?"

"I want to know who you are and more importantly, why can you say that at the market?"

Smiling faintly, he said:

"Because of this attitude, I really like every young person. Of the many people, only you want to listen to my words ..."

"Somehow, there is an urge within me to find out who you are ..."

"Alright, you want to know who I am and why I can say that at the market, right? Let's start from a long history ..."

"I was born in Athens, about 5 centuries before the Prophet Jesus was born into the world. My mother was someone who is now known as a midwife. And my father was a sculptor. At this point, I did not expect you to think that I was a person who worshiped idols ... "

"No problem, I'm not very interested in explanations about idols ..."

"Well, it turns out we are of the same understanding. I lived around a society that believed in various kinds of gods. In those days, people's trust in the gods was still very dominant. It could be said, belief in gods was a best-selling religion at the time. However, philosophical and artistic activities have also begun. The term we can call about belief in gods is myth. "

"Hem, yes I'm also familiar with the term myth. But, I don't expect you to further elaborate on what is a myth ..."

"Take it easy, it is only the intro part of a magnificent orchestra performance of civilization. At that time, myth was a belief held by many people. They considered this life to arise from the occult. They worshiped gods, statues, the sun, moon and objects other things. Then, long before me, there was someone named Thales, he was a philosopher who first "rocked" those mystical beliefs ... "

"... Thales tried to think of the nature that exists in the entire universe and he doubted such mystical beliefs. For example, he argued that everything originated from water. Finally, a shift was made from myth to logos. This is the starting point, philosophy begins to take an important part of life. And common sense is the basic foundation of philosophy ... "

"I'm very interested in philosophy! But, for his words, actually I prefer the word" philosophy "rather than" philosophy ". Ah, but that doesn't really matter ..."

"Yes, philosophy is very human, young man. I hope that your liking for that philosophy is not based on pride. In that sense, you uphold your common sense too much. Not like that. We must return to the original meaning of the philosophy itself, lovers of wisdom. What is wisdom, you think? "

"I am not very sure of my interpretation, but for me wisdom is a valuable" treasure "in life. Wisdom makes life valuable. But am I too early to explain wisdom? Even in life, I am still too easy to complain .. . "

"We are not trying to find a final definition of wisdom. Because, that philosophy will not stop at one final answer. Your interpretation is neither wrong nor right, young man. But what is certain is, wisdom is necessary and indeed exists ..."

"Then what does wisdom mean to you, Socrates?"

"Let's finish this long story first ..."

"After Thales, philosophy or philosophy began to develop and produce the names of other philosophers, namely, Parmenides, Phytagoras, Anaximenes, Heraclitus, and Democritus. Thales's ideas about the origin of life originated from water further developed by philosophers afterwards. The debate about the universe was closed by Democritus, who argued that the universe consisted of small particles called "atoms." Many said that they were natural philosophers, then the philosophical problems began to search for new domains of thought. . "

Socrates continues, "..." Man is the measure of all things, "protagoras, a sophist who was a contemporary of mine, said to me. For him, the truth was determined by each human being as an individual. In other words, this understanding was the beginning of thinking now we are familiar with the term relativism. In short, according to him the truth is relative ... "

"Wait, Socrates, who is Protagoras and what is sophism?"

"In my day, human culture was very advanced. Because, philosophy and art also began to be developed. Its position gradually began to be equal to religion as a belief. Because civilization continues to develop, every Athenian society needs education. Sophists are people people who carry out this educational mission. Sophis means, wise people, people who know everything. Protagoras is one of the many sophists in my day ... "

"Do you mean that sophist is someone who in my day is called a teacher or an academic?"

"Yes, it could be so. Sophists go around the city to teach residents and earn money. At this point, sophists have deviated from the meaning of sophis and the educational mission itself. Sophists teach everyone so they can earn money. they have been directed towards mere materialist objects.The attitudes of these sophists are like those who know best about everything. The understanding disseminated by these sophists is that true truth does not exist. Something universal that does not exist. "and made a lot of people like" floating in a sea without a ship ". In situations like that, I appeared young man ..."

"What are you doing, Socrates?"

"Many people call me a sophist, but I don't want to be recognized as such. I am the only person who thinks that true and universal truths still exist. Although there are some things that are relative, but something that is true and universal remains For me, that "divine voice" is what ultimately drives me to "fight" the sophists.If the sophists spread their understanding with lengthy lectures like those who know best about everything, then what I do is discuss and dialogue with each person..."

"... Maybe this looks like a foolish attitude. But to me, true knowledge cannot come from outside but is born from within everyone. Because, inside everyone is already" contained "that true knowledge, it's just not much Here is my duty, by discussing and dialoguing, I lure them through questions and problems, so that each person acquires and gives birth to knowledge within himself.This term in Greek is called maieutika, which is the art of midwifery. a mother to give birth to her child ?, the way I discuss and dialogue that is exactly like that ... "

"Ah, as if you are trying to build ships for these people and you are also a midwife who helps people give birth to their own knowledge. Why did you do that Socrates?"

"From the beginning I have said that, know yourself. Because, true knowledge is in yourself and is embedded in anyone. Awareness of true knowledge will make us have the mind. Budi means to know, and people who know will do things and live happily ... "

"... One thing you need to remember, young man, I do not know anything, but I know that I do not know anything. Because I do not know anything, I become restless. Finally, I never stop fight for true truth. Maybe, that's what the real philosophers mean. Wisdom is understanding that we have very little knowledge. It's like a process of adventure that never stops, young man ... "

"Socrates, that is a very deep and humble thought ..."

"My conscience could not stand still seeing the situation at that time. Finally, I conveyed it to the entire population of Athens, from traders in the market, blacksmiths to the sophists themselves. People who feel that they know everything eventually only die when they are dissolved. in a long discussion and dialogue ... "

"In other words, do you want to make them aware that they have very little knowledge, Socrates?

"Yes, exactly like that young man ..."

"Then how's it going, Socrates?"

"As I said before, I invite everyone to discuss and dialogue. For me, philosophy is the need of every human being, not just for the sophists or academics of your time. Not a few of the people who finally followed me, one of them is Plato who became the Plato who became My student. I never put ideas in writing. Later, it was Plato who spread the "philosophy of life" that I did and practiced. But, there were also many people who were unhappy with the philosophy of life that I did ... "

"Surely the" proud "people are disturbed by your presence, Socrates. Because you make them look stupid ..."

"Maybe that is true. But, that is not my main goal. As a human being, our lives must have virtue. The virtue of life will make us happy. And that virtue is of much higher value than the human self itself. That is, there is something higher than the human being itself. That's why I fight for something bigger than myself, young man ... "

"The principles of your life are vast and profound, Socrates."

"In the end, I was accused of giving a destructive understanding to the Athenians at that time. Before the court of Athens, my sentence was determined ...", standing up, Socrates took a cup of water beside the tree.

"... My punishment is to drink this pineal poison. Actually, I could easily refuse and escape all the accusations of people who don't like me, with the help of my friends. But, if so, I am not a Socrates, son young. To me, death is not the end of everything ... ", Socrates downed the cup.

Because of the effects of the poison, Socrates's body staggered and leaned against the tree trunk. Immediately, I rushed to support her body, her consciousness still with her eyes that began to wilt. A small smile grinned on his lips, saying,

"... a meaningless life is a life that is not worth living. What do you think, young man? ..."

Socrates closed his eyes, with a smile without regret ...

The Responsibility of a Philosopher

In the 399th century AD, Socrates was tried for being considered to embrace Atheism (not believing in the gods in Athens) and corrupting the minds of the youth around the city by appealing to them to question everything.

The leaders in Athens used the excuse that Socrates taught unusual politics and religious views to obey him with the death sentence by drinking poison. The story of the trial, imprisonment and execution of Socrates was written in Defense of Socrates, Crito, and Phaedo by Plato.

What exactly the teachings of Socrates to his students, especially to Plato, no one can prove it documentary. The teachings we know about Socrates are now obtained through the records of Plato as a student of Socrates.

Nevertheless, Socrates must be recognized as 'the teacher' through which the great Greek philosopher, Plato, was born, who subsequently "gave birth" to the other great philosophers of his day, Aristotle, even though the thought between the two shows the contradictory philosophical worldview between the two. .

In addition, what is equally monumental in traces of Socrates in the history of Greek philosophy is his obedience to the applicable law, namely that he chose to serve the death sentence by drinking poison rather than fleeing as a responsibility for his actions which were blamed by the Athenian government.

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