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Can
Ethics be taught?
Socrates' position was clear: Ethics consists of knowing what we ought
to do, and such knowledge can be taught. But the percipient must be
"ready" to receive knowledge. For example, Socrates speaks of taking a
child to view a battle. The child will notice action, clanging and
noise, but he may be too young to noticethe strategies,
self-sacrifice and cost.
Q. In response to Protagoras' repudiation of absolutes,
Socrates (470-399) offered the anguished Athenians an alternative.
What might this be?
A. That some norms are, in fact, absolute and universally valid.
Q. Did the Athenians love him for that?
A. You decide. he was eventually executed.
Q. Realizing many could not read and school buildings were not
abundant, what kind of classroom did Socrates have?
A. The marketplace was his classroom. He used to walk around
and ask people questions. Socrates "feigned" ignorance
eventually Socrates pointed out weaknesses to points and arguments
expressed to him & thus his "students" would be obliged to
realize the "Ignorant Questioner" was correct.
Q. Socrates' mother was a midwife. How was Socrates' profession
similar to that of a midwife?
A. A midwife does not give birth but helps to bring about birth. Socrates
saw his task as helping people to "give birth" to the correct
insight, since real wisdom and understanding must come from within. He
also believed a slave had as much common sense as a man of rank
Q. Did Socrates possess charisma?
A. Yes and no
Yes in terms of being and interesting and perfectly delightful
man.
No in terms of appearance: He was extremely ugly: potbellied, bulging
eyes, and a snub nose.
Q. Since Socrates never wrote anything, how do we know about his
views?
A. Through the writings of his student, Plato. Plato wrote
Dialogues which were dramatized discussions own philosophy in which
Socrates is as principal character or mouthpiece.
Q. How can we distinguish between Socrates' philosophy and Plato's if
Plato used the Dialogues to promote his ideas?
A. The answer is not cut and try like 2+2=4. However many
critics have suggested that the early dialogues clearly reflect
Socrates' thoughts, while Plato's later thoughts more accurately reflect
his personal views.
Q. Does the thought of being known world wide, never having
penned a word, being of upright character, teaching character, and
being executed by one's own countrymen remind you of anyone?
A. Many have notice parallels between Jesus and Socrates.
Q. What similarities do you see between Jesus and Socrates?
- Both left no written account.
- What was written posthumously has been debated giving rise to
various and conflicting beliefs.
- Both were masters in he art of discourse, speaking with a
characteristic self-assuredness that fascinated and
exasperated.
- Both believed they spoke on behalf of a greater good for all. Both
challenged the power of the community by criticizing all forms of
injustice and corruption.
- Socrates always said he had a "divine voice"
inside of him;
Jesus said He and the Father were one.
- Neither charged for their "lessons."
- Both inspired and left an eternal impression.
- Both remained single. both found "students/followers" in
their walks.
- Both lived an unrighteous, simple lifestyle.
- Both caused quite a stir in their lifetime for presenting
"radical" ideas.
- Both were executed.
- Neither tried to escape their sentence.
- Both had a message that was inseparably linked to their personal
courage.
- Both felt they had a message and a mission that would have
been betrayed unless they kept faith until the very end
- Both met death bravely and thus commanded an enourmous following
after they had died.
Q. What crime was Socrates accused of in 399 B.C.
A. Of "introducing new gods and corrupting the youth" as well
as not believing in the accepted gods. A jury of 500 found Socrates
guilty by a small margin.
Q. Why didn't Socrates appeal for lenience or save his life by
agreeing to leave Athens?
A. Socrates valued his CONSCIENCE and TRUTH higher than mortal life. He
assured the jury he had only acted in the best interest of the
state. it has been said that both Jesus and Socrates felt (note
to me - check text)
Q. How was Socrates put to death?
A. He drank hemlock a poison, in the presence of his friends You
can read about it in Plato's Apology.
Read Socrates' hyperlinked Apology
(Remember - apology means defense) http://academics.triton.edu/uc/files/apology.html
Read hyperlinked essay
Trial
of Socrates in Plato's Apology
Essay examining the defense of Greek philosopher Socrates, while
exploring the nature of death and the soul.
Q. In which way did Socrates see himself as a gadfly?
A. Socrates is reputed to have said, "Athens is like a
sluggish horse, and I am the gadfly trying to sting it into life. (Keep
in mind that gadflies are often killed.)
Q. We had mentioned that a sophist is a "learned or wise
person" who took money for their hair-splitting expoundings.
How did Socrates differ from the sophists around him?
A. He did not teach for money. He did not consider himself a
sophist. Rather Socrates considered himself a philosopher, which really
means, one who loves wisdom. A philosopher is also one who knows that he
knows very little. It also troubles Socrates that he knew very
little.
Recall that sophists were "tenured teachers" Their goal was
to so polish a man in the art of rhetoric that he could persuade an
audience to adopt one point of view and then an opposing view. Thus
education was reduced to the development of
cleverness for life in the world of the senses. Man was a more
highly evolved animal who relied on his senses.
Socrates objected that rhetoric should be the highest art
taught. He wished to replace the culminating art with
"philosophy" the love of wisdom. If one can discover wisdom,
one will love it and live righteously, thus providing the leadership
necessary in the civic life.
From the two basic questions Socrates asked was born a true
philosophy that continues to ask the same questions:
- What is the nature of man?
- Do intelligibles exist as knowable truths in the changing
appearance of the senses.
Q Would the following quote characterize a sophist or a Socratic philosopher
and why: "Wisest is he who knows she does not know."
A. A humble philosopher. Keep in mind Socrates' humility as he said, "One
thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing." Socrates was a
true philosopher at heart: someone who does not give up but tirelessly
pursues his quest for truth. This is in sharp contrasts to haughty
sophists who "knew it all."
Plato stove to represent Socrates as carrying the spirit of
investigation into the daily lives and practices of his fellow citizens,
seeking to know while he professed himself to be ignorant.
Q. What did the oracle at Delphi reply to the question, "Who is
the wisest man in Athens?"
A. The oracle replied "Socrates of all mortals was the
wisest."
Q. What was Socrates' reaction and action when he heard the
above statement?
A. At first he didn't believe it. He went to the wise person who heard
the oracle and realized that wise person wasn't so wise. Socrates
continued to talk to others and realized they were lacking in wisdom
too, but did not admit it. Therefore, Socrates concluded that he
himself was wise because he knew he wasn't wise.
Q. What does it mean to be wise because one knows one isn't
"wise."
A It means to know one's limits is wisdom.
Q. A rationalist is one who has unshakable faith in human reason. Why
was Socrates considered a rationalist?
A. Socrates believed it was necessary to establish a solid
foundation for our knowledge. He believed that this foundation lay
in man's reason.
Q. How is man's reason related to ethics?
A. We had already said that Socrates claimed he was guided by a
divine inner voice, and that this 'conscience" told him what was
right. Socrates said, "He who knows what good is will do good."
Q. What did Socrates mean by, "He who knows what good is will do
good."
A. He meant that right insight leads to the right
action. Socrates also believed that only he who does right
can be a 'virtuous man."
Q. Why would people do wrong - according to Socrates?
A. People do wrong because they don't know any better. That is why
it is so important to go on learning. Socrates was concerned with
finding clear and universally valid definitions of right and wrong.
Q. How did this differ from Sophists' views of distinguishing between
right and wrong.
A. Sophists, who had traveled and observed different customs believed
society and not reasons provided a basis to help us distinguish what is
right from what is wrong.
Q. Explain Socrates' position in a way that makes sense & seems
logical
A. Socrates believes people choose happiness over unhappiness.
He also held that no once could be happy if they acted against their
better judgment. Further, he who knows how to achieve happiness
will do so. Therefore, he who knows what is right will do right because
why would anybody choose to be unhappy.
Socrates does make sense in that deep in our heart of hearts we know
that if we continually do wrong that we cannot live a
happy life. He who is the happiest is he who lives the virtuous life.
Keep in mind that Socrates is talking about a deep-seated, mature,
upright, virtuous happiness. He is not talking about the pathetic
high an individual may receive
for a few minutes from gossiping, for taking drugs, or smoking. He is
referring to a deep-seated happiness that pervades our being and in inseparable
from us.
Summary: "Socrates maintained that the first essential to the
proper search for truth is the consciousness of one's own ignorance; the
next, a confidence in the result of rational thought. he thus developed
the power of reason, being assured that he who seeks patiently and
perseveringly will find. he declared that vice is ignorance and
virtue is knowledge. If men see and recognize the good, they will
assuredly do it" (The Library of historic characters 7 )
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Questions from Readings of Socrates
what can you say about the Soratic ideas of modesty, ignorance,
insight within, and "does an is imply an ought?
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