Socrates (470-399BC)


(Skepticism, epistimology, value of education)

Life bio in the philosophy book.

He's remembered as a true skeptic. A true skeptic is someone who seeks truth despite societal expectations, norms and culture. They question everything, even to their own peril.

Nowadays, we don't have to worry about being put to death for asking too many questions, but what are we afraid of?

Life examined

We live in an amazing, complicated and multicultural, diverse, ever-changing world. Most people never brush the surface of what there is to see, do and learn.

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

If we just eat and sleep, we're no better than animals. It's our ability to learn and explore the world that separates us.

A life unexamined does both ourselves a disservice and those around us a disservice. If we perpetuate incorrect thinking, we're not making the world a better place. Slavery, genocide and discrimination are all the result of flawed understanding. They're the result of ignorance. People used to think of black people as lesser humans. This thinking made it easier to ignore feelings of guilt as they worked your fields. Some Americans were willing to die to defend their incorrect beliefs.

The ideal democracy is one where everyone has equal say and everyone is an informed participant. Unfortunately, people have busy lives and seek quick easy answers, role models to make their decisions for them.

Socrates was critical about true democracy. He knew that most people didn't educate themselves enough, they didn't

https://youtu.be/fLJBzhcSWTk

Education is true patriotism- what do you think is meant by this?

https://youtu.be/fLJBzhcSWTk

Question Everything

Socrates believed that the only way to know that you know anything is to question it through doubt and constant testing.

Truth is not afraid to be questioned. We fear questioning out of security and comfort. We're afraid of being wrong, we're afraid of uncertainty and we're afraid we won't like the answers to those questions.

"There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance."

"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light."

Socrates was such a skeptic that when a local Temple Oracle in Athens made the claim that Socrates was the wisest man in Athens, Socrates aimed to prove her wrong.

Socrates would walk around Athens and when anyone made a claim he would ask them questions to discover how they knew what they knew. He discovered that with enough questions, the individuals didn't have good reasons for what they believed. They were certain of things that they hadn't fully thought about.

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."

https://youtu.be/vNDYUlxNIAA

I'll never go to Crete. The island lives in fear of the Minotaur, a half bull, half man monster.

When I sacrifice a lamb at the temple of Zeus each year, I always have an excellent harvest season.

Lying is always bad, lying to enemies? Lying to troops for moral?

Returning borrowed goods - weapons and mental illness

Socrates recognized that he might in-fact be the wisest but only because he could recognize and admit that he knew what he didn't know. While others made declarations they couldn't back up, Socrates said "I know that I know nothing."

It's never enough to know something once, but is necessary to learn more and reevaluate. You may discover something that changes your perspective on other things.

Socrates life teaches us to be humble and admit when we don't know everything. He teaches us that's it's ok not to know everything. Not everything can be known and even our beliefs aren't set in stone. People change their minds all the time.

Page 96 of expanding circle 

Other teachings

What is justice?

Justice is treating your enemies badly and your friends well.

Do we always know when someone is really a friend?

No, but justice is treating badly those who treat us badly

Does a just man do what's productive for society?

They do

And is treating badly, those who treat us badly productive to society?

What do you mean?

Does dryness make something wet? Does heating something make it cold?
No?

Does treating someone badly make them more productive to society?

I guess not

Then treating someone badly can't be just because it's not productive to society.

Socrates points out that vengeance is never justified as it doesnt make either person involved better.

He also expressed that people are people and we're more alike than we realize. While many people at the time kept to their social classes, Socrates mingled with all kinds of people. He noticed that despite the shallow differences of clothing, accent and race, everyone had the same experiences. People love, people mourn their loved ones, people love a warm meal on a cold night. And so Socrates said "I'm not an athenian, I'm not Greek, I'm a citizen of the world."

He recognized the potential for good in everyone our unfair tendency to label people as evil based on looks, identity or even facial expressions. That person who you see that doesn't look or speak like you feels just as you do. That person who doesn't smile and say hello might just be having a bad day or a hard life.

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