SOCRATES PHILOSOPHY: PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS - PHILOSOPHY - 2025

The philosophy of Socrates consists of elements that intertwine in their most fundamental basis: the idea man "know yourself" -and, therefore, know what the good human nature and justa-, and recognition of ignorance, which opens the way to the possibility of apprehending new and more precise insights.

Socrates is undoubtedly one of the greatest Greek philosophers in history and his contributions are still being studied due to the importance and particularity of his perspectives, among which it is important to mention his constant search for true knowledge and the irreplaceable dialectical method.

Socrates, great Greek philosopher

However, not everything is so simple with this important philosopher, primarily because of the antiquity of his teachings and, secondly, because he never wrote a book in his own words. This is called "the Socratic problem," which will be explained in detail in the next section.

The Socratic Problem

Scholars and philosophers all agree that the figure of Socrates and, consequently, all his thinking, may not have been entirely his own. Socrates never put his philosophy into text and the only thing that is written about him is the product of his followers, such as Plato and Xenophon.

Many thinkers dare to say that Plato even put his own thoughts into the mouth of Socrates, especially in the last books he wrote. Because of this, it is very difficult to discern between what his disciples thought and what Socrates actually defended and believed.

However, it is all that is had of his philosophy. For this reason, there is no other option but to take it as true, always keeping in mind that, if a contradiction arises, it is likely that it came from those who wrote about it and not from Socrates himself.

Socrates' fundamental principle: development of dialectics

Socrates' main philosophical principle was his dialectical method. Socrates deeply studied topics related to cosmology and other variants that helped him understand the universe and the world in which we live.

However, his disappointment in relation to the scientific method applied in these natural sciences, together with the great rejection of the relativistic perspectives that the sophists taught at that time, made him decide to seek a way to achieve universal definitions of all things.

For Socrates, the essential definitions were not a relative matter, so he generated an inductive method through which one could arrive at true knowledge of the world and its elements. According to him, the truth was the same no matter the place or the individual.

In this way he begins to apply what would be called the Socratic method. Through this, Socrates intended to dialogue with friends and acquaintances, always aiming to achieve the universal definition.

The method consisted of two parts: irony, by means of which man realizes his own ignorance of things; and maieutics, which consisted of increasingly specific questions and answers until reaching the particular knowledge.

For Socrates it was extremely important that the individual recognize his own ignorance, since without this step there would be no room for truth.

After the person with whom he was speaking accepted his ignorance on a topic, Socrates began to ask questions that his partner answered on his own, increasingly determining the main topic.

Socrates used this dialectical method for the rest of his life. This is evidenced in almost all of Plato's books, which represent his teacher dialoguing with various characters on different themes that he was trying to define.

Socrates' main philosophical beliefs

The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David.

Knowing that Socrates' philosophy is difficult to separate from Plato's beliefs, certain truths that Socrates defended can be established through the latter's texts.

One thing that is certain is that most of his arguments and opinions were completely different from those of his fellow Athenians, both in politics and in morals and ethics.

Socrates argued and publicized the need for men to "take care of their souls" above current priorities, which included worrying about a career, a family or even a political journey in the city.

Morality and virtue

For Socrates, morality was the basis of man's life. If man knew that he was good, beautiful and just, he would not act in any other way but by carrying out acts that promulgated and produced results of this lineage.

This Greek philosopher was renowned for his irony and morality, as well as for having a clear awareness of his own ignorance of the issues he dealt with. From this derives the use of the dialectical method, in which it was always his dialogue partner who answered his questions.

In this way he was able to spread his knowledge among relatives and friends, with the intention of stimulating his own searches for virtue and wisdom. Likewise, he believed that true happiness came from being morally upright; that is, only the moral man could really live a happy life.

Finally, Socrates defended the idea that there was a universal human nature, with equally universal values, that every man could use as a guide to act morally from day to day.

The most important part of this Socratic theory? The desire and initiative of the individual to know that constant and straight nature.

Politics

For Socrates, ideas and the true essences of things belong to a world that only the wise man can reach, so he firmly held a position according to which the philosopher was the only man fit to rule.

Whether Socrates agreed or not with democracy is a contentious issue. Although it is very clear that Plato criticized this form of government, it is not certain that Socrates thought the same: it is very possible that many of the phrases and sentences that the latter made against democracy were the creative product of Plato alone.

Mysticism

Another important face of Socrates' philosophy was mysticism. It is known that Socrates practiced divination, and that he was very close to Diotima, a priestess to whom he attributes all his knowledge of love.

The philosopher is also recognized for talking about mysterious religions, reincarnation and even myths and legends that can be considered unreal and meaningless.

Similarly, Socrates mentioned numerous times (always through Plato's dialogues) the existence of a mysterious voice or signal that made itself felt when he was about to make a mistake.

Although many maintain that this signal was nothing more than the phenomenology of his own intuition, everything seems to suggest that Socrates considered it to be of divine origin and not dependent on his thoughts or beliefs.

References

1. Life and Thought of Socrates (2001) Recovered from webdianoia.com
2. Cohn, Dorrit (2001) Does Socrates Speak for Plato? Reflections on an Open Question. New Literary History
3. Kamtekar, R. (2009) A Companion to Socrates. John Wiley & Sons
4. Vander Waerdt, PA. The Socratic Movement. Cornell University Press, 1994
5. Hadot, P. (1995) Philosophy as a Way of Life. Oxford, Blackwells
6. Navia, Luis E. Socrates, Man and his Philosophy. University Press of America