s0208l-SOCRATES born 470-399 BC in Athens, Greece, philosopher, orator, teacher, is generally accepted as real person 
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Image of bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum Considered one of the founders of Western philosophy, none of his work exists, believed most or much of his work was oratory, he strongly influenced Plato and Xenophon, who were students, and Aristotle, whom Plato taught, he taught through dialogue, sentenced to death for treason or heresy, none of Socrates writings have survived but much of Plato's and Xenophon's writings are on the dialogues of Socrate's life and work, such as Plato's Phaedo and Apology, best known for the creation of Socratic irony and the Socratic Method or elenchus, which is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but to encourage fundamental insight into an issue, along with developing the practice of a philosophy in which the teacher asks questions of the student in order to elicit the best answer, his pursuit of virtue and his strict adherence to truth clashed with the then current course of Athenian politics and society, he had a strong influence upon the founders of Western philosophy, particularly Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle, of course, all is conjecture as no texts survive, he did make important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, the Socratic problem today, no proof exists, only heresay, Plato is viewed as the most reliable and informative source of information about Socrates' life and philosophy, however, it is also clear from other writings, and historical artifacts that Socrates was not simply a character, or invention, of Plato, dialogues of Plato and Xenophon (both devotees of Socrates), and the plays of Aristophanes give some proof, the trial and sentence to death by drinking a mix of the poisonous hemlock for heresy, was a central event in the dialogues of Plato, he appears to have been a critic of democracy, and some interpret his trial as an expression of political posturing, his pursuit of virtue and his strict adherence to truth clashed with the current course of Athenian politics and society, his attempts to improve the Athenians' sense of justice may have been the source of his execution, Xenophon's story, Socrates purposefully gave a defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead", in Plato's Phaedo, Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison, after drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his limbs felt heavy, after he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot, Socrates could no longer feel his legs, the numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart, shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt.", Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body. Socratic method, perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic Method or method of '"elenchus," which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice, a series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge, Socratic paradoxes, no one desires evil, no one errs or does wrong willingly/knowingly, virtue/all virtue is knowledge, virtue is sufficient for happiness, he said his wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance, believed wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance and those who did wrong knew no better, claimed to have knowledge of the art of love which he connected with the concept of the love of wisdom and philosophy, believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth, all is conjecture on his beliefs, Crito of Alopece, a deme or suburb of sorts, of Athens, was a faithful and probably life-long companion of Socrates, said to be at the trial of Socrates, |