Socrates Worldviews
Like many philosophers, Socrates has been able to mold and enlighten his students and people well past his time. One of his most famous quotes, “I only know that I know nothing,” Never fails to capture attention. As simple as the words are it never failed to spark a conversation that exceeds expectations.
Origin:
• Where did the universe come from? Where did life/humanity come from? • Socrates does not clearly state an answer for Origin. I do find that his Theory of Recollection to contain a hint of an idea towards where humanity itself comes from. The Theory of Recollection proposes that what we, as beings, learn is just recalling what we already know. Socrates believes that as we are born we forget most of our knowledge, but as we grow and ask the proper questions we can regain that of what was lost. Though, to conclude that we know before our birth presumes that our soul must have existed before this time of which we were born. [Phaedo] If our soul preexisted, that would mean we are reincarnations of a limited amount of souls placed on this earth. As well placed as this theory is, I find it hard to believe that all of the people in this world are reincarnations to those of limited souls.
Condition/Problem: • What, if anything, has gone wrong with the world? What is humanity’s basic problem? What needs to be fixed about the world, about people? Why do we do wrong/bad things? • Humanity’s most basic problem according to Socrates is ignorance. People have the tendency to think way too highly of themselves. They even become ignorant of their own ignorance. [The Apology 24b-26e] • It is stated that there are four levels of guilt. The first, crime of premeditation. The second, crime of passion. The third, crime of negligence and the fourth being accidents. I believe Socrates only sees the mistakes of ignorance to be crimes of negligence. • Socrates goes to declares that there is no way he could have done this (corrupting the minds of the young ones) on purpose. If he is guilty of anything, he is only guilty of his own ignorance. [The Apology 23a-e] Socrates says the way to avoid ignorance (Crime of negligence.) is to keep gaining knowledge. Denying knowledge creates a life that solely revolves around negligence. • Bodily attachment [Phaedo 59d-69e]: According to Socrates the body goes through a cycle. It is closely related to eastern beliefs. If and when a person dies the good or bad soul goes to the “other place”, in which the bad soul is constantly reincarnated and the good soul is able to reach its afterlife. The body seems to be a distraction, a hindrance of sorts.
Solution: • What, if anything, can be done to fix the world, ourselves? How do we remedy the problem? • I don’t believe that there is a way to fix the world or remedy the problems of the world; I do believe there are ways to make it appear a bit better than it actually is. Socrates is avid of bodily detachment. To break away from the needed form of a body repairs the good and bad and creates and equal ground. • Ignorance, as stated above, is a definite problem for Socrates. His way of fixing it relies on philosophy, in which philosophy is the love and pursuit of truth through the examination, reason, and argumentation. In Plato’s Theory of the Forms and under his Laws of Logic he says, “The people who should be king are Philosophers.” By that he means not the philosophers that run around schools trying to teach, but the people who actually love the satisfaction of gaining knowledge and wisdom.
Morality: • What are the central moral principles? • Morality is different for everyone. Through experiences people find how they perceive what is right, wrong, and how they value the things in their life. To Socrates, justice is among the highest moral principles and goods. It should be sought in and of itself. I feel that is ironic that a moral of his is justice and in his time of need he is denied that exact thing that he believes in so much. • In the Apology a central moral principle might be the pursuit of knowledge. [The Apology 33a-c] Our thoughts and actions do have an impact on whatever we as a person do. The question is should we go around not caring about how we think and the affects they have? How we think affects everyone it can either draw forth a better understanding and acceptance or cause a mass argument that ends up like two teenaged boys fighting.
Knowledge: • What is required for knowledge? What are legitimate and important sources of knowledge? • Socrates did not believe in the common view of knowledge, where a man with knowledge alone cannot save him from damaging choices. To Socrates it is not noble or able to rule a human mind.[Socrates pg.63 ] Revelations are a form of knowledge for Socrates. They appear to be only useful in correlation with reasons. His view of knowledge included spiritual and intellectual aspect.[Socrates pg.64-65]
Purpose/Meaning: • What is the purpose/meaning of life? Why is the universe/humans/I here? • The meaning of life is never an easy question to answer. As for Socrates, justice is the health of the soul and society. • To Socrates, his purpose is completely objective. It is handed down from the gods. • The pursuit of understanding should be everyone’s purpose. Anyone can be wise if the recognize their short comings and seek knowledge. • The Cyclical Argument relies on one to take care of their soul. That is because the soul is immortal. The fact that the soul is immortal it is important to take care of it. A good soul has the ability to escape the continual cycle of reincarnation. To tarnish a soul traps the limited soul to earth. [Phaedo 76d-e] • In The Argument from Affinity there are two existences: One is particulars; they are constantly changing and imperfect. The second is forms; forms are unchanging, always remaining consistent and perfect. Particulars are what we think something is. Forms are the true nature or essence of a specific thing. Forms are the only true objects that can provide us with genuine knowledge. • “Leave nothing undone in goodness and wisdom.” The pursuit of wisdom is to understand the essence. Without understand the basic fundamentals of wisdom true wisdom will never be reached. True wisdom is an outcome of understanding the perfect forms and not the particulars. Wisdom enables the philosopher to judge the extent of sensible things. The intellectual value, wisdom and the moral value, goodness must be equally developed. The good soul possesses goodness and wisdom. The bad souls have wickedness and ignorance. • Wisdom defined is: “…When the soul inquires, it departs into the realm of the pure everlasting, the immortal, and the changeless, and the being akin to these it dwells always with them whenever it is by itself and is not hindered, and it has rest from its wonderings and remains always the same and unchanging with the changeless since it is in communion there with. And this state of the soul is called wisdom.” [Phaedo 79d]
Happiness: • What, if anything, brings enduring fulfillment? Is it possible to obtain? • Socrates is not an irrational man by any means. What brings enduring fulfillment is the ability to accept and continually gain knowledge. Knowledge is effortless to obtain as long as one is open to it. If anything this is a matter of opinion. Though it is not a shallow wish or materialistic, it does have gaps in theory. Obtaining knowledge provides enlightenment and persistent views. It’s understandable to see how it can bring long-term satisfaction to some, but I find that others don’t have the determination to keep gaining. They rather stick with what they already know. • There is more happiness to gain as one is righteous. The righteous are good and wise correlating with the idea it is a good soul. The righteous are happy due to the fact they were able to gain the two basic fundamentals to acquire a good soul. The unrighteous are foolishly ignorant, being the problem with humanity [Socrates pg.149-150]
Destiny: • What happens when we die? What is the fate of the universe? • The Theory of Attunement is more over an analogy, between Socrates and Cebes, do the aspects of a musical instrument. Cebes says the soul is like the attunement of a musical instrument is invisible, incorporeal and divine, and like the body, the instrument itself is corporeal and composite. The attunement of an instrument exists as a result of the instrument being kept together at the right tension and in the right way. The soul exists in the body through being properly put together. Destroying a musical instrument can completely devastate the attunement of the instrument, why can we not say that destroying a body can harm the soul that is in it? Socrates, as impressed by the argument as he was goes on to say that the soul is nothing like that. The body is always changing and the soul remains as pure as it can through the changes, like a tailor and his cloaks.[Phaedo 85e ] • Socrates argues the immortality of the soul. What does not die is undying and if the soul never admits death than it surely doesn’t prove it has died. What is un-dying cannot perish; it must merely withdraw from its former form. [Phaedo 105e 106e] • Socrates believed that the soul preexisted, that it always existed. The fact that the soul preexisted, that there is a limited amount of souls, and that humans have knowledge of a prior life through the Theory of Recollection are evidence of reincarnation. [Phaedo 72e -78 76d-c 81d 82b] Earthly soul becomes apparitions and/or animals and humans again as they repeat the cycle of reincarnation.
Ultimate: • What is the most fundamental element of reality? • Socrates is not an atheist by any means, but he does not accept fate blindly. The oracle announces that he is the wisest. Socrates is critical, although he seems willing to examine it. [Socratespg. 17-19] As he talks about God, in the reading it is easy to see how he refers to his beliefs. Not only does he believe in one God or higher spirit but many lower gods as well. To Socrates they are separate entities.
Socrates was not all knowing, he was not the wisest. He was the most open-minded and stubborn man in ancient Greece. I find his arguments, more than anything, crawling through loopholes in others arguments. For example, his dispute with Cebes on the Theory of Attunement was cloudy. Cebes argues that if a simple instrument could be destroyed so could its quality. Socrates explains that it can indeed happen to instrument but how does one know that it could happen to a soul in a body. He repeatedly pulls out arguments others don’t see with lack of quality evidence.
Origin:
• Where did the universe come from? Where did life/humanity come from? • Socrates does not clearly state an answer for Origin. I do find that his Theory of Recollection to contain a hint of an idea towards where humanity itself comes from. The Theory of Recollection proposes that what we, as beings, learn is just recalling what we already know. Socrates believes that as we are born we forget most of our knowledge, but as we grow and ask the proper questions we can regain that of what was lost. Though, to conclude that we know before our birth presumes that our soul must have existed before this time of which we were born. [Phaedo] If our soul preexisted, that would mean we are reincarnations of a limited amount of souls placed on this earth. As well placed as this theory is, I find it hard to believe that all of the people in this world are reincarnations to those of limited souls.
Condition/Problem: • What, if anything, has gone wrong with the world? What is humanity’s basic problem? What needs to be fixed about the world, about people? Why do we do wrong/bad things? • Humanity’s most basic problem according to Socrates is ignorance. People have the tendency to think way too highly of themselves. They even become ignorant of their own ignorance. [The Apology 24b-26e] • It is stated that there are four levels of guilt. The first, crime of premeditation. The second, crime of passion. The third, crime of negligence and the fourth being accidents. I believe Socrates only sees the mistakes of ignorance to be crimes of negligence. • Socrates goes to declares that there is no way he could have done this (corrupting the minds of the young ones) on purpose. If he is guilty of anything, he is only guilty of his own ignorance. [The Apology 23a-e] Socrates says the way to avoid ignorance (Crime of negligence.) is to keep gaining knowledge. Denying knowledge creates a life that solely revolves around negligence. • Bodily attachment [Phaedo 59d-69e]: According to Socrates the body goes through a cycle. It is closely related to eastern beliefs. If and when a person dies the good or bad soul goes to the “other place”, in which the bad soul is constantly reincarnated and the good soul is able to reach its afterlife. The body seems to be a distraction, a hindrance of sorts.
Solution: • What, if anything, can be done to fix the world, ourselves? How do we remedy the problem? • I don’t believe that there is a way to fix the world or remedy the problems of the world; I do believe there are ways to make it appear a bit better than it actually is. Socrates is avid of bodily detachment. To break away from the needed form of a body repairs the good and bad and creates and equal ground. • Ignorance, as stated above, is a definite problem for Socrates. His way of fixing it relies on philosophy, in which philosophy is the love and pursuit of truth through the examination, reason, and argumentation. In Plato’s Theory of the Forms and under his Laws of Logic he says, “The people who should be king are Philosophers.” By that he means not the philosophers that run around schools trying to teach, but the people who actually love the satisfaction of gaining knowledge and wisdom.
Morality: • What are the central moral principles? • Morality is different for everyone. Through experiences people find how they perceive what is right, wrong, and how they value the things in their life. To Socrates, justice is among the highest moral principles and goods. It should be sought in and of itself. I feel that is ironic that a moral of his is justice and in his time of need he is denied that exact thing that he believes in so much. • In the Apology a central moral principle might be the pursuit of knowledge. [The Apology 33a-c] Our thoughts and actions do have an impact on whatever we as a person do. The question is should we go around not caring about how we think and the affects they have? How we think affects everyone it can either draw forth a better understanding and acceptance or cause a mass argument that ends up like two teenaged boys fighting.
Knowledge: • What is required for knowledge? What are legitimate and important sources of knowledge? • Socrates did not believe in the common view of knowledge, where a man with knowledge alone cannot save him from damaging choices. To Socrates it is not noble or able to rule a human mind.[Socrates pg.63 ] Revelations are a form of knowledge for Socrates. They appear to be only useful in correlation with reasons. His view of knowledge included spiritual and intellectual aspect.[Socrates pg.64-65]
Purpose/Meaning: • What is the purpose/meaning of life? Why is the universe/humans/I here? • The meaning of life is never an easy question to answer. As for Socrates, justice is the health of the soul and society. • To Socrates, his purpose is completely objective. It is handed down from the gods. • The pursuit of understanding should be everyone’s purpose. Anyone can be wise if the recognize their short comings and seek knowledge. • The Cyclical Argument relies on one to take care of their soul. That is because the soul is immortal. The fact that the soul is immortal it is important to take care of it. A good soul has the ability to escape the continual cycle of reincarnation. To tarnish a soul traps the limited soul to earth. [Phaedo 76d-e] • In The Argument from Affinity there are two existences: One is particulars; they are constantly changing and imperfect. The second is forms; forms are unchanging, always remaining consistent and perfect. Particulars are what we think something is. Forms are the true nature or essence of a specific thing. Forms are the only true objects that can provide us with genuine knowledge. • “Leave nothing undone in goodness and wisdom.” The pursuit of wisdom is to understand the essence. Without understand the basic fundamentals of wisdom true wisdom will never be reached. True wisdom is an outcome of understanding the perfect forms and not the particulars. Wisdom enables the philosopher to judge the extent of sensible things. The intellectual value, wisdom and the moral value, goodness must be equally developed. The good soul possesses goodness and wisdom. The bad souls have wickedness and ignorance. • Wisdom defined is: “…When the soul inquires, it departs into the realm of the pure everlasting, the immortal, and the changeless, and the being akin to these it dwells always with them whenever it is by itself and is not hindered, and it has rest from its wonderings and remains always the same and unchanging with the changeless since it is in communion there with. And this state of the soul is called wisdom.” [Phaedo 79d]
Happiness: • What, if anything, brings enduring fulfillment? Is it possible to obtain? • Socrates is not an irrational man by any means. What brings enduring fulfillment is the ability to accept and continually gain knowledge. Knowledge is effortless to obtain as long as one is open to it. If anything this is a matter of opinion. Though it is not a shallow wish or materialistic, it does have gaps in theory. Obtaining knowledge provides enlightenment and persistent views. It’s understandable to see how it can bring long-term satisfaction to some, but I find that others don’t have the determination to keep gaining. They rather stick with what they already know. • There is more happiness to gain as one is righteous. The righteous are good and wise correlating with the idea it is a good soul. The righteous are happy due to the fact they were able to gain the two basic fundamentals to acquire a good soul. The unrighteous are foolishly ignorant, being the problem with humanity [Socrates pg.149-150]
Destiny: • What happens when we die? What is the fate of the universe? • The Theory of Attunement is more over an analogy, between Socrates and Cebes, do the aspects of a musical instrument. Cebes says the soul is like the attunement of a musical instrument is invisible, incorporeal and divine, and like the body, the instrument itself is corporeal and composite. The attunement of an instrument exists as a result of the instrument being kept together at the right tension and in the right way. The soul exists in the body through being properly put together. Destroying a musical instrument can completely devastate the attunement of the instrument, why can we not say that destroying a body can harm the soul that is in it? Socrates, as impressed by the argument as he was goes on to say that the soul is nothing like that. The body is always changing and the soul remains as pure as it can through the changes, like a tailor and his cloaks.[Phaedo 85e ] • Socrates argues the immortality of the soul. What does not die is undying and if the soul never admits death than it surely doesn’t prove it has died. What is un-dying cannot perish; it must merely withdraw from its former form. [Phaedo 105e 106e] • Socrates believed that the soul preexisted, that it always existed. The fact that the soul preexisted, that there is a limited amount of souls, and that humans have knowledge of a prior life through the Theory of Recollection are evidence of reincarnation. [Phaedo 72e -78 76d-c 81d 82b] Earthly soul becomes apparitions and/or animals and humans again as they repeat the cycle of reincarnation.
Ultimate: • What is the most fundamental element of reality? • Socrates is not an atheist by any means, but he does not accept fate blindly. The oracle announces that he is the wisest. Socrates is critical, although he seems willing to examine it. [Socratespg. 17-19] As he talks about God, in the reading it is easy to see how he refers to his beliefs. Not only does he believe in one God or higher spirit but many lower gods as well. To Socrates they are separate entities.
Socrates was not all knowing, he was not the wisest. He was the most open-minded and stubborn man in ancient Greece. I find his arguments, more than anything, crawling through loopholes in others arguments. For example, his dispute with Cebes on the Theory of Attunement was cloudy. Cebes argues that if a simple instrument could be destroyed so could its quality. Socrates explains that it can indeed happen to instrument but how does one know that it could happen to a soul in a body. He repeatedly pulls out arguments others don’t see with lack of quality evidence.