Socratic Gospel Socrates

According to Socrates, the Socratic Gospel is a set of guidelines or values that leads to living the good life. Socrates thinks that these guidelines or propositions will lead us toward the right direction to the attainment of the excellence of the soul. The Socratic Gospel is not like the teachings of the ten commandments or a written like book like the bible, they were part of Socrates words which was said during his conviction. Plato happens to be one of Socrates devoted students. He was very observant and devoted to the manner at which Socrates lived his life. During his learning periods with Socrates, he pointed out some of the things Socrates said during his trials which now turns out to be the “Socratic Gospel” we now study.
The first
Socrates defined philosophy as critical self examination thus making the practice of philosophy important in the knowledge of one’s self and the increase of virtue. It helps us to think clearly about the things we have overlooked in our lives. Socrates went about searching for knowledge, arguing and refuting other people’s opinions. He considered himself the wisest amongst others because he knew that he knew nothing. This realization is important because knowing that you know nothing, keeps you open to learning new things and asking questions about things you don’t know [i.e. everything] thus giving you the opportunity to look at the world with from new perspectives. He raised questions, refuted opinions and argued just because he was in search of knowledge. To Socrates, practising philosophy was the way he cared for his soul. He fed his soul with knowledge and understanding about things because he thought that a life without knowledge is a life not worth living for. We need to gain knowledge and knowledge can only be gained by questioning, refuting opinions and arguing just like Socrates did. He was all about seeking knowledge and feeding his soul even at the expense of his life. Practising philosophy was Socrates’ life. He could not stop examining his life because an unexamined life is not worth
To him, practising philosophy increases virtue and virtue is knowledge. Socrates defined knowledge as a justified belief and virtue as a result of divine inspiration. He believed that virtue is teachable which in turn provides one with knowledge. He believed that the soul must be fed to be better off without the body because the soul determines the next step after the body dies. In a case where the soul is starved because the individual is focused on the desires of the body, the soul too will be dependent on a body and be insufficient to be alone. The state of the soul determines the quality of that soul, so therefore, the soul must be treated with utmost care and respect. Knowledge is attained by reasoning and that is what the soul needs. Virtue is the ultimate good and until we are able to understand what “good” means, until we are able to differentiate between good and evil, until we are able to cultivate the good and purge the evil, knowledge will never be