Greek philosopher socrates biography athens ga
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Civic Renaissance with Alexandra Hudson
Gracious Reader,
My friend Donald Robertson’s newest book came out last week, and I’m thrilled to share an excerpt with you below. It’s called How to Think Like Socrates. I’m glad to be able to give away THREE copies. Read to the end to learn how to enter.
Socrates, the Ancient Greek sage who lived BCE to BCE, is known as the wisest man who ever lived because he knew that he knew nothing.
He is one of the most formative intellectual influences in my life, and you can read about what I’ve written in the past here and here (link to anything else I’ve written on Socrates).
I loved learning this story about how Socrates got his start as a philosopher. His wealthy friend Crito basically offered a lifetime scholarship, free from work, to think and reflect on the true, good, and beautiful. Talk about a good friend!
Socrates was essentially given the equivalent of a lifetime MacArthur '“Genius” grant.
Prior to the excerpt below, Donald sh
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Socrates
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Who Was Socrates?
Socrates was a scholar, teacher and philosopher born in ancient Greece. His Socratic method laid the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy.
When the political climate of Greece turned against him, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning in B.C. He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile.
Early Years
Born circa B.C. in Athens, Greece, Socrates's life is chronicled through only a few sources: the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon and the plays of Aristophanes.
Because these writings had other purposes than reporting his life, it is likely none present a completely accurate picture. However, collectively, they provide a unique and vivid portrayal of Socrates's philosophy and personality.
Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, an Athenian stonemason and sculptor, and Phaenarete, a midwife. Because he wasn't from a noble family, he probably received a basic Greek education and learned his father's craft
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Socrates
Greek philosopher (c. – BC)
This article is about the classical Greek philosopher. For other uses of Socrates, see Socrates (disambiguation). For the Attic orator, see Isocrates.
Socrates (;Ancient Greek: Σωκράτης, romanized:&#;Sōkrátēs; c.&#; – &#;BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy[3] and as among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian s