Socrates brief biography

Viewed by many as the founding figure of Western philosophy, Socrates B. His style of teaching—immortalized as the Socratic method—involved not conveying knowledge, but rather asking question after clarifying question until his students arrived at their own understanding. Socrates wrote nothing himself, so all that is known about him is filtered through the writings of a few contemporaries and followers, most notably his student Plato.

Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and sentenced to death. Socrates was born and lived nearly his entire life in Athens. His father Sophroniscus was a stonemason and his mother, Phaenarete, was a midwife. As a youth, he showed an appetite for learning.

What was socrates known for

Plato describes him eagerly acquiring the writings of the leading contemporary philosopher Anaxagoras and says he was taught rhetoric by Aspasia , the talented mistress of the great Athenian leader Pericles. Did you know? Although he never outright rejected the standard Athenian view of religion, Socrates' beliefs were nonconformist.

He often referred to God rather than the gods, and reported being guided by an inner divine voice. As an infantryman, Socrates showed great physical endurance and courage, rescuing the future Athenian leader Alcibiades during the siege of Potidaea in B. Despite his intellect and connections, he rejected the sort of fame and power that Athenians were expected to strive for.

His lifestyle—and eventually his death—embodied his spirit of questioning every assumption about virtue, wisdom and the good life.

Socrates' death

For both, the Socrates that appears bears the mark of the writer. One of the greatest paradoxes that Socrates helped his students explore was whether weakness of will—doing wrong when you genuinely knew what was right—ever truly existed. He seemed to think otherwise: people only did wrong when at the moment the perceived benefits seemed to outweigh the costs.