Over the past 1000 years, humans have progressed in the field of philosophy and have began to establish an understanding of life and how or why it is the way it is. This all started with a Greek Philosopher, Socrates (470 BC-399 BC). Although the subject of Philosophy has been challenged on its importance, many of the ideas proposed in this subject by Socrates has been used to help out people and better comprehend themselves, and this is why he is so popular today.
He has influenced people through the questions he has suggested and how to answer them, and also by his background and how it tied into the life that he made for himself and those of the modern day.
Socrates was born to a father who was a stonemason and a mother, who was a midwife, and due that they weren’t high in the social class, he had received basic Greek education and possibly followed in his father’s footsteps as a stonemason. Moving on in life, he began his life as a Philosopher and a teacher; with this career it is conclusive as to why he was in poverty but it is rumored that he was paid for his profession as a teacher. With this type of life, Socrates is more of a relatable idol and this brings an understanding to his ideas and allows people to question things based off of the environments around them and how they work. As a poorer individual at this time period, one would value education and try to better understand the surrounding world, as opposed to those who were richer or followed in the footsteps of the rich. Many people during this time period looked at him as a senseless man didn’t agree with what he spoke about, and this is something that also clasps the attention of modern day people.
One of Socrates’ biggest philosophical beliefs is that humans are driven by their want for happiness. This idea means that through knowledge, humans will be more capable of making choices for their happiness. Alongside this idea, he questioned life and the knowledge of self and how far that could go; this played part in the discussion of his thoughts on weakness of will. Today, a popular question is do people believe they have free-will over their life; this often circles back to Socrates and his teachings on humans knowledge on themselves. Many people are uncertain of what they want in life and how they will get it but through imposing this question, a window of curiosity was opened to help produce a solution to the confusion we all have today with our lives and how they will turn out; whether we do or do not have the power to control these situations is still debated throughout many Philosophy, Psychology, or even other classes or places. Today, we have many experts to guide us into the teachings of Socrates to better follow what his thoughts were.
It is unknown what exactly his teachings were, because nothing was ever recorded by Socrates himself, but through the words of his students. The Socratic Method is very popular in western philosophy and brings the idea that something is correct until it can be proven incorrect. This has helped many teachers develop a way for students to interact with one another within the classroom while teaching one another as well. With this method, you are given a question and you must provide a claim and evidence to support your claim, like a spoken essay. Although, this is simply voicing your thoughts, it still has regulations, which makes it even more effective. Again, many people considered Socrates to be a man who is crazy, but his curiosity has sparked a sufficient way for teachers to educate their students and understand them; this also gives people an understanding of Socrates purposes.
In conclusion, you may note that Socrates was relatable, imposed questions that will benefit people through understanding themselves, and also by developing a method to introduce a successful way to advance education. From the time that Socrates has imposed his beliefs, he has started numerous ways to challenge the human mindset and this has brought him fame, especially in the western world.
