It was a custom in Greece to inherit his father's career at that time. Therefore, Socrates studied sculpture with his father in his youth. It is said that the beautiful idol of Chen Fang on the Acropolis is Socrates' work. At the same time, he also read Homer's epic and the works of other famous poets.
When Socrates was young, he had close contacts with scholars and celebrities in Athens at that time. At the same time, he learned about nature from the disciple of the famous philosopher Anaxagoras, Algera Yus. He taught himself and made a living by imparting knowledge. In his thirties, he turned to discuss ethical issues closely related to real life, and became a social moral teacher without salary and library. Many children from rich families and poor families often gather around him and volunteer to be his students and ask him for advice, while Socrates often says, "I only know that I don't know anything."
He likes to talk with people from all walks of life in markets, sports fields and streets about various issues, such as war, politics, friendship, art, and especially moral issues. Therefore, at the age of 40, he showed his outstanding talent, gained fame and became a famous figure in Athens.
After the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Socrates spent almost the rest of his life in a 27-year war. He worked as a heavy infantry with Alkki Bijad, who was still a young soldier at that time, and participated in three wars. In a battle near Potidaya, Alkki BuAddis was seriously injured. Socrates struggled to protect him, finally repelled the enemy and saved others' lives. In another battle, Xenophon was seriously injured and could not move. It was also because of his rescue that he survived.
In 404 BC, Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War, and democracy was replaced by the "Thirty Tyrants" rule supported by Sparta. The leader of the "Thirty Tyrants" is Socrates' student Critias. Once, Clerides called Socrates and asked him to lead four people to arrest a rich man named Leon, trying to kill him and seize his property. The other four people readily obeyed, but Socrates refused to cooperate and left. He not only dared to resist Clerides' illegal orders, but also publicly condemned his atrocities. Clerides called him and forbade him to contact with young people again, but he was indomitable and ignored him.
In 403 BC, the "Thirty Tyrants" were overthrown, Clerides died, and the Democrats returned to power.
Lietos, an unknown tragic writer at that time, and two others accused Socrates of "disrespecting the gods worshipped by the country and propagating other new gods to corrupt the youth". Socrates was sent to court in 399 BC.
Socrates made an impassioned speech in court. According to the laws of Athens, before the court decides the defendant, the defendant has the right to ask for a different penalty from the plaintiff, so that the court can choose between the two. However, Socrates confidently declared that he was innocent and thought that his words and deeds were not crimes, but beneficial to society. He thinks it is reasonable to let him enjoy the free meals provided by the state for life in the dome hall of the Acropolis. After being persuaded by his friends, he proposed to punish him with 30 minas. As a result, he was sentenced to death.
According to the religious custom of Athens, every May, Athens sends a sacred ship "Paralos" full of sacrifices to make a pilgrimage to the temple of Apollo in Tirol, with a round-trip time of 30 days. During this specific period, it is not allowed to execute prisoners. Socrates' judgment coincided with the sailing of the holy ship, so it was not executed immediately.
During his imprisonment, his friend Critto and others bribed the jailer, made an escape plan and urged him to escape. But he insisted on obeying the laws of the country. On the night when he was about to be executed, he sent his wife and relatives out of the cell, talked with Cletto and others-Kan Kan-about the immortality of the soul, and then calmly took the poison from the jailer and swallowed it in one gulp. Socrates died at the age of 70.
Socrates is said to be ugly: his face is flat, his lips are thick, he has a big lion's nose, he has a big belly, he wears a shabby coat and walks around barefoot. When talking to people, head down, like a strong bull; But his bright eyes can still penetrate everything, making people feel a kind of superhuman intelligence and inner spiritual beauty.
Others say that Socrates is not only a person who can best control lust and lust, but also a person who can withstand cold and heat and all kinds of hard work and is very used to frugal life. Although his wealth is meager, he can cope.
Socrates' philosophy is not to study nature, but to study people, to study their morality and ethics, and to make people believe in religion and theology. Because he thinks that everything in nature is arranged by God according to a certain purpose, and no one needs to understand and study it. Studying nature is an interference and disrespect to God. The researchers mainly discuss what kind of moral ethics is in line with the interests of aristocratic slave owners, completely excluding craftsmen and farmers, thinking that they are humble, unreasonable and ignorant of beauty. Many of his views on beauty and art are based on this anti-democratic thought, but they also reveal some viewpoints worthy of attention.
Philosophers before him studied beauty from the viewpoint of natural science, while he studied beauty from the viewpoint of social science. His philosophy advocates theology, believing that all parts of human beings were created according to God's will, or that God created them for useful purposes. Asserting that all beautiful things are useful, we define the standard of beauty as useful, useful as beauty and harmful as ugliness, and think that the more people realize what beauty is, the more moral they are, thus closely linking beauty with goodness. However, usefulness is not absolute. What is useful for this may be harmful for that. So he thinks that beauty has relative attributes. He said: "From the perspective of defense, the shield is beautiful, while from the perspective of agility and strength of shooting, the spear is beautiful." The same thing, one thing is beautiful and the other is ugly. Beauty is useful and relative, which is the core of his aesthetic thought.
Regarding the essence of art, he acknowledged the saying that "art imitates nature" circulated in his early years, and affirmed that the essence of artistic activities is imitation and reproduction. But he thinks that the object of artistic reproduction is people who are beautiful in spirit and body. But the body should obey the spirit, not only to imitate the appearance, but also to imitate the mind. He opposes "imitation" as "plagiarism", and advocates that painters' portraits and sculptors' statues should not only be satisfied with the details of appearance, but also show "the image of the living" and "life", showing psychological activities and mental state in the image of the living and showing the sense of life. He emphasized that form serves the content, so as to achieve a vivid and vivid image. People think that to create such an image, we should choose and refine it to form a beautiful whole. He said: "In shaping a beautiful image, because it is not easy to find a perfect person in all aspects, you choose from many people and concentrate the most beautiful parts of everyone, thus shaping a beautiful image as a whole." Advocating art over reality, the painted people and carved statues are more beautiful than the original real people. His exposition on shaping artistic image was first seen in ancient Greece.
However, when he talks about creative inspiration, he is full of mystery. He regards inspiration as a gift and despises reason. He believes that "poets rely not on reason, but on a kind of genius and inspiration;" They say a lot of good things like those fortune tellers or soothsayers, but they don't know what they mean. " His literary thought inherited Plato and got full play.
Socrates was a bard. He wandered around, visited the "wise men", talked peacefully and played songs of wisdom for all sentient beings. Socrates is a prophet who blessed and inspired the world and kindly pointed out people's misunderstanding and ignorance of life. Socrates is a prophet. He represents the pure essence of God, wisdom and life. He brought the Oracle to the world and spread it to the earth.
In the judgment of Socrates' trial, he wrote: "Socrates is an evildoer and a strange person. He spies on things in the sky and underground; Say bad is good, and use it to teach others. " Look, spy on things in the sky and underground! What an admirable and fascinating Socrates! This is the trial book, which clearly records Socrates' glory.
When he was 70 years old, one day, he sent his wife and family away to talk with some friends Kan Kan. The jailer brought in a cup of poison. He stopped talking, picked up the cup and gulped it down. After that, he lay down, smiled and said to his friend who came to say goodbye that he had eaten his neighbor's chicken and had not paid him yet. Please help him pay it back. Say that finish, he quietly closed his eyes and fell asleep. He left peacefully, leaving a heavy sigh for history, infinite sadness for admirers and the brand of human sin.
History is a villain who keeps making mistakes. Only when he is always wrong does he realize how big a mistake he has made. Socrates announced before he died: "I will predict my murderer to you;" After my death, there is a heavier punishment waiting for you than what you imposed on me. ..... If you think you can stop others from condemning your evil life by killing people, you are wrong; It was an impossible and disgraceful escape. "
Socrates' prophecy came true, and since then philosophy and wisdom have never surpassed the height shaped by Socrates' era; Confucius, Laozi and Socrates became permanent symbols of the peak of wisdom. Although human ideological fighters have appeared again and again in history, trying to save the human soul, but each time in vain, they can only make some footnotes for the wisdom of their ancestors, which is enough to write a book to commend their achievements. No one can convey the true meaning of wisdom to people peacefully, serenely and calmly with the most natural dialogue like Socrates. People live in ignorance, blinded by lust and violence, and fall into endless reincarnation until now.
Socrates is the only person in history who takes the pure exploration of wisdom as his sole purpose in life.
In his thirties, he began to tell people his theory without paying or building a museum, and has been teaching knowledge for a living ever since. He talked with people from all walks of life in markets, sports fields, streets and other public places about various issues, such as war, politics, friendship, art, ethics and so on. Children from rich and poor families gathered around him to learn from him and give him a Puritan education. He only talks and never writes books. If he could see that his disciple Plato became a great man of creative philosophy by compiling words into a book, he might smile.
He has a habit of standing down anytime and anywhere, lost in thought for no reason. One morning, Socrates was thinking about something he couldn't solve; He didn't want it to pass, so he had been thinking about noon since early morning-he stood there thinking motionless; At noon, people noticed him coming. People come and go. It is said that Socrates has stood here since dawn thinking about things. Finally, after dinner, it was dark. Out of curiosity, some Ionians moved to bedding and slept in the open air to observe Socrates and see if he would stand all night. He stood here until the next morning; At dawn, he prayed to the sun and then walked away.
In his mind, nothing is important except wisdom.
He is not weak, he has perseverance. No matter how cold it is, he wears an ordinary thin coat, often wears no shoes and doesn't pay attention to food. When he was a heavy infantry, he could endure hunger and cold more than any other soldier and rescued other soldiers more than once.
He seldom drinks, but when he drinks, he can drink better than anyone else; No one has ever seen him drunk. In love, even under the strongest temptation, he is always "Platonic". He is a perfect orpheus saint; In the opposition between the soul in heaven and the body on earth, he realized the complete control of the soul over the body.
When we talk about Socrates now, we say: "First, Socrates is willing to die to defend freedom of speech and thought, making him the first wise man in history to die for freedom of speech and thought. He is a personality god; Secondly, Socrates' philosophical wisdom and argumentation method are the first peak and the earliest source of western philosophy. He is the god of philosophical wisdom. "
Is that really the case?
Socrates just calmly spread wisdom and Oracle. He is free because he never thinks that the so-called system needs his attention. In his view, this is just a childish mistake made by an ignorant child. Nor did he deliberately defend the freedom of speech and thought, because they were originally free, and it was only the human heart that was not free. He said at the trial that he defended his judge, not himself. He is a gadfly sent by God to this country, and it is not easy to find another person like him. When he was sentenced to death, he was still trying to awaken people's hearts: "If you think you can stop others from condemning your evil life by killing people, you are wrong;" This is an impossible and disgraceful way to escape. The simplest and noblest way is not to stop others from talking, but to correct yourself. "
When we declared Socrates a martyr, Socrates just looked at the world with pity and let out a sigh of regret.
Did Socrates leave wisdom? No, his wisdom has disappeared with the poison he drank. Today, what impresses us most is his skillful use of dialectics, but dialectics is only a way for him to explain wisdom to people, far from the wisdom itself he wants to explain. After his death, his disciple Plato recalled and recorded some of his remarks. However, to what extent can this memory reflect Socrates' wisdom? There is no doubt that the essence and essential parts can no longer be recalled.
So, today, when we try to find Socrates' concrete wisdom, we find that we can't look it up. We can look for his maverick personality, his unhurriedness, his romantic wandering, his compassionate and broad mind, but we can't find the wisdom he preached all his life.
His wisdom is not the first peak and the earliest source of western philosophy, but the last peak and end point of western philosophy-if philosophy is not synonymous with pity.
In the long river of history, there is a lonely figure, wearing only light clothes and no shoes; He will retire anytime and anywhere, and he will be lost in thought for no reason; He talks about all kinds of problems to people around him in the market, sports ground or street.
He is the prophet who was abandoned and respected by people: Socrates.
Socrates focuses on human ethics, but he is not interested in natural philosophy. It is precisely because he shifted the focus of philosophy from nature to human problems that people called him the first philosopher who invited philosophy back from heaven to earth.
He defined philosophy as "loving wisdom", and it is very important that he knows his ignorance. He said that he had heard the Oracle that he was the smartest man in the world. He felt that he was not smart, so he talked with people who knew the ropes everywhere to confirm the Oracle. As a result, he found that these so-called knowledgeable people have no knowledge and are not smart. Then he found that his intelligence lies in realizing his ignorance. He is proud of his ignorance and thinks that everyone should admit his ignorance.
Another important thought of Socrates is that virtue is knowledge. He believes that people should care about their own souls. Only soul and reason can teach people to distinguish right from wrong, know good and evil, and become moral people. He combined morality and knowledge, and thought that moral behavior must be based on knowledge and judged by reason. He also believes that the highest knowledge is the understanding of the eternal, universal and absolutely unchanging concept of "goodness". Goodness includes health, strength, wealth, status, honor, temperance, justice, courage, sensitivity, memory, courage and other virtues. Although these virtues and knowledge are innate, only through inspiration and guidance can people realize these innate virtues and knowledge.
Socrates used to ask and answer questions when discussing knowledge and ethics. When the two sides ask and answer, they cross-examine each other by exposing the inconsistencies in each other's answers, which makes the other side fall into contradiction and forces him to admit his ignorance. At the same time, gradually guide the other party to correct their own views and accept their own views, so as to get the truth. This method is called "midwifery". In fact, it is a kind of induction, which seeks the definition of a concept or forms a universal concept, that is, discovers the truth by exposing the contradiction of thinking or the conflict of opposing opinions. The emergence and application of induction has played a positive role in promoting the development of philosophical thinking.
One night in June 399 BC, a 70-year-old man was about to be executed in Athens prison. I saw him in rags and barefoot, but his face was very calm. After seeing off his wife and family, he chatted with some friends, Kan Kan, who seemed to have forgotten the upcoming execution. It was not until the jailer brought in a cup of poisonous juice that he stopped talking, picked up the cup and gulped it down. After that, he lay down, smiled and said to his friend who came to say goodbye, he ate the chicken from his neighbor's house and hasn't paid him yet. Please give it back to him. With that, the old man closed his eyes peacefully and fell asleep. This old man is the great philosopher Socrates.
Socrates (470-399 BC) is not only a famous philosopher in ancient Greece, but also a historical celebrity with distinctive personality, which has been praised and praised by people since ancient times. His father is a stonemason and sculptor, and his mother is a midwife.
As a teenager, Socrates studied handicrafts with his father, became familiar with Homer's epic and other famous poets, and became a self-taught scholar. He made a living by imparting knowledge. In his thirties, he became a social morality teacher who didn't get paid or run a library. Many children from rich families and poor families often gather around him to learn from him and be Puritans. Socrates often said, "I only know that I know nothing."
He spent most of his life outdoors. He likes to talk with people in various fields, such as war, politics, friendship, art, ethics and so on, in public places such as markets, sports fields and streets. He fought in the war three times, served as a heavy infantry, and helped injured soldiers in battle more than once. Around the age of 40, he became a household name in Athens.
Socrates lived a hard life all his life. No matter how cold it is, he wears an ordinary thin coat, often wears no shoes and doesn't pay attention to food. But he didn't seem to notice it, just buried himself in his studies.
Socrates' theory is mysterious. He believes that the existence, development and destruction of all things in the world are arranged by God, who is the master of the world. He opposed the study of nature as blasphemy. He advocates that people know how to be human and live a moral life. His philosophy mainly studies and discusses ethical issues.
Socrates often argues with others. In the debate, he made the other side correct and give up the original wrong ideas by asking and answering questions, and helped people produce new ideas. He abstracted the universal things from the individual and took four steps: satire, midwifery, induction and definition. "Sarcasm" is to make the other party contradict itself and admit ignorance of this issue through constant questioning; "Midwifery" is to help the other party abandon fallacies and find the right and universal things, that is, to help the truth come out; "Induction" is to find out * * * from individual things, and to find general laws through the analysis and comparison of individual things; "Definition" refers to the classification of a single concept into a general concept.
Socrates never gave students ready-made answers, but made students unconsciously accept the influence of his thoughts by asking questions and refuting them. Please look at an interesting example of him answering questions with students.
Student: Socrates, what is good?
Socrates: Stealing, cheating and selling people as slaves are good deeds or evil deeds?
Student: It's evil.
Socrates: Is it evil to cheat the enemy? Is it evil to sell captured enemies as slaves?
Student: This is a good thing. But I'm talking about friends, not enemies. Socrates: As you said, stealing is evil for friends. However, if a friend wants to commit suicide, you steal the tools he is going to use to commit suicide. Is this evil? Student: This is a good thing.
Socrates: You said it was evil to cheat friends, but in the war, the commander-in-chief of the army told the soldiers that reinforcements were coming to boost morale. But in fact, there are no reinforcements. Is this deception evil?
Student: This is a good thing.
This teaching method has its advantages. It can inspire people's thoughts and make people actively analyze and think about problems. He used dialectical methods to prove that truth is concrete and relative, which can be transformed into his own negation under certain conditions. This epistemology is of great significance in the history of European thought.
Socrates advocates the theory of expert governance. He believes that all walks of life and even state power should be managed by trained and knowledgeable people, and opposes the democracy implemented by the lottery election law. He said: managers are not those who hold heavy power and bully the weak, not those who are elected by the people, but those who know how to manage. For example, ships should be driven by people who are familiar with sailing; When spinning wool, women should take care of men, because men are good at it and men don't understand it. He also said that the best people are those who are competent for their own work. Good farmers are good farmers; A good doctor is proficient in medical skills; People who are proficient in politics are excellent politicians.
In 404 BC, Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War. "The rule of thirty tyrants replaced democracy." Critias, the leader of the Thirty Tyrants, was Socrates' student. It is said that once Clerides called Socrates and ordered him to lead four men to arrest a rich man and seize his property. Socrates refused to obey and left. He not only dared to resist Clerides' illegal orders, but also publicly condemned his atrocities. Clerides angrily called him away, forbade him to come near the young man again, and warned him, "Be careful, don't let us have to reduce another sheep from the flock." Socrates simply ignored him and went his own way.
Later, the rule of the "Thirty Tyrants" was overthrown and the Democrats came back to power. He was accused of having close ties with Clerides, opposing democratic politics and poisoning young people with heresy. Socrates was arrested and imprisoned for this. According to the laws of Athens, before the court rebelled against the defendant, the defendant had the right to demand a different penalty from the plaintiff, so that the court could choose between the two. Socrates took this opportunity to make an impassioned speech. He claims to be innocent, believing that his words and deeds are not only innocent, but also conducive to social progress. As a result, he was betrayed to death. During his detention in prison, his friends tried their best to persuade him to escape and bribed the jailer to make an escape plan, but he would rather die than violate his beliefs. In this way, the 70-year-old man passed away peacefully.
Socrates had a large number of fanatical admirers and fierce opponents before and after his death. He left no works in his life, but his influence was enormous. Philosophers often regard him as a watershed in the history of the development of ancient Greek philosophy, and call his previous philosophy pre-Socrates philosophy. As a great philosopher, Socrates had a great influence on later western philosophy.
Socrates was born into a middle-class family in Athens. He inherited a sculpture studio from his father. His mother is a midwife. Socrates is ugly, short, stumbling and has a special personality. He was a brave and tenacious soldier in the Peloponnesian War. He usually lives like a wise man and takes it as his duty to educate young people. His dialogue teaching method also has the demeanor of a wise man, but he is essentially different from the wise man: he never charges tuition fees, and he is more opposed to sophistry and specious rhetoric. He claims to be a man without wisdom, not a man with wisdom. Although there is only one word difference between "people who love wisdom" and "people with wisdom", their meanings are fundamentally different. The former refers to the philosopher who pursues the certainty of truth, while the latter refers to the wise man who makes money by showing off his knowledge. For Socrates, philosophy is not a purely speculative private matter, but his obligation to the polis. In this sense, he claimed to be a sacred gadfly who criticized the shortcomings of the times.
Socrates and "midwifery"
Almost at the same time as Confucius, ancient Greece produced a generation of saint Socrates. He loved wisdom all his life and pursued self-knowledge. Although he didn't gather to give lectures, he was knowledgeable and didn't learn it alone, so there were many like-minded people around him who could be called disciples.
Plato is the best among them. In the conversation, Socrates created a self-proclaimed "midwifery" conversation method with his extraordinary intelligence and unparalleled knowledge, which is still respected by western education circles.
Socrates thinks that he didn't impart knowledge to students, but all he did was awaken the real knowledge in students' hearts and dig it out.
Just like a midwife, what he does is to help children (knowledge), and children (knowledge) are everyone's own. Therefore, he called his teaching method "midwifery" and compared himself to a knowledge midwife.
Perhaps coincidentally, Socrates' mother is a midwife. Socrates inherited his mother's career, and both mother and son enjoyed midwifery together.
Next, let's appreciate the charm of cultivating Plato's midwifery. There is a dialogue between Socrates and Aussie in Zinofen's Memorial Record.
The two men discussed the topic of "justice" and "unfairness", and the fragment was translated as follows: Oh, nothing I have done in my life is "unfair". Sue: Then, can you give an example of what is "positive" and what is "incorrect"? O: Yes. Sue: Is hypocrisy "right" or "wrong"? Question:No.. Sue: What about stealing? Question:No.. Sue: Is it "right" or "wrong" to lure the enemy deeper and steal his property? O: Yes. Sue: You just said that stealing is wrong. What's the point now? Europe: We used to be friends, but now we are enemies. Sue: The child is ill and refuses to take medicine. Father lied to him that "the medicine tastes sweet". The child ate it and saved his life. Is this "right" or "wrong"? O: Yes. Sue: Your friend tried to kill himself with a knife because he was insane. You stole his knife. Is this "right" or "wrong"? O: Yes. Sue: You said you could only be enemies, not friends. How can you still be friends? O: Socrates, I can't answer you …
Socrates often starts with the specific things and phenomena that the other party is familiar with, and reveals the contradiction of the other party by asking questions, and so on, until he finally comes to a conclusion that both parties agree.
Not to mention whether Socrates' epistemology is correct or not, the "midwifery" he founded is really original in teaching people to seek knowledge and truth, and it is the first generation of "heuristic dialogue" in the West, which has been unparalleled for thousands of years.
In order to improve the moral level of Athenians and cultivate talents for governing the country, Socrates devoted himself to studying philosophy and actively engaged in education.
Socrates put forward his own views on the significance, purpose, content and method of education.
He thinks that education is very important for a person's growth. In his view, no matter whether talented people are smart or dull, if they are determined to achieve commendable achievements, they must study hard and practice hard.
Socrates' educational purpose is to cultivate talents for governing the country. After Pericles's death, Athens became extremely democratic and anarchic without good leaders, and even national leaders were elected by drawing lots or lots. Socrates was very sad about it. He believes that the talents who govern the country must be well educated, and advocates that the talents who govern the country should be trained through education. He devoted his whole life to cultivating talents for governing the country.
In terms of teaching methods, Socrates formed his own unique teaching method through long-term teaching practice, which he called "Socrates method" and "midwifery". His mother is a midwife, which is a metaphor for his teaching methods. His mother's midwifery is midwifery, and his teaching principle of midwifery is to deliver babies for ideas and to guide people to produce correct ideas.
Socrates' method is always in the form of questions and answers between teachers and students, so it is also called "question and answer method". When Socrates taught students to acquire a certain concept, he did not tell them directly, but first asked the students questions and asked them to answer. If a student answers wrong, he doesn't correct it directly, but asks other questions to guide them to think, so as to draw a correct conclusion step by step.
The question-and-answer teaching method advocated by Socrates has a great influence on later generations, and it is still an important teaching method until today. The "discovery method" advocated by Rousseau, Bruner and others is obviously inspired by Socrates' method.
Socrates always criticized the corruption of the ruling class in Athens, and even criticized some senior leaders, so he was hated by them. At the age of 70, he was sentenced to death by the Athenian rulers for "impiety" and "corrupting youth". His students and friends advised him to escape from Athens many times and arranged a foolproof escape plan for him. But he resolutely refused. He believes that although the charges against him are purely framed, as a citizen of Athens, he should abide by the laws of Athens. On the day of execution, the students and relatives who came to visit him were very sad, but he was as cool as a cucumber, laughing as usual, and finally took the poisoned wine from the executioner, drank it off and died peacefully.
Socrates was a great philosopher and educator in ancient Greece, but he left no works of his own. We can only know his words, deeds and thoughts from the works of his students such as Plato and Xenophon. This is quite like Confucius, a great philosopher and educator in ancient China. Confucius was also "full of words" all his life, leaving no works. If Confucius' disciples and his disciples didn't compile his life's words and deeds into The Analects, we wouldn't know Confucius' activities and thoughts today.