Around the age of 40, he became a household name in Athens. In Athens, he debated with many wise men at that time on philosophical issues, mainly about ethics, education and politics, and was regarded as the most intelligent person at that time.
Around 399 BC, Socrates was sentenced to death for "disrespecting the gods worshipped by the state and propagating other new gods to corrupt young people". During his imprisonment, his friends bribed the jailer to persuade him to escape, but he was determined to abide by the laws of the country and refused to escape. Later, he took poison in prison at the age of 70.
According to Aristotle's records, Socrates gave up the study of nature, wanted to seek universal truth on ethical issues, and began to seek definitions for things. He opposed the relativism of wise men and thought that there could be various opinions, but there was only one truth.
"Viewpoint" can change with everyone and other conditions, but "truth" is eternal. In Plato's early dialogues, almost all the topics discussed were how to define ethics.
Socrates pursues the understanding of "beauty itself" and "justice itself". This is a universal definition of beauty and justice, real knowledge, Plato's "idea of beauty" and "idea of justice".
This is the original form of "idealism" in the history of western philosophy. Socrates further pointed out that the causal series of nature is endless, and if philosophy only seeks this causal series, it is impossible to know the ultimate reason of things. He believes that the ultimate cause of things is "goodness" and goodness is the purpose of things. He replaced the study of causality with teleology, which opened the way for later philosophy.
Socrates' educational purpose is to cultivate talents for governing the country. After Pericles's death, Athens became an extreme democracy and anarchy due to the lack of 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.
Regarding the content of education, he advocates that we should first cultivate people's virtue, teach people to learn to be a man and become a virtuous person; Secondly, we should teach people to learn extensive and practical knowledge. He believes that rulers must have extensive knowledge. He said that in all things, those who are respected and praised are the most knowledgeable people, and those who are condemned and despised are the most ignorant people; Finally, he advocated teaching people to exercise.
He believes that a healthy body is very important for physical activities and thinking activities, whether in peacetime or in wartime. And a healthy body is not born, only through exercise can people be strong.
Baidu Encyclopedia-Socrates