Socrates' words

Socrates was born in an ordinary citizen family in Athens. He inherited his father's footsteps in his early years, engaged in carving stone statues, and later studied philosophy. In Athens, he discussed philosophical issues with many wise men at that time, mainly about ethics, education and politics. He was regarded as the cleverest man at that time. As a citizen, he joined the army three times and showed tenacity and courage in the war. In addition, he served as a jury officer in the Athens citizens' assembly. After the restoration of slave-owner democracy in Athens, Socrates was accused and sentenced to death on charges of flouting traditional religion, introducing new gods, corrupting youth and opposing democracy. He refused the suggestions of friends and students asking him to beg for mercy and go out to escape. He died in the history of European culture by drinking poison to quench his thirst. He has always been regarded as a saint who died in pursuit of truth, almost like Confucius in the history of China. For many years, he was regarded as an anti-democratic philosopher who defended the interests of reactionary slave owners and nobles. Recently, some people have put forward different views on this.

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 ask him for advice. 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 whether it is cold or hot, he wears an ordinary thin coat, often without shoes, and he doesn't pay attention to eating. 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 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 himself has never written any works. His behavior and theory are mainly passed down through the records in the works of his students Plato and Xeno Finney. About Socrates' life and theory, because there are various records and statements since ancient times, it has always been the most discussed issue in academic circles.

Ancient Greek philosopher.

Philosophical thinking

Before Socrates, Greek philosophy mainly studied the origin of the universe and what the world was made of, and was later called "natural philosophy". Socrates thinks that re-studying these problems has no practical significance for saving the country. Out of concern for the fate of the country and people, he turned to study human beings themselves, that is, to study human ethical issues, such as what is justice and what is injustice; What is courage and what is cowardice; What is honesty and what is hypocrisy; What is wisdom and how knowledge is acquired; What is a country, what qualities a person should have to govern a country well, how to cultivate talents for governing the country and so on. Later generations called Socrates' philosophy "ethical philosophy". He opened up a new field of philosophical research and made philosophy "return from heaven to earth", which is of great significance in the history of philosophy.

Socrates has no works, and most of his thoughts about Socrates are due to his disciple Plato's dialogues, which are based on Socrates' conversations with others, but it is usually difficult to distinguish which thoughts are Socrates' and which are Plato's.

Socrates' philosophy is mainly embodied in the following aspects:

Change of thought

Starting from the wise, ancient Greek philosophy turned from paying attention to nature itself to paying attention to social ethics and people. But they only stay in the perceptual stage and can only draw relativistic conclusions. It was not until Socrates that this situation was fundamentally changed. Socrates called for a "turn of thought" to turn philosophy from studying nature to studying self, which is often said later to bring philosophy back from heaven to earth. He believes that the pursuit of natural truth is endless; I feel that the world is constantly changing, so the knowledge gained is also uncertain. Socrates wants to pursue an unchangeable, definite and eternal truth, which cannot be sought from the outside of nature, but only from himself and himself. Since Socrates, self and nature have been clearly distinguished; Man is no longer just a part of nature, but another unique entity different from nature.

Immortality of soul

Socrates' theory of soul further clarifies the difference between spirit and matter. Philosophers before Socrates have long said that the soul is immortal, and the opposition between idealism and materialism has sprouted. However, philosophers before him still had vague views on the soul, and some even regarded the soul as the finest substance, so the boundary between idealism and materialism was not clear. Until Socrates clearly regarded the soul as a spiritual entity that is essentially different from matter. In Socrates' view, the emergence and disappearance of things is just the aggregation and dispersion of something. In this way, he clearly opposed spirit and matter and became the founder of idealistic philosophy in the history of western philosophy.

Seek a universal definition of things

Aristotle believes that Socrates gave up the study of nature, wanted to seek universal truth on ethical issues, and began to seek a definition 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 idealism philosophy.

Midwifery and Dialectics of Exposing Contradiction

Socrates believes that all knowledge comes from problems. The harder you make progress, the more problems you have and the greater your progress. Socrates admitted that he had no knowledge, and he wanted to teach others knowledge. He solved this contradiction in this way: this knowledge is not what he instilled in people, but what people already have; People have a "fetus" in their hearts, but they don't know it yet. Socrates is like a "midwife", helping others to produce knowledge. Socrates' midwifery is concentrated in the form of "cross-examination". He often uses cross-examination to expose the contradictions in various propositions and theories put forward by the other party, so as to shake the foundation of the other party's argument and point out the other party's ignorance. In the cross-examination, Socrates himself did not give a positive answer, because he admitted his ignorance. This way is generally called "Socrates' satire". Socrates' method is developed from the logical reasoning of Elijah School and Zhi Nuo's reduction to absurdity in Elijah. In the negative form of Socrates' satire, there is a positive result of dialectical thinking that exposes contradictions. Sue compared herself to a midwife, and used the method of cocoon reeling from the conversation to let the other side gradually understand their ignorance, discover their mistakes and establish a correct view of knowledge. This kind of conversation also has several characteristics: first, the conversation finds out the other party's thoughts by asking and answering questions, so that they can discover the truth themselves. Only in conversation, Sue focuses on asking questions, and he doesn't answer each other's questions easily. He only asked the other party to answer his questions. He asked questions with humility, and the other party elicited information about other questions in his answer, until finally, due to constant questioning, the youth admitted his ignorance. In the process of asking questions, Sue gave students the highest wisdom, which is the famous Socratic irony. Socrates' method is the earliest form of dialectics in the history of western philosophy.

From the development of philosophical thought, Socrates put forward the distinction between spiritual entity and material entity, which made the opposition between idealism and materialism break away from the simple state of early philosophy and enter a more mature stage; He raised the maxim-like ethical thought of early Greek philosophers to the height of philosophy; He inspires thoughts and exposes contradictions by way of logical debate, and goes deep into the essence of things by way of dialectical thinking. All these are helpful to the development of philosophical thinking. However, as the first systematic idealist philosopher in the history of western philosophy, he began to exaggerate the subject and rationality, exaggerated abstract thinking, and replaced religious myths with philosophical idealism myths.

Educational thought

Socrates has been engaged in educational work all his life, and has rich educational practice experience and his own educational theory. But he didn't start his own school. Where does he teach? How did he teach it? Squares, temples, streets, shops, workshops, gyms, etc. Both are places where he teaches. Young people, old people, rich people, poor people, farmers, artisans, nobles and civilians are all his teaching objects. Whoever asks for advice, he will teach enthusiastically. At that time, other teachers-wise men-charged tuition fees. They regarded being a teacher as a means of making money, while Socrates taught people not to charge tuition fees. He taught and educated people for the benefit of the polis and was a compulsory teacher, so Socrates was poor all his life.

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.

Regarding the content of education, he advocates cultivating people's virtue first, and teaching people to learn to be human and become virtuous people. 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, while 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.

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.

Ethical theory

Socrates established an ethical thought system that knowledge is morality, and its center is to explore the purpose and kindness of life. He emphasized that people should know the universal laws of social life and "know themselves", and thought that all kinds of beneficial or harmful purposes and moral norms that people obtained in real life were relative. Only by exploring the concept of universal and absolute goodness and mastering the true knowledge of this concept can we realize the highest purpose of life and the highest virtue of human beings. Socrates believes that a person must have moral knowledge if he wants to have morality, and all immoral behaviors are the result of ignorance. Only when people get rid of the temptation of material desires and the limitation of acquired experience and acquire conceptual knowledge can they have virtues such as wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. He believes that morality can only be arranged by the mind and God, and moral education is to make people know the mind and God and obey God's instructions. This ethical thought of asceticism and mysticism was later inherited and developed by antisthenes, forming a cynic school characterized by emphasizing asceticism; The hedonism thought contained in Socrates' ethical thought was inherited and developed by Aristib, and the Guler School advocating hedonism was formed. Plato completely inherited Socrates' ethical thought system and further systematized and theorized it. Socrates emphasized the importance of knowledge and thought that ethics should be decided by reason. This rationalism has played a positive role in the development of western philosophy.

anecdote

Strange question

There was a young man in ancient Greece who thought he was smarter than the great philosopher Socrates.

One day, Socrates asked him a question: "which came first, the egg or the chicken?"

Without thinking, the young man replied, "Chickens are hatched from eggs, and naturally there are eggs first!" "

"The egg is a chicken. Where did you get the eggs without chickens? "

The young man thought for a moment and said, "That's the chicken first!" "

"You just said that chickens are hatched from eggs. Where is the chicken without eggs? "

The young man complained, "Why do you ask such a strange question?" Now I also ask you a question. "

"Please mention it."

"Do you think the egg or the chicken came first?"

Socrates answered honestly, "I don't know."

The young man smiled: "I see, you and I are almost the same!" " "

Socrates said, "No, you know what you don't know, and I don't know what you don't know. I just don't know if I don't know. I don't know if I don't know the country! "

Selected

Several students asked Socrates the true meaning of life.

Socrates took them to the edge of a fruit forest. At this time, it is the season of fruit ripening, and the branches of the tree are covered with numerous fruits.

"Each of you walks along a row of fruit trees, from one end of the forest to the other, and each person picks a fruit that he thinks is the best. Don't go back,

There is no second choice. Socrates said.

The students set off. During the whole journey through the fruit forest, they made a very careful choice.

When they reached the other end of the orchard, the teacher was already waiting for them to leave.

"Have you all chosen the fruits that you are satisfied with?" Socrates asked.

Student: You look at me, and I look at you, but I refuse to answer.

"What's the matter, son, are you satisfied with your choice?" Socrates asked again.

"Teacher, let's choose again," a student pleaded. "When I first walked into the fruit forest, I found a big and good fruit. But,

I also want to find a bigger and better one. When I reached the end of the forest, I found that the fruit I saw for the first time was the biggest and best. "

Another student went on to say, "My brother and I are just the opposite. I walked into the orchard and quickly picked the biggest and best fruit I thought. But with

Later, I found that there are many bigger and better fruits in the fruit forest than this one I picked. Teacher, please let me choose again! "

"Teacher, let's all choose again!" Other students asked together.

Socrates shook his head firmly: "son, there is no second choice." Life is like this. "

Worry about people

Students ask Socrates, how can we get happiness?

Socrates wanted to think and told them a story:

A person is unhappy and skinny, as if a gust of wind could blow him to the sky.

The angel asked him, "why are you always unhappy?" What's wrong with you? "

People say that the sun gemstone and the moon gemstone are priceless. When can I get them?

The angel was very sympathetic to him, so he met his request.

After a while, the angel saw that the man was still very sad and thinner than before, and asked, "What are you unhappy about?" ? How to return it?

So sad? "The man frowned and sighed," Well, I worry about losing these treasures day and night! "

The angel spread out his hands, shook his head and said, "when I want it, I'm afraid I can't get it;" I got it, but I'm afraid I will lose it. How about such a person?

Can you enjoy this kind of happiness? "

Graph method

Socrates had very beautiful hair when he was young. Later, because I devoted myself to philosophy, I used my brain too much. When he is old, his forehead and the back of his head.

All the hair on the table has fallen out.

A young man with beautiful blond hair teased him: "Dear great philosopher, does less hair mean more knowledge?"

Socrates said, "Not necessarily. But if the brain is empty, even with thick and beautiful hair, what's the use? "

Yuanshan

Socrates and Laxsu made an appointment to visit a distant mountain. It is said that the scenery there is picturesque. When people get there, there will be

The feeling of being high.

Years later, the two met. They all found the mountain too far away. They will never get to that charming place in their lifetime.

This place. Lacsu said gloomily, "I ran like hell, but I couldn't see anything." Too sad! "

Socrates brushed his robe and said, "There were many wonderful scenery along the way, didn't you notice?"

Laxsu looked embarrassed: "I only care about the goal of going far away, how can I appreciate the scenery along the way!" " "

"That's a pity." Socrates said: "when we pursue a distant goal, don't forget that there are beautiful scenery everywhere in the journey!" " "

Excerpt from & gt

1, debate

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.

Manage state affairs

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.

kill

As a citizen of Athens, it is recorded that Socrates was finally sentenced to death by the Athens court, because he did not believe in God and corrupted the thoughts of the young people in Athens. Although he had the opportunity to flee to Athens, Socrates chose to drink the poisonous violet juice and die, because he thought that fleeing would only further weaken the authority of Athenian law, and at the same time worried that Athens would not have a good tutor to educate the people after fleeing.

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.

I meet the world, I eclipse the world, I live up to my mission, and I gather all beings. "

Know yourself.

The less we need, the closer we are to God.

The gods kept the most important knowledge for themselves.

People who want to control the world must first be able to control themselves.

Only by knowing yourself can we know life.

Beauty is difficult.

Virtue is knowledge or: virtue is knowledge, and ignorance is the source of evil.

Ignorance is evil.

Others live to eat, and I eat to live.

Wisdom means self-knowledge and ignorance.

I only know one thing in my life, why I am so ignorant.

There are two kinds of people in this world, one is a happy pig and the other is a miserable person. It is better to be a miserable person than a happy pig.

If you put all the pains in the world together and let you choose, you may still be willing to choose your original one.

Men live by forgetting, while women live by remembering.

Only reason is the most precious.

I know very well that I have neither great wisdom nor small wisdom.

Education is a tool and method to seduce our hearts.

The most effective education method is not to tell people the answer, but to ask them questions.

If you want to learn from me, you must first have a strong thirst for knowledge, just like a strong desire for survival.

Ideas should be born in students' hearts, and teachers only play the role of midwives.

Everyone has a sun, mainly how to make it shine.

Education is not instilling, but lighting a flame.

The problem is the midwife, which can help the birth of new ideas.

I am not giving people knowledge, but a midwife who makes knowledge self-generated.

The best person is yourself.

The more you know, the less you know.

I know my ignorance, I know my ignorance.

An unexamined life is worthless, or an unexamined life is not worth living.

In front of many people, my tongue is particularly healthy.

Secret love is the most beautiful love in the world.

Don't get friends by giving gifts.

Tell me your friends, and I will know what kind of person you are.

In this world, what else do we need besides sunshine, air, water and smiles?

Who is happier when I die and you live, only God knows.

I walked around, doing nothing, just asking you, young people and old people, not only to care about your bodies, but to protect your souls.

For philosophers, death is the ultimate self-realization. It is popular because it opens the door to real knowledge. The soul is freed from the bondage of the body and finally realizes the visual realm of the bright kingdom of heaven.

I only know one thing, and that is nothing.

Anyone who could have done better is lazy!

People can make mistakes, but they can't make the same mistakes.

When you are angry, keep your mouth shut so as not to increase your anger.

If I can stand my wife, I can stand anyone!

A good marriage can only bring you happiness, and a bad marriage can make you a philosopher.

No one refuses to be better because he knows it.

Any definite experiment shows that any physical or psychological disease can be alleviated by vegetarian diet and drinking pure water.

I am not only a citizen of Athens, but also a citizen of the world.

Come to think of it, I still owe someone a dick.