The Ideas of Socrates

Maps

Ancient Greece
 Who is
Socrates?
“Socrates, you are
still repeating the
same things I heard “Yes, and what
you say so long is more
ago.” (Hippias) wonderful, I am
not only still
saying thing, but
I’m saying them
on the same
subject.”

Xenophon’s Memorabilia
The ideas of Socrates
✘  ‘Care for soul’
✘  Knowledge is necessary to become virtuous and
virtue is necessary to attain happiness
✘  All evil acts are committed out of ignorance and
hence involuntarily
✘  Committing an injustice is far worse than
suffering an injustice
Importance of Philosophy
“For you see what our
discussions are all about ---
and is there anything about
which a man of even
intelligence would be more
serious than this: What is the
way we ought to live?”

“. . . Once we know
ourselves, we may learn to
care for ourselves, but
“An Unexamined life is not otherwise we never shall.”
worth living”
 “I shall never give up
What is our True Self? philosophy or stop
exhorting you and
pointing out the truth
to anyone of you
whom I meet, saying
in my most
accustomed way:
‘Most excellent man,
are you not
Soul ashamed to care of
acquisition of wealth
and for reputation
and honor, when
you neither care nor
take thought for
wisdom and truth
and perfection of
your soul?”
 What What is not
pleasurable pleasurable
is Good. is Evil.

The Ultimate Supreme Good is

Virtue.
 “Man, you don’t speak well, if
you believe that a man worth
anything at all would give
countervailing weight to the
danger of life or death, or give
consideration to anything but
this when he acts: whether his
action is just or unjust, the
action of a good or of an evil
man.”
It is better to suffer injustice than to
commit an injustice

“So I spoke the truth when I said

that neither I nor you any other man
would rather do injustice than suffer
it: for it is worse.”