Weber short biography. Carl Maria von Weber

This term has other meanings, see Socrates (meanings).

Socrates(other Greek. Σωκράτης ; 470/469 BC e., Athens - 399 BC. e., ibid) - an ancient Greek philosopher, whose teaching marks a turn in philosophy - from the consideration of nature and the world to the consideration of man. His activities are a turning point ancient philosophy. By its method of analyzing concepts (maieutics, dialectics) and identifying positive qualities man with his knowledge, he directed the attention of philosophers to the importance human personality. Socrates is called the first philosopher in the proper sense of the word. In the person of Socrates, philosophizing thinking for the first time turns to itself, exploring its own principles and methods.

Representatives of the Greek branch of patristics drew parallels between Socrates and Christ.

Socrates was the son of the sculptor Sophroniscus and the midwife Fenareta, he had an older brother by his mother, Patroclus, who inherited his father's property. Born on the 6th Farhelion on an unclean day of the Athenian calendar, Socrates became a "pharmacist", that is, a lifelong priest of health of the Athenian state without maintenance, and in archaic time could be sacrificed by the verdict of the people's assembly in the presence of public problems. In his youth, he studied the arts with Damon and Conon, listened to Anaxagoras and Archelaus, knew how to read and write, however, he did not leave any compositions behind him. He was married by a second marriage to a woman named Xanthippe and had several sons from her, the youngest of whom was seven years old at the time of the philosopher's death. He distinguished himself in a number of battles and was an example of personal courage as an Athenian hoplite militia. He led the life of an Athenian parasite and a beggar sage and never left Attica. He was famous as an invincible debater and a silver-bearer who refused expensive gifts and always went to old clothes and barefoot. He was ridiculed as a sophist and paid teacher of eloquence in the comedy of Aristophanes "Clouds" (circa 423 BC), at the presentation of which he stood up, inviting the audience to compare himself with an actor. (Diogenes Laertius, Demetrius of Byzantium, Olympiodorus, Menander)

“Socrates’ interlocutors sought his company not to become orators ... but to become noble people and perform their duties well in relation to the family, servants (servants were slaves), relatives, friends, Fatherland, fellow citizens” (Xenophon, “Memoirs about Socrates).

Socrates believed that noble people would be able to govern the state without the participation of philosophers, but, defending the truth, he was often forced to take an active part in public life Athens. Participated in the Peloponnesian War - fought at Potidea, at Delia, at Amphipolis. He defended the strategists condemned to death from the unfair trial of the demos, including the son of his friends Pericles and Aspasia. He was the mentor of the Athenian politician and commander Alcibiades, saved his life in battle.

After the establishment of the dictatorship as a result of the activities of Alcibiades, Socrates condemned the tyrants and sabotaged the activities of the dictatorship. After the overthrow of the dictatorship, citizens, angry that when the Athenian army abandoned the wounded commander-in-chief and fled, Socrates saved the life of Alcibiades (if Alcibiades died, he could not harm Athens), in 399 BC. e. charged Socrates with the fact that "he does not honor the gods that the city honors, but introduces new deities, and is guilty of corrupting youth." As a free Athenian citizen, Socrates was not put to death by an executioner, but took poison himself.

Philosophical views of Socrates

Using the method of dialectical disputes, Socrates tried to restore through his philosophy the authority of knowledge, shaken by the sophists. Sophists neglected the truth, and Socrates made it his beloved.

“... Socrates investigated the moral virtues and was the first to try to give their general definitions (after all, of those who talked about nature, only Democritus touched on this a little and in some way gave definitions of warm and cold; and the Pythagoreans - before him - did this for a little, the definitions of which they reduced to numbers , indicating, for example, what an opportunity is, or justice, or matrimony). ... Two things can rightly be attributed to Socrates - evidence through guidance and general definitions: both of them concern the beginning of knowledge, ”wrote Aristotle (“Metaphysics”, XIII, 4).

The line between the spiritual processes inherent in man and material world, already outlined by the previous development Greek philosophy(in the teachings of Pythagoras, the sophists, etc.), was more clearly identified precisely by Socrates: he emphasized the uniqueness of consciousness in comparison with material existence and was one of the first to deeply reveal the spiritual sphere as an independent reality, proclaiming it as something no less reliable than the existence of the perceived world (monism).

In matters of ethics, Socrates developed the principles of rationalism, arguing that virtue stems from knowledge, and a person who knows what good is will not act badly. After all, good is also knowledge, so the culture of intelligence can make people kind.

Socratic paradoxes

Many of the statements traditionally attributed to the historical Socrates are characterized as "paradoxical" because, from a logical point of view, they seem to contradict common sense. Among the so-called Socratic paradoxes are the phrases:

• Nobody wants evil.
• No one does evil on their own.
• Virtue is knowledge.

"Socratic paradoxes" may also be referred to as self-referential paradoxes, exemplified by the phrase about knowledge also attributed to Socrates: "I only know that I know nothing, but others do not know that either."

Socratic method

Related article ancient greek philosophy
Pre-philosophical tradition (VIII-VII centuries BC) Akusilai · Homer · Hesiod Lin Musaeus Orpheus Pherecydes Epimenides
Naturphilosophy (7th-5th centuries BC) Milesian school(Thales Anaximander Anaximenes) Pythagoreans(Pythagoras · Alcmaeon of Croton · Archytas · Timaeus of Locrius · Philolaus) Eleatics(Xenophanes · Parmenides · Zeno of Elea · Melisse) School of Heraclitus(Heraclitus Cratylus) School of Anaxagoras(Anaxagoras Archelaus Metrodorus of Lampsakus) Atomists(Leucippus · Democritus · Metrodorus of Chios) Out of schools(Empedocles Diogenes of Apollonia)
Sophists (V-IV centuries BC) Senior Sophists(Protagoras · Gorgias · Thisias · Antiphon · Prodicus · Hippias of Elis · Xeniades) Junior Sophists(Thrasimachus Callicles Critias Lycophron Alcides
Classic period (V-IV centuries BC) Socrates Platonists(Plato · Speusippus · Xenocrates of Chalcedon · Polemon · Crantor · Crates of Athens · Clearchus) Megara School(Euclid from Megara Stilpon Diodor Kron Eubulides Clinomachus) Cynics(Antisthenes Diogenes of Sinop) Cyrenaica· (Aristippus · Arete of Cyrene · Aristippus, son of Arete · Theodore the Atheist · Hegesius · Anikerides · Euhemerus) Elido-Eretrian school(Phaedo of Elis Plisten of Elis Menedemos) Other Socratics(Glaucon from Athens Kebet Criton Simmias Simon the Leatherworker Aeschines) Peripatetics(Aristotle · Theophrastus · Eudemus of Rhodes · Strato · Aristoxenus · Dicaearchus · Clearchus)
Hellenistic philosophy p o r

Main article: Socratic method

Socrates compared his methods of research with the "art of the midwife" (maieutics); his method of questions, involving a critical attitude to dogmatic statements, was called "Socratic irony." Socrates did not write down his thoughts, believing that this weakens his memory. And he led his students to a true judgment through a dialogue, where he asked general question, having received an answer, asked the next clarifying question, and so on until the final answer. At the same time, the opponent, knowing himself, was often forced to admit that he was ridiculous.

Trial of Socrates

The trial of Socrates is described in two works by Xenophon and Plato with a similar title Apology of Socrates (Greek: Ἀπολογία Σωκράτους ). "Apology" (other Greek. ἀπολογία ) corresponds to the words "Protection", "Defensive speech". The works of Plato (see Apologia (Plato)) and Xenophon's "Defense of Socrates at the Trial" contain Socrates' defense speech at the trial and describe the circumstances of his trial.

At the trial, Socrates, instead of the then accepted appeal to the mercy of judges, which he declares degrading of both the defendant and the court, speaks of the words of the Delphic Pythia to Chaerephon that "there is no person more independent, just and reasonable than Socrates." Indeed, when he dispersed the Spartan phalanx with one large club, which was about to pelt the wounded Alcibiades with spears, not a single enemy warrior wanted the dubious glory of killing or even injuring the elderly sage, and his fellow citizens are going to sentence him to death. Socrates also rejects accusations of blasphemy and corrupting the youth.

In Athenian legal proceedings, processes were divided into "valuable" and "invaluable". “Invaluable” were those in which the punishment was provided for by the laws in force, and “valuable” were those in which the punishment was imposed by the court. In this case, after the first cast of votes, when the question was decided whether the defendant was guilty, a second vote (if the verdict was guilty) followed on the measure of punishment or fine. The punishment was proposed by both the accuser and the defendant, and it was unprofitable for the latter to assign too little punishment to himself, because then the judges could lean towards the punishment proposed by the accuser. We have an example of this in the Socratic process:

When he was offered to impose a fine, he neither imposed it himself nor allowed his friends, but, on the contrary, even said that to impose a fine on oneself means pleading guilty. Then, when his friends wanted to kidnap him from prison, he did not agree and, it seems, even laughed at them, asking if they knew of a place outside of Attica where there would be no access to death.

According to Plato's "Apology", he proudly says that he deserves not punishment, but the highest honor of ancient Athens - dinner at the pritanei at public expense.

According to professor University of Cambridge Paul Cartledge, Socrates was guilty of blasphemy and corruption of youth and sentenced to death penalty legally. According to the conclusion of the scientist, the sentence was not something unusual, it cannot be considered an exceptional case for Ancient Greece: from the point of view of the court, the actions of Socrates were illegal and aimed at undermining the moral foundations of that time; The version that Socrates was the victim of slander and slander is considered unreliable by Cambridge historians.

Interestingly, in 2012, a modern court was furnished in Athens with the participation of prominent lawyers from different countries and spectators, during which the opinions of professional lawyers who acted as judges were divided equally, and the spectators by a majority voted in favor of Socrates' innocence, and as a result, the philosopher was acquitted.

execution

Jacques-Louis David. "Death of Socrates"

Socrates is famous not only for how he lived, but also for how he accepted his death. Before his death, Socrates asked to sacrifice a rooster to Asclepius (usually this rite was performed as gratitude for recovery), thus symbolizing his death as recovery, liberation from earthly shackles. According to Socrates, the soul of the philosopher does not resist this liberation, therefore he is calm in the face of death. Both the circumstances of the execution and its process itself were described in detail by Plato in his Phaedo dialogue, which is entirely devoted to last day Socrates. It is especially noteworthy that during for long years thanks to Xenophon, there was an opinion that Socrates was poisoned by hemlock. However, the clinical picture of death does not match classical painting cycut poisoning. This is how Plato himself describes the death of Socrates:

Socrates walked at first, then said that his legs were getting heavy, and lay down on his back: this is what the man ordered. When Socrates lay down, he felt his feet and legs, and a little later - again. Then he squeezed his foot hard and asked if he felt it. Socrates answered no. After that, he again felt his shins and, gradually moving his hand up, showed us how the body was getting cold and stiff. Finally touched in last time and said that when the cold comes to the heart, he will depart.<..>A little later he shuddered, and the attendant opened his face: Socrates' gaze stopped. Seeing this, Crito closed his mouth and eyes.

The picture of hemlock poisoning is much more unsightly, seizures resembling epileptic seizures, foam from the mouth, nausea, vomiting, and paralysis are possible. Plato himself never mentions in his work what exactly Socrates was poisoned with, only calling it the general word "poison". Recently, an attempt was made to establish the poison from which Socrates died, as a result, the author came to the conclusion that spotted hemlock (lat. Conium maculatum), the picture of poisoning which is more suitable to what Plato described.

Theories about the identity of Socrates

The identity of Socrates is the subject of much speculation. In addition to philosophers and moralists, many psychologists have tried to explain the character of Socrates. The psychology and philosophy of the nineteenth century were especially interested in this issue, which, at times, considered it a pathological case. In particular, the willpower of this man and his physical exercise. By using different activities Socrates tempered his body in order to strengthen himself against suffering. He often remained in the same position, from dawn to dusk, "still and straight as a tree trunk". At the start of the Peloponnesian War, an epidemic ravaged Athens; as Favorin believed, the philosopher owed his salvation to the constancy of his regime and the removal from voluptuousness, being saved from illness thanks to a clean and healthy lifestyle life.

Socrates' disciples

Alcibiades (politician, 20 years younger than Socrates), Antisthenes (philosopher, founder of Cynicism, 25 years younger than Socrates), Xenophon (politician and historian, 25 years younger than Socrates), Plato (philosopher, founder of the Academy, 30 years younger than Socrates ), Crito, Aeschines from Sphet, Aristippus (philosopher, founder of the Cyrenian school), Phaedo from Elis, Euclid from Megara (founder of the Megara school)

Socrates (469-399 BC)

Ancient Greek philosopher. Son of a sculptor.

He preached in the streets and squares, setting as his goal a new upbringing of the youth and the fight against the sophists. He was distinguished by great meekness in everyday life (his communication with his quarrelsome wife Xanthippe is known) and extraordinary courage in the struggle for truth and his convictions.

Starting a conversation with insignificant questions, he strove for such common definition, which would cover all special cases and reveal the essence of the concept. His conversations concerned questions about the essence of goodness, beauty, love, the immortality of the soul, the reliability of knowledge, etc.

The directness of Socrates' judgments created many enemies for him, who accused him of corrupting the youth and of denying the state religion. The chief accuser was the wealthy and influential Democrat Anit.

The philosopher, sentenced to death, courageously and calmly drank a cup of hemlock poison, refusing to flee, which his friends offered him.

Socrates was one of the founders of philosophical dialectics, understood as the search for truth through conversations, that is, the posing of certain questions and the methodical finding of answers to them. Considering ancient natural philosophy unsatisfactory, Socrates turned to the analysis of human consciousness and thinking.

Aristotle attributes to him the inductive doctrine of the transition from fluid reality to general concepts, as well as the doctrine of the definition of concepts, for the first time making it possible to know the essence of each thing. Recognition of the action of generic entities in surrounding reality turned in Socrates into the doctrine of a common Universal Mind or of individual gods-minds. The worldview of Socrates had little in common with folk religion although he did not deny it. His doctrine of Providence and providence decisively broke with naive polytheism and took on the appearance of philosophical teleology.

In ethics, the main thesis of Socrates was: virtue is knowledge, or wisdom; he who knows good is sure to act in a good way; he who does evil either does not know what good is, or does evil for the ultimate triumph of good. In the understanding of Socrates, there can be no contradiction between a person's mind and his behavior.

The philosopher was wrongly accused of being hostile to democracy; in fact, he criticized any form of government if it violates justice.

There are no works left of Socrates, his thoughts were recorded by Plato and Xenophon. The teachings of the sage contained in the embryo so many new fruitful ideas that it served as the starting point for the entire subsequent development of the Greek philosophical thought. Of great importance was the personality of the philosopher, who by his life and his death showed a rare example of the complete harmony of words and deeds.

The son of an Athenian mason and midwife, born, apparently, in 469 BC became known to the whole world. Biography of Socrates - "father" idealistic philosophy is available to us from several sources. First of all, these are the works of his follower Plato, who wrote the "Apology" of his teacher, as well as the works of Xenophon. The hero of our article himself did not write any works, but was satisfied with conversations with his listeners. He believed that he develops in them. In addition, the biography of Socrates (or rather, some data about it) can be partially restored from Aristophanes' comedy "Clouds". However, in this work one reads rather a caricature of a famous thinker, whom the Greek author confused with his rivals - representatives of the school of sophists.

The famous Athenian philosopher, who was called the "gadfly" of the Athenians, lived in the era. In defiance of his contemporaries, the sophists, he did not call himself a sage. He invented the word "philosophy". That is, Socrates considered himself a lover of wisdom, saying that he did not know anything for sure, and only this he knew for sure. He criticized his native Greek policy, was objectionable to many, aroused the anger of eminent citizens and accusations of blasphemy, and in the end was sentenced to death. Here in a few words short biography. Socrates, despite such meager information about him, gave rise to a whole school of philosophical thinking, which in Soviet textbooks was called "objective idealism."

The main difference between the Athenian "gadfly" and the sophists was that he considered important not only the subjective factor in knowledge ("man is the measure of all things"), but also the objective one. The last he believed Reason. It is he, "Nus" is the substance divine origin V human brain and he is the judge of everything subjective. Thanks to Reason, truth is available to us. Otherwise, everyone will remain with their own opinion, and no common purpose it can not be. The guarantor of the approximation to the truth is Daimonion ( inner voice, conscience). The work of the philosopher was his own life. The biography of Socrates shows us that he took his views very seriously. Philosophy, from his point of view, is the art of living right. Therefore, the main subject of reflection should not be ontology (what and where it came from), but ethics.

However, the biography of Socrates also indicates that the issue of knowledge was also one of the priorities for him. We must look for the essence, discover the common from the multitude. But this induction is good only for ethics, because in this way one can only know oneself and develop one's virtues - restraint, justice, courage ... Only in this way can one achieve the common goal of mankind - the absolute good. Many biographers of Socrates considered him to be an "ethical rationalist". After all, the philosopher believed that if you know about virtue, then you can practice it. There is also a method for this, which Socrates "peeped" from his mother - maieutics. This is a kind of dialectic, with which you can push the interlocutor to ensure that he himself finds the right answer.

Among the many students of Socrates was the politician Alcibiades. Rumor has it that he was carnally in love with the philosopher, but the latter rejected his proposal. He believed that all bodily relationships hinder such a virtue as restraint. Socrates saved this politician and commander during the battle with the Spartans, being armed with only a club - none of the soldiers wanted to kill an unarmed philosopher.

But friendship with Alcibiades had a bad effect on the fate of the thinker. The political situation in Athens changed, the politician fell out of favor, and Socrates was accused of not honoring the gods and corrupting the youth. The philosopher behaved very proudly during the trial and declared that he was worthy not of punishment, but of the highest honors. However, he was sentenced to death. How free man, he himself drank poison (by the way, not hemlock, as the legend says, but, obviously, thanked Asclepius for his recovery. So the thinker expressed his desire to get into better world than the one in which he lived before. This happened in 399 BC. The philosopher Socrates, whose biography was briefly described in this article, made exemplary and instructive not only his life, but also his death.

It is difficult to find a modern person who has never heard the name Socrates in his entire life. Indeed, this ancient Greek philosopher was remembered and entered into the memory of many minds of both modern times and other periods of human history. Socrates was born in the family of a sculptor around 469 BC.

The main ideals of Socrates' philosophy were morality, belief in good and evil. In his ideas, he tried to describe the mutual influence of good and evil and the final victory of good as a symbol of the prosperity of the state and society. When talking or talking, he sought to give the most precise definition term through conversation with the interlocutor. Most of all he was interested in the topics of love, eternal life human soul. I was very interested in the topic of real truth, how to achieve it and how not to miss it. human beauty he was also interested, he was interested in how inner beauty person, as well as external.

Socrates founded philosophical dialectics (a way to search for truth and truth through communication and conversation with a person or group of people who defend any interests). He was one of the first to analyze and deal with such difficult topic as a problem of human thinking and consciousness. He was very interested in how a person receives his truth and on what he bases himself, believing in it. After Socrates, many philosophers tried to understand the essence of human thinking and truth, but they could not go far from Socratic arguments.

Socrates tried to reveal the essence of all unjust political regimes among which was democracy. In this way he made a lot of enemies for himself. He was a true fighter for justice. Enemies accused him of denying the state religion and he was forced to drink poison, although his friends offered him to flee.

The ideas and thoughts of Socrates were not written by him during his lifetime. His descendants did it for him. His thoughts were immortalized by Plato and Xenophon. The teachings of Socrates were very innovative for those times, the society was not ready for such thoughts, ideas and opinions that Socrates expressed. In the footsteps of the philosopher, many philosophers of the Middle Ages, modern times and recent history. Due to the fact that Socrates once expressed his thoughts, his supporters and opponents appeared, which formed the backbone of modern philosophy, they developed the thought of the great philosopher and agreed with it or rejected it, bringing more reliable arguments in their favor.

Socrates left behind many aphorisms and sayings, arranging such images ancient literature. Without ancient Greek philosopher it is difficult to imagine a modern philosophical school, because without his ideas everything that has existed for centuries will collapse and cease to be significant, and at the same time the modern model of society will collapse and humanity will return to its beginning. Socrates, without a doubt, left a mark on all philosophy, he fought for his ideas and died because he once expressed his ideas. The philosopher died not because he spoke a lie, but because the society in which he lived was in ignorance and in untruth.

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Biography of Socrates about the main thing

Socrates was an eminent philosopher dealing with questions of ethics and epistemology. He was born in 469 BC.

His parents were ordinary people. Sophronix's father was a simple sculptor, and Fenaret's mother was a midwife. Socrates also had an older brother, who became the heir to all his father's property. But the future philosopher did not remain in poverty.

Throughout his adult life, Socrates received a huge amount of education in different areas science, as he was an active Athenian figure. His philosophy did not have a direction typical of those times about the study of questions of the universe or a deep study of nature. Socrates tried to pay as much attention as possible to human nature, his personality. All his thoughts were expressed in the form of conversations. It is he who is the founder of the dialectical method.

Three times in his entire adult life, Socrates took an active part in hostilities. He was a courageous and brave warrior. Especially his courage showed itself on the day when the commander Alcibiades was saved by him. But this feat was blamed a little later on the great philosopher, since, having come to power, Alcibiades established a dictatorship that replaced democracy loved by all the Greeks.

Already, being elderly, Socrates connected his fate with Xanthippia, who gave her husband three sons. If you believe the rumors, then she did not appreciate the great mind of her husband, and indeed she had a rather absurd disposition. This is not surprising, since the father of the family did not pay attention to his relatives at all, did not participate in their life in any way, did not bring a livelihood and did not help them in any way.

About how he died great thinker modern man known from the works of his many students. It is only known that he died in 399 BC.

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