It was 399 BC, a gathering of 500 Athenians were witnessing a great preacher, teacher and philosopher being tried for the offences of refusing to recognize the gods, as recognized by the state and of corrupting the youth with knowledge of the true face of the state. This man, wearing different hats, was none other than Socrates. He was held guilty with a proportion of 280 to 220. He was given with a cup of poison to drink and walk around till death reaches his heart through the veins. His last words were “Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Do pay it. Don't forget.”
What we learn from Socrates
· Socratic Method- One of the most decent ideas brought forward by Socrates was regarding how to discuss an issue. According to him, an issue needs to be broken down into slices of questions, the responses to which lead us to the desired outcome.
· Idea of Righteousness- He always believed that man must crave for goodness and shall ignore material interest such as wealth. All his disciples had unanimity to this concept. This signifies that even if he couldn’t change the whole society, he attempted and succeeded to bring change in a few lives.
· Idea of Questioning- He believed, everything is open to question, answer and criticism. Socrates claimed we should question law, religion, politics and everything else.
Alfred Whitehead, an English mathematician and philosopher, stated that all philosophy—all Western thought—is just “a footnote to Plato.” Most of the time people forget that knowledge is worth sharing. The power of knowledge succession can never be better seen than the relation of Socrates and Plato. In simpler words, we should realize that philosophy existed because the philosophers decided to question, discuss and debate the affairs of the state.
Craving to learn, that’s all you need
Plato, along with few of his colleagues, started hanging around Socrates. He also kept participating in the question-answer sessions on beauty, justice and good. The actual narrative of Plato and Socrates is barely mentioned anywhere. But Plato has cited Socrates in his dialogues as the mouthpiece for his philosophical ideas. It must be noted that, it was the drive to learn in Plato and enthusiasm to share in Socrates that gifted the world with a bulk of undying philosophical theories.
The concept of ideal state (Plato)-
Plato filtered the philosophy of Socrates and brought in a sense of practicality. Here are three important features of an ideal state with a pragmatic touch:-
· Justice– Plato mentioned justice as “a bond that binds the society together with harmony”. Presently judiciary does this function.
· Censorship of Art and Literature- It is unimaginable that a person could have thought about censorship thousands of years ago. This was with an intention that nothing immoral must fall in the hands of youth. Today we have censor authorities to address this issue.
· Equality of Men and Women- Plato favored that equal opportunities should be given to both men and women for their economic, social, intellectual and political uplift. We can say that Plato was one of the initial proponents of equality between the sexes.
What we learn from Plato
· Platonic framework of learning- The ideas received from Socrates were not just pursued, but more importantly, were modified and tied with a practical approach by Plato. Hence, an idea shared must be pursued but not without scaling it.
· Adoption of virtues- Knowledge is not just to learn but also to live by the lines after recognizing the virtues emerging out of it. Believe in your own ideology even if it doesn’t fit to others’ lives.
END OF THE BODY IS NOT THE END OF THE IDEA
Hey reader, never forget “Every philosopher is a product of their own times”. Even these ideas used to be philosophy in the past, but today debate, questioning and discussions are a reality and a need. Never assume that you can’t make a change. Always carry within you the spirit to learn and share what you have.
This whole text revolved around Socrates and Plato just to let you know “KNOWLEDGE IS WORTH SHARING”.
-Aryan
Referred:-
[Tredennick, Hugh (translator) The last days of Socrates : Euthyphro, The Apology, Crito, Phaedo / Plato (1959); Freeman, Charles, The Greek Achievement (1999); Stone, I.F., The Trial of Socrates (1988)]
Comments