Socrates

OverviewAI-generated

Socrates (Σωκράτης) was a philosopher, teacher, writer, and ethicist born in 470 BCE in Alopeke, Athens. He was the son of Sophroniscus and Phaenarete and was married to Xanthippe and Myrto. A citizen of Classical Athens, he resided there until his death in 399 BCE. Socrates was a member of the boule and is described by sources including The Catholic Encyclopedia and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. He spoke Ancient Greek and was of the Greek ethnic group.

His notable students included Plato, Xenophon, Antisthenes, and Aristippus. Socrates died by forced suicide. He had children named Yogui and Menexenus. His works are referenced in various encyclopedic databases, with some sources listing five or fifteen works. He is also the subject of quotes such as, "Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder."

Synthesized by Vinony from 36 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Wikiquote, Europeana Sparql, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Works: 122

Top works

Essential business letters
Start-up a Freelance Business
Sell Like a Pro
Protect Your Identity, Home & Family
Win with Market Research

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Group
Origin: Manchester

Discography

Waiting For Something1995

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 7,043
Total plays: 55,089

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“I only wish that wisdom were the kind of thing that flowed ... from the vessel that was full to the one that was empty.”
“It would be better for me... that multitudes of men should disagree with me rather than that I, being one, should be out of harmony with myself.”
“In every one of us there are two ruling and directing principles, whose guidance we follow wherever they may lead; the one being an innate desire of pleasure; the other, an acquired judgment which aspires after excellence.”
“Oh dear Pan and all the other gods of this place, grant that I may be beautiful inside. Let all my external possessions be in friendly harmony with what is within. May I consider the wise man rich. As for gold, let me have as much as a moderate man could bear and carry with him.”
“Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of understanding?”
“Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Philosopher.region: Western philosophy
Philosopher.era: Ancient Greek philosophy
Philosopher.image: Socrate du Louvre.jpg
Philosopher.caption: A marble head of Socrates in the Louvre (copy of a lost bronze head by Lysippus)
Philosopher.name: Socrates
Philosopher.birth_date: BC
Philosopher.birth_place: Deme Alopece, Athens
Philosopher.death_date: 399 BC (aged )
Philosopher.death_place: Athens
Philosopher.death_cause: Forced suicide by poisoning
Philosopher.spouse: Xanthippe, Myrto (disputed)
Philosopher.school_tradition: Classical Greek philosophy
Philosopher.children: Lamprocles, Menexenus, Sophroniscus
Philosopher.family: Sophroniscus (father), Phaenarete (mother), Patrocles (half-brother)

via Wikipedia infobox

Works in European collections

15 objects attributed to Socrates, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

Ekklēsiastikēs Istorias Eusebiou tou pamfilou episkopou kaisareias t[ēs] palaistinēs biblia i'. Tou autou eis t[on] bion t[ou] makariou Kōnstantinou basileōs logoi e'. Sōkratis scholastikou biblia z'. Theodōritou episkopou kyrou biblia e'. Eklogōn apo t[ēs] ekklēsiastikēs historias Theodōrou Anagnōstou biblia b'. Hermeiou Sōzomenou salaminiou biblia th'. Euagriou Scholastikou ekklēsiastikēs historias biblia e'. =

Socratis, Antisthenis, Et Aliorvm Epistolae. Leo Allativs Hactenvs Non Editas Primvs Graece vulgauit; Latine vertit; Notas adiecit; Dialogum, De Scriptis Socratis, praefixit

Aurea verba; Socratis philosi symbola; Speusippi Platonici liber de omnium rerum diffinitionibus; Xenocratis Platonici liber de morte; Aristotelis... Secretum secretorum: de animae... immortalitate... De conservatione sanitatis. De regimine principum... Eiusdem liber de plantis... Eiusdem liber magnorum moral... Francisci Taegii... oratio de excellentia dignitate ac... naturalis philosophy utilitate

Untitled

~56 min read

Encyclopedic overview

26 sections

Contents

Sources and the Socratic problem
Plato and Xenophon
Aristophanes and other sources
The Socratic problem
Biography
Trial of Socrates
Philosophy
Socratic method
Socratic priority of definition
Socratic ignorance
Socratic irony
Socratic eudaimonism and intellectualism
Religion
Socratic daimonion
Virtue and knowledge
Love
Socratic philosophy of politics
Legacy
Classical antiquity
Medieval world
Modern times
See also
Notes
Sources
Further reading
External links

Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, perhaps the first Western moral philosopher, and a major inspiration on his student Plato, who largely founded the tradition of Western philosophy. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. As related by Plato, he was put to death by administration of poison after refusing offers from allies to help him escape.

Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity. They demonstrate the Socratic approach to areas of philosophy including epistemology and ethics. The Platonic Socrates lends his name to the concept of the Socratic method, and also to Socratic irony. The Socratic method of questioning, or elenchus, takes shape in dialogue using short questions and answers, epitomized by those Platonic texts in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine various aspects of an issue or an abstract meaning, usually relating to one of the virtues, and find themselves at an impasse, unable to define what they thought they understood. Socrates frequently proclaims his ignorance, saying that he is only sure that he does not know.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Socrates” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.