We don't really know much about Socrates. Or at least most of what we know is from the writings of his students.
Plato is frequently viewed as the most informative source about Socrates'
life and philosophy.[5] At the same
time, however, many scholars believe that in some works Plato, being a literary
artist, pushed his avowedly brightened-up version of "Socrates" far beyond
anything the historical Socrates was likely to have done or said; and that
Xenophon, being an historian, is a more reliable witness to the historical
Socrates. It is a matter of much debate which Socrates Plato is describing at
any given point—the historical figure, or Plato's fictionalization
He was a teacher, that we know. And from him we get the teaching method of asking questions so as to engage the subject more fully. He is widely viewed as a critic of the leaders of Athens and from him we get the concept of the 'gadfly'.
Socrates, through his students, laid the groundwork for much of Western Philosophy and in that sense is an excellent place to start.
One may be able to get away with calling "The Apology" Socrates rather than Plato, (I emphasize the may), but one must be very careful with Plato's other dialogues...most of them contain Socrates as a main character, and Plato is never present, but Plato's philosophy is in there...but is it in Socrates's mouth, some other character's, or is it an unstated dialectical synthesis of all of them? Good luck. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat's a great point. It's very important to remember here that we're relying on Plato here and that he may not be all that reliable.
ReplyDeleteIt may not be his purpose to be reliable...the question is, what is the purpose of Plato's dialogues?
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