Socrates was a Greek philosopher, born around 470 B.C., who is often considered to be the father of Western philosophy, and a key figure in the development of Western civilization.
Socrates left no actual writing so impressions of Socrates have come primarily from the writings of his student, Plato. There are also other contributions from Xenophon and a contemporary playwright, Aristophanes.
It is possible that Plato embellished the legacy of Socrates by making him appear the most noble philosopher; an ideal to be cherished and followed. The extent of this embellishment is hard to quantify, but the life of Socrates remains a great inspiration to many.
Apart from a brief spell in the army, it is not clear how Socrates earned a living; but he attracted a group of young men, who came to learn and study with Socrates. Socrates sought to teach through a path of self-inquiry. He did not claim to have the answers; he would merely ask questions to his students, forcing them to think for themselves and question their own beliefs.
This form of instruction has come to be called the Socratic Method.
During Socrates’ life, the state of Athens was undergoing political turmoil after suffering a humiliating defeat in the Peloponnesian War. This increased feelings of nationalism and loyalty to the Athenian state. However, Socrates felt compelled to test, and examine his own countrymen.
He was also willing to criticize and test conceptions of justice. At one point, Socrates famously states (as quoted by Plutarch). “I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
However, his persistent criticisms and questioning created political enemies; his position was worsened by the suspicious climate of the time.
A friend of Socrates, Chaerephon, asked the Oracle of Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates.
The Oracle said that no one was wiser than Socrates.
Socrates thought this was a paradox, because he didn’t know anything. However, after talking to all the leading poets and dignitaries of Athens, Socrates realized that although other people thought they knew a lot – actually they didn’t. So Socrates affirmed that the Oracle was right. He was the wisest – purely because he was aware of his own ignorance.
“I am wiser than this man, for neither of us appears to know anything great and good; but he fancies he knows something, although he knows nothing; whereas I, as I do not know anything, so
I do not fancy I do. In this trifling particular, then, I appear to be wiser than he, because I do not fancy I know what I do not know.”
Socrates’ unorthodox political viewpoints and willingness to expose the ignorance of others created many enemies. This led to his arrest and trial. This trial was sensationalized in the dialogues of Plato. Plato paints a picture of a philosopher perfectly detached from the fear of death and committed to the truth. Shortly before his death, Socrates said:

“The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways — I to die and you to live. Which is the better, only God knows.”
When Socrates was found guilty of ‘corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of ‘impiety’
(lack of reverence/respect for the Gods), he calmly accepted the verdict and rather than try and escape the death penalty – he accepted the hemlock poison in 399 B.C. If Socrates had rejected his beliefs, he could have been free; he could also have tried to escape; but as a philosopher he felt it more important to stick to his beliefs. He also felt a social contact with the state of Athens, and therefore should willingly meet his fate.

Due to a lack of primary sources from the time period, much of Plato's life has been constructed by scholars through his writings and the writings of contemporaries and classical historians. Traditional history estimates Plato's birth was around 428 B.C., but more modern scholars, tracing later events in his life, believe he was born between 424 and 423 B.C. Both of his parents came from the Greek aristocracy.
Plato's father, Ariston, descended from the kings of Athens and Messenia. His mother,
Perictione, is said to be related to the 6th century B.C. Greek statesman Solon.
As a young man, Plato experienced two major events that set his course in life. One was meeting the great Greek philosopher Socrates.
Socrates's methods of dialogue and debate impressed Plato so much that he soon became a close associate and dedicated his life to the question of virtue and the formation of a noble character. The other significant event was the
Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, in which Plato served for a brief time between
409 and 404 B.C. The defeat of Athens ended its democracy, which the Spartans replaced with an oligarchy. Two of Plato's relatives were prominent figures in the new government, part of the notorious Thirty Tyrants whose brief rule severely reduced the rights of Athenian citizens. After the oligarchy was overthrown and democracy was restored, Plato briefly considered a career in politics, but the execution of Socrates in 399 B.C. soured him on this idea and he turned to a life of study and philosophy.
After Socrates's death, Plato traveled for 12 years throughout the Mediterranean region, studying mathematics with the Pythagoreans in Italy, and geometry, geology, astronomy and religion in
Egypt. During this time, or soon after, he began his extensive writing. There is some debate among scholars on the order of these writings, but most believe they fall into three distinct periods.
The first, or early, period occurs during Plato's travels (399-387 B.C.). The Apology of
Socrates seems to have been written shortly after Socrates's death. In these dialogues, Plato attempts to convey Socrates's philosophy and teachings.
In the second, or middle, period, Plato writes in his own voice on the central ideals of justice, courage, wisdom and moderation of the individual and society. The Republic was written during this time with its exploration of just government ruled by philosopher kings.
In the third, or late, period, Socrates is relegated to a minor role and Plato explores the role of art, including dance, music, drama and architecture, as well as ethics and morality.

Sometime around 385 B.C., Plato founded a school of learning, known as the Academy, which he presided over until his death. The Academy operated until 529 A.D., when it was closed by Roman
Emperor Justinian I, who feared it was a source of paganism and a threat to Christianity. Over its years of operation, the Academy's curriculum included astronomy, biology, mathematics, political theory and philosophy. Plato hoped the Academy would provide a place for future leaders to discover how to build a better government in the Greek city-states. One of his more promising students there was Aristotle, who would take his mentor's teachings in new directions.
Plato's final years were spent at the Academy and with his writing. The circumstances surrounding his death are clouded, though it is fairly certain that he died in Athens around 348
B.C., when he was in his early 80s. Some scholars suggest that he died while attending a wedding, while others believe he died peacefully in his sleep.

Early Life
Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle was born circa 384
B.C. When Aristotle turned 17, his family sent him to
Athens to pursue a higher education. At the time,
Athens was considered the academic center of the universe. In Athens, Aristotle enrolled in Plato’s
Academy, Greek’s premier learning institution, and proved an exemplary scholar. Aristotle maintained a relationship with Greek philosopher Plato, himself a student of Socrates, and his academy for two decades.
Teaching
In 338 B.C., Aristotle went home to Macedonia to start tutoring King Phillip II’s son, the then 13-year-old
Alexander the Great. Phillip and Alexander both held
Aristotle in high esteem and ensured that the
Macedonia court generously compensated him for his work.
In 335 B.C., after Alexander had succeeded his father as king and conquered Athens, Aristotle went back to the city. In Athens, Plato’s Academy was still the leading influence on Greek thought. With Alexander’s permission, Aristotle started his own school in Athens, called the
Lyceum. On and off, Aristotle spent most of the remainder of his life working as a teacher, researcher and writer at the Lyceum in Athens.
Lyceum members researched subjects ranging from science and math to philosophy and politics, and nearly everything in between. Art was also a popular area of interest. Members of the
Lyceum wrote up their findings in manuscripts. In so doing, they built the school’s massive collection of written materials, which by ancient accounts was credited as one of the first great libraries.
Science
Although Aristotle was not technically a scientist by today’s definitions, science was among the subjects that he researched at length during his time at the Lyceum. Aristotle believed that knowledge could be obtained through interacting with physical objects.
Aristotle’s research in the sciences included a study of biology. He attempted, with some error, to classify animals into genera based on their similar characteristics. He further classified animals into species based on those that had red blood and those that did not. Despite the relative inaccuracy of his hypothesis, Aristotle’s classification was regarded as the standard system for hundreds of years.
Marine biology was also an area of fascination for Aristotle. Through dissection, he closely examined the anatomy of marine creatures. In contrast to his biological classifications, his observations of marine life, as expressed in his books, are considerably more accurate.
As evidenced in his treatise Meteorology, Aristotle also dabbled in the earth sciences.
In Meteorology, Aristotle identified the water cycle and discussed topics ranging from natural disasters to astrological events. Although many of his views on the Earth were controversial at the time, they were readopted and popularized during the late Middle Ages.

Philosophy and Politics
One of the main focuses of Aristotle’s philosophy was his systematic concept of logic. Aristotle's philosophy therefore involved both inductive and deductive reasoning, observing the workings of the world around him and then reasoning from the particular to a knowledge of essences and universal laws. In a sense, Aristotle was the first major proponent of the modern scientific method. The Lyceum was an unprecedented school of organized scientific inquiry. There was no comparable scientific enterprise for over 2,000 years after the founding of the Lyceum.
With regards to politics, Aristotle argued that humans are, by nature, political animals. This means that humans are also social animals and that any understanding of human behavior and human needs must include social considerations. He also investigated the merits of various kinds of political systems, describing their different virtues and vices. His classification system of monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies, democracies and republics is still used today.
Death and Legacy
In 322 B.C., just a year after he fled to Chalcis to escape prosecution under charges of impiety (lack of reverence/respect for the Gods), Aristotle contracted a disease of the digestive organs and died. In the century following his passing, his works fell out of use, but were revived during the first century. Over time, they came to lay the foundation of more than seven centuries of philosophy. Solely regarding his influence on philosophy, Aristotle’s work influenced ideas from late antiquity all the way through the Renaissance. Aristotle’s influence on Western thought in the humanities and social sciences is largely considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher Plato’s contributions, and Plato’s teacher Socrates before him.

In ancient Greece, Socrates wanted to learn about the world he lived in. He asked himself and people in his community about what was going on in society, daily life, politics, etc. He was so intelligent that he realized it would take a great discussion to answer these large questions, such as “what is beauty?” or “what is wisdom?”
Socrates became famous for asking a series of question to help him come to conclusions. He believed that the answers to these questions were available, but it was the responsibility of the people to ask the right questions to get those answers. Asking a series of questions like this became known as the Socratic Method.
For a very simple example, if Socrates lived today in and wanted to know “why we wear shoes?”, he might ask the following set of questions:
1. What do we use our feet for? (to walk)
2. Where do we walk? (in our homes, outside)
3. Where do we walk outside? (on the grass, on the sidewalk, on the pavement)
4. What happens when you walk outside barefoot? (sometimes, you scratch/cut/scrap/step in something dirty on the bottoms of your feet)
5. How can you stop from scratching your feet when you walk outside? (put something between your feet and the ground for protect)
6. How could you attach that protection to your foot? (straps, ties, etc.)
7. What are shoes? (a covering around your foot)
8. What does that covering do to help your foot? (protects your foot from getting scratched/cut/scrapped/or dirty)
9. Therefore, you wear shoes so you can walk outside and have your feet protected? (yes… and the question is answered)
Creative Problem Solving

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since childhood deep inside a cave. Not only are their limbs immobilized by the chains; their heads are chained as well so that their gaze is fixed on a wall.
Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which shapes of various animals, plants, and other things are carried. The shapes cast shadows on the wall, which occupy the prisoners' attention. When one of the shapecarriers speaks, an echo against the wall causes the prisoners to believe that the words come from the shadows.
The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game - naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of images. They are thus conditioned to judge the quality of one another by their skill in quickly naming the shapes and dislike those who begin to play poorly.
Suppose a prisoner is released and compelled to stand up and turn around.
His eyes will be blinded by the firelight, and the shapes passing will appear less real than their shadows.
Similarly, if he is dragged up out of the cave into the sunlight, his eyes will be so blinded that he will not be able to see anything.
At first, he will be able to see darker shapes such as shadows and, only later, brighter and brighter objects.
The last object he would be able to see is the sun, which, in time, he would learn to see as that object which provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen.
Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would want to return to the cave to free "his fellow bondsmen". Another problem lies in the other prisoners not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner's eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the ones identifying shapes on the wall. His eyes would be swamped by the darkness, and would take time to become acclimatized. Therefore, he would not be able to identify shapes on the wall as well as the other prisoners, making it seem as if him being taken to the surface completely ruined his eyesight. The other prisoners would then not go to the surface, in fear of losing their eyesight. If someone were to try and force a prisoner to come to the surface, the prisoner would become murderous, and kill whoever tried to force him to come to the surface. ( The Republic bk. VII, 516b-c; trans. Paul Shorey).

Directions: Based on what you now know about Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, choose one quote from each philosopher, circle the quote, and summarize how this quote reflects what you know about the philosopher.
Socrates
“I know that I am intelligent, because
I know that I know nothing.”
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
“If a man is proud of his wealth, he should not be praised until it is known how he employs it.”
Plato
“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors.”
“There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
Aristotle

“The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.”
“Man is by nature a political animal.”
“If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.