Karolina Wodzisz Prof Toma Phil 107 April 11, 2022 My Favorite Philosopher It is undeniable that the life of Socrates as a hands-on philosopher is exciting, which is why I chose him as my favorite of all philosophers. Apart from his peculiar way of living, Socrates has also considered unparalleled during his time, and until now, his influence surfaced among the generation of laypeople, thinkers, and scholars. Aside from that, Socrates is also one of the reasons why the discipline of philosophy was developed tremendously, so I consider him essential in philosophy. Socrates has many contributions to philosophy, and it has been used in the academe even up to this time. The most notable contributions of Socrates for me are his approach to education, his view on dialectic thinking, and his definition of virtue. Was stated Hooker that Socrates’s view on education was not like a scenario where a pitcher is pouring their content into empty glasses, which means that the pitcher is the teacher. In contrast, the empty glasses are the students (Hooker 1). Socrates resisted this idea since he never intended to transmit knowledge to another passive person to accept the same (Hooker 1). That means the way Socrates handles his followers is by giving them a chance to discover for themselves the value of goodness, reality, and truth. Moreover, in the view of Socrates in dialectic ideas, he wants to impart that truth in every matter must be achieved using a modified position through questioning and conflict with opposing ideas (Debra 1). Debra (2005) even pointed out that: Plato provides some of Socrates’ most well-known philosophical thoughts: the inevitability of doing what an individual thinks is right even in widespread resistance and the necessity to practice knowledge even when opposed. (1) In other words, Socrates is fearless and innovative, trying to face the world using common sense. In addition to that, there is also a positive idea that Socrates had contributed to the discipline of philosophy, and that is his definition of virtue. According to Debra, in his writings about Socrates, the philosopher’s definition of virtue is knowledge (Debra 1). This means that an understanding of goodwill results in doing good things. The reflection of this philosophical thought touches on the idea that those people who always deviate from the norm and do bad things do not know what is virtuous and right in this world. So then, Socrates always mingles with craftsmen, artists, politicians, and ordinary people to observe their views on morality (“The Eccentricity of Socrates”). My thinking was changed a little due to the knowledge that Socrates contributed to society. I firmly support the idea that students should not be passive in what the teachers have imparted. There should be an active discussion between the teacher and his students for the latter to know the truth and reality of anything. Finally, it was written that Socrates neither worked to make both ends meet nor attended activities of the state (Hooker 1). Essentially, I do not want to embrace poverty as Socrates did during his lifetime. I must work to earn a living as any reasonable person would do. Work Cited Hooker, Richard. “Greek Philosopher.” 1999. WSU. 10 September 2008 < http://www. wsu. edu/~dee/GREECE/SOCRATES. HTM. Nails, Debra. “Socrates.” 2005. Stanford University. 10 September 2008 < http://plato. Stanford. edu/entries/Socrates/. “The Eccentricity of Socrates.” 2002. 2020 Site. 10 September 2008 < http://www. 2020site. org/Socrates/eccentricity. HTML.
