And on this day, Socrates was found guilty of impiety and
sentenced to death…
and to this day, we call Socrates the greatest Philosopher of
all time…but that brings about question, why was Socrates
the greatest Philosopher of all time?
It is said that he brought Philosophy out of the sky and down to
earth… and what does this mean?
Philosophers before Socrates were focused on what we might call
science… what was the nature of the universe?
what was the “key” element of the universe? For example, some
thought it was fire and some thought it was water and some thought it
was the soil and one even thought it was, “mind” Nous…
and of all of the possibilities for what the “key” element of the universe,
Socrates thought “Nous” came close…
so instead of doing Philosophy as it was done before, which was basically
science, Socrates took philosophy and made it about us, what is the
nature of us human beings…
Socrates did something new and radical, his engagement with philosophy
was about something that people didn’t talk about before, and that was
the soul…
Socrates was engaged with discovering what was the soul… Look at Socrates life…
He didn’t seek wealth or power or fame or titles…he was a seeker but not of
the baubles of existence…Socrates was a poor stonemason…he is said to have
worked on the Parthenon…as one of hundreds who did so…
and look at the questions Socrates engaged with… what was Justice?
What was right? what was wrong? was it right to escape Athens after
being judge guilty and escape justice? What is Eros?..what is virtue?
what is moderation? what is courage? what is piety? is excellence still
possible?
another way to look at it… he was about clarifying concepts…
probing assumptions… probing rationale, reasons and evidence…
questioning viewpoints and perspectives… probing implications
and consequences… and perhaps most important…
questioning the questions…
in other words, Socrates was about the questions, not necessarily about
the answers…
think about why Socrates was the “wisest” man in Athens?
He knew he didn’t know anything… his claim to fame wasn’t his
knowledge… he didn’t know anything… he wasn’t wealthy or famous
or had a big title… He didn’t even collect money for his philosophical
questions…he was interested in the questions and answers for themselves,
not what they could bring him in terms of money or fame or power or titles…
what does it mean to be a human being?
and what should we pursue if we don’t pursue wealth or fame or power or titles?
I can imagine Socrates asking, what is the point of existence?
Why are we here? and what should we be doing? and what should we be hoping for?
if he is the greatest philosopher of all time… perhaps we should look at his life
and emulate his life… seeking wisdom and understanding and what it means
to be human…
today, we are so wrapped up in the baubles of existence…seeking the very things
that Socrates walked away from…perhaps he was the greatest philosopher of all time
because he did walk away from the search for the material goods of money, goods,
houses…
he sought to explore the meaning of existence and those concepts that
makes existence worth existing for… justice, love, questioning the questions…
follow Socrates and seek that which is within you… the questions of
what it means to be human… what are our real questions?
not what is our answers, but what is our questions?
Kropotkin