Life of Socrates and the Socrates WordPress Theme
Socrates led an extremely interesting life before his suicidal demise depicted in the famous 1787 Jacques-Louis David painting below and in this site’s header. Admittedly, the purpose of this site is to illustrate the exciting features of the Socrates WordPress Theme used for this website. However, we would be remiss if we failed to pay homage to one of the most talked about personages from antiquity. Some of the highlights of the life of Socrates are set out below.
An Influential Thinker
Socrates is one of the most famous and influential thinkers of all time. To this day, he remains held in the highest regard by many scholars and reflective writers. He’s credited, among other things, as one of the founders of a modern school of thought and theory, specifically falling under the heading of Western philosophy. His legacy lives on through this, the works of his students and a number of other challenging conceptions as well. However, as revered as Socrates is today, he was just as reviled a figure in his own time by a multitude of his contemporaries.
The Role of Plato
Socrates was born in 469 BC, but much about his life remains unknown. This is because most of what we know about Socrates, his way of thinking, his ideas, and his ultimate demise, comes not from self-written texts or accounts, but from the accounts of others. Most famously, those accounts come from Plato’s dialogues on the trial of Socrates, the end of his life, and illuminatiing his teachings and the ideas he conveyed to Plato, and Plato, in turn, to Aristotle.
This is known as the Socratic problem, something perhaps that the “gadfly” himself would have enjoyed, still being a source of debate thousands of years after his untimely death. After all, he is well known today for his Socratic method of teaching and learning.
The Socratic Method
This was a technique he used to philosophize and to derive the truth, in which he continued to ask questions, and answer questions with the asking of even more questions, until everything was boiled down to the most specific, detailed analysis. This prevails as a popular form of teaching and learning throughout the world, employed by mentors and teachers at all levels of education, and by professionals in varied walks of life. Additionally, Socrates was an orator and believed in oral communication over the written word. This is the major reason why there are no texts penned by himself.
Trial and Execution of Socrates
Socrates met his end in 399 BC, having been executed by drinking hemlock after standing public trial. He was on trial for basically harming the public with dangerous ideas and schools of thought. It was said that he was against the gods and the government, and that he held many other outlandish ideas that to the typical citizen may have seemed extreme or odd. According to Plato, it would have been relatively easy for Socrates to walk away with lesser punishment, but he insisted on taking his arguments to the public, and on accepting whatever consequences were to be determined. He remained committed to his ideals to the very end.
A Long and Storied Life
Other facts learned Plato’s writings and other contemporaries, show that Socrates was twice married, and had a total of three children. He served in the military for several different campaigns, and lived outside of Athens. In his later life it’s believed he didn’t work traditionally, and perhaps received some payments to help educate or sophisticate children about his ideas and approach to the human condition.
His Legacy
While much is unknown about the life and death of Socrates, what we do know is substantial and long lasting. His school of thought and philosophy formed a cornerstone of modern thinking, laying down his thinking and philosophy for Plato to digest, and enabling Plato to pass his ideas on to Aristotle. The Socratic method remains a powerful tool for learning, and Plato’s texts and dialogues on Socrates remain hugely important pieces of literature.
Like Socrates’ thinking, the Socrates Theme is a noteworthy advancement in the development of wordpress themes. So, be sure to check out the all details of the Socrates WordPress Theme.
