Socrates - His life (Notes Continued)

Socrates - Early Years

• as a young man worked as a stonemason
• fought heroically in Peloponnesian War
• he was a common man
• his work & battle experiences may have shaped the way he viewed the world

Socrates - The Teacher

• met with young students in workshops just outside the agora
• his method: ask series of questions to determine their underlying beliefs and extent of their knowledge
• this led to the scientific method, starts with hypothesis,then prov or disprove your theory through experimentation

Controversy

• Athens had brilliant thinkers from all over the world that shared their knowledge on everything they know like astronomy, medicine, philosophy, .etc
• Made his students start to question and think about the things they were traditionally taught

Trial

1. Socrates was charged with 2 crimes:

• Corruption of Athens youth
• impiety (not believing in gods of the state)

His Defense:

• "Its my job to be gadfly to the lazy, sluggish horse that is Athens"
• " I should actually be rewarded with free dinners for life"

End

• jury of 500 male citizens (279 said guilty - 221 said not guilty)
• death by drinking poison hemlock
• could've  escaped but refused, proving his loyalty to Athenian democracy

You Idiot!

• an idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centered & concerned almost exclusively with private, not public affairs

"The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates