Who was Socrates?
A: Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the
founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the
ethical tradition of thought.
Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through
what?
A: The posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students
Plato and Xenophon.
These accounts are written as dialogues, in which
Socrates and his interlocutors so what?
A: Examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to
the Socratic dialogue literary genre.
Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a
reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as
what?
A: The Socratic problem.
Socrates was a polarizing figure in what?
A: Athenian society.
In 399 BC, he was accused of what?
A: Impiety and corrupting the youth.
After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to
what?
A: Death.
He spent his last day in prison, refusing what?
A: Offers to help him escape.
Plato's dialogues are among what?
A: The most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity.
They demonstrate the Socratic approach to areas of
philosophy including what?
A: Rationalism and ethics.
Socrates is known for proclaiming his total what?
A: Ignorance; he used to say that the only thing he was aware of was his
ignorance, seeking to imply what?
A: That the realization of our ignorance is the first step in
philosophizing.
Socrates was studied by medieval and
Islamic scholars
and played an important role in what?
A: The thought of the Italian Renaissance, particularly within the humanist
movement.
Interest in Socrates continued unabated, as reflected
in the works of whom?
A: Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche.
Depictions of Socrates in art,
literature, and popular
culture have made him what?
A: A widely known figure in the Western philosophical tradition.
All that is known about him comes from the accounts of
others: mainly the philosopher Plato and the historian Xenophon, who were
both what?
A: His pupil.
An honest man, Xenophon was no what?
A: Trained philosopher.
He could neither fully conceptualize nor articulate
what?
A: Socrates's arguments.
He admired Socrates for his what?
A: Intelligence, patriotism, and courage on the battlefield.
He discusses Socrates in what four works?
A: The Memorabilia, the Oeconomicus, the Symposium, and the Apology of
Socrates.
Oeconomicus recounts a discussion on what?
A: Practical agricultural issues.
Like Plato's Apology, Xenophon's Apologia describes
what?
A: The trial of Socrates, but the works diverge substantially and, according
to W. K. C. Guthrie, Xenophon's account portrays a Socrates of "intolerable
smugness and complacency".
Symposium is a dialogue of Socrates with whom?
A: Other prominent Athenians during an after-dinner discussion, but is quite
different from Plato's Symposium.
In Memorabilia, he defends Socrates from what
accusations?
A: Corrupting the youth and being against the gods.
Essentially, it is a collection of various stories
gathered together to construct a new what?
A: Apology for Socrates.
How trustworthy Plato is in representing the attributes
of Socrates is a matter of what?
A: Debate; the view that he did not represent views other than Socrates's
own is not shared by many contemporary scholars.
