Каждый человек хотя бы один раз в своей жизни heard of Socrates. This ancient Greek philosopher left a bright mark not only in the history of Hellas, but also in the whole philosophy. Of particular interest is the study of Socrates' dialectic as the art of creative dialogue. This method became the basis of all the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher. Our article is devoted to Socrates and his teachings, which became the basis for the further development of philosophy as a science.
Socrates: a genius and a powerless one
Much has been said about the great philosopher, hispersonality in the process of development of philosophy and psychology was mentioned more than once. The phenomenon of Socrates was considered from different sides, and the story of his life was overgrown with incredible details. To understand what Socrates understood by the term "dialectic" and why he considered it the only possible way to know the truth and come to virtue, it is necessary to learn a little about the life of the ancient Greek philosopher.
Socrates was born in the fifth century BC in the familysculptor and midwife. Since the elder brother of the philosopher was supposed to receive the inheritance of his father, from an early age he had no inclination to accumulate material wealth and spent all his free time on self-education. Socrates had excellent oratorical abilities, could read and write. In addition, he studied the arts and listened to lectures by philosopher-sophists who advocated the supremacy of the human "I" over all the rules and norms.
Несмотря на эксцентричный образ жизни городского a beggar, Socrates was married, had several children, and was known as the bravest warrior who took part in the Peloponnesian War. Throughout his life, the philosopher did not leave Attica and did not even think of his life beyond its borders.
Socrates despised wealth and always wentbarefoot in already battered clothes. He did not leave behind a single scientific work or essay, because the philosopher believed that knowledge should not be taught and implanted in man. It is necessary to push the soul to the search for truth, and for this, disputes and constructive dialogues are the best fit. Socrates was often accused of contradictory of his teachings, but he was always ready to enter into discussion and listen to the opinion of his opponent. Oddly enough, this turned out to be the best method of persuasion. Almost everyone who had ever heard of Socrates once called him a sage.
Смерть великого философа тоже удивительно symbolic, it became a natural continuation of his life and teachings. After the accusation that Socrates corrupts the minds of youth with new deities that are not gods of Athens, the philosopher was brought to justice. But he did not wait for the sentencing and sentencing, but he himself proposed punishment by taking poison. Death in this case was considered by the accused as getting rid of earthly vanity. Despite the fact that friends offered to rescue the philosopher from prison, he refused and steadfastly met his death after accepting a portion of poison. According to some sources, there was a cycle in the cup.
A few touches to the historical portrait of Socrates
The fact that the Greek philosopher was an outstanding personality can be concluded after one description of his life. But some touches characterize Socrates especially vividly:
- he always kept himself in good physical condition, practiced various exercises and thought that this was the best way to a healthy mind;
- философ придерживался определенной системы nutrition, which excluded the excesses, but at the same time gave the body all the most necessary (historians believe that this was what saved him from the epidemic during the Peloponnesian War);
- he spoke poorly of written sources - they, according to Socrates, weakened the mind;
- the Athenian was always ready for discussion, and in search of knowledge could go many miles, asking the recognized sages.
From the middle of the nineteenth century, at the momentthe highest development of psychology, many tried to characterize Socrates and his activities in terms of temperament and predispositions. But psychotherapists did not come to a common opinion, and they blamed their failure on the minimum amount of reliable information about the "patient".
How did the teachings of Socrates come to us
Socrates' philosophy - the dialectic - became the basismany philosophical trends and trends. She managed to become a base for modern scholars and speakers; after the death of Socrates, his followers continued the work of the teacher, forming new schools and transforming already well-known methods. The difficulty in perceiving the teachings of Socrates lies in the absence of his writings. We know about the ancient Greek philosophy thanks to Plato, Aristotle and Xenophon. Each of them considered it a matter of honor to write several essays about Socrates himself and his teachings. Despite the fact that it came to our times in the most detailed description, we should not forget that each author brought his attitude and a touch of subjectivity to the original interpretation. This is easily noticed by comparing the texts of Plato and Xenophon. They describe absolutely differently Socrates himself and his activities. In many key points, the authors fundamentally disagree, which significantly reduces the reliability of the information contained in their works.
Socrates' philosophy: the beginning
The ancient dialectic of Socrates became completely new.and fresh trends in the established philosophical traditions of ancient Greece. Some historians consider the appearance of such a character as Socrates to be quite natural and expected. According to certain laws of the development of the universe, each hero appears when it is most needed. After all, not a single religious movement arose from scratch and did not go anywhere. It, like grain, fell on the fertile soil in which it germinated and bore fruit. Similar analogies can be made with all scientific achievements and inventions, because they appear at the most necessary moment for humanity, in some cases, drastically changing the subsequent history of the entire civilization as a whole.
То же самое можно сказать и о Сократе.In the fifth century BC, art and science evolved rapidly. Constantly there were new philosophical trends that instantly gained followers. In Athens, it was quite popular to gather and hold oratory contests or dialogues on a sensitive topic that interested the whole policy. Therefore, it is not surprising that the dialectic of Socrates arose on this wave. Historians say that, according to the texts of Plato, Socrates created his doctrine as an opposition to the popular philosophy of the Sophists, who rejected the consciousness and understanding of the native of Athens.
The birth of the Socrates dialectic
Socrates’s subjective dialecticcompletely contradicted the sophists' doctrine of the predominance of the human "I" over everything social. This theory was very popular in Attica and developed in every possible way by Greek philosophers. They argued that the person is not limited to any rules, all its actions are based on desires and abilities. In addition, the philosophy of that time was completely aimed at finding the mysteries of the universe and the divine essence. Scientists competed in eloquence, discussing the creation of the world, and sought to penetrate as much as possible the idea of the equality of man and gods. Sophists believed that penetration into the highest secrets would give mankind enormous strength and make it a part of something extraordinary. After all, even in its present state, a person is free and can rely in actions only on his hidden needs.
Сократ же впервые обратил взгляд философов на person He managed to translate the sphere of interest from the divine to the personal and simple. The knowledge of man becomes the surest path to the attainment of knowledge and virtue, which Socrates put on one level. He believed that the mysteries of the universe should remain in the sphere of divine interests, but a person must first of all know the world through himself. And this should have made him a benevolent member of society, for only knowledge can help distinguish good from evil and falsehood from truth.
Socrates ethics and dialectics: briefly about the main things
Основные идеи Сократа базировались на простых human values. He believed that he should slightly push his students to search for the truth. After all, these searches are the main task of philosophy. This statement and the presentation of science in the form of an endless path has become an absolutely fresh trend among the wise men of ancient Greece. The philosopher himself considered himself to be a kind of "midwife," which, through simple manipulations, allows one to be born into a completely new judgment and thinking. Socrates did not deny that the human person has enormous potential, but he argued that a great deal of knowledge and notions about oneself should lead to the emergence of certain rules of behavior and frameworks that turn into a set of ethical norms.
That is the philosophy of Socrates led a person tothe path of exploration, when every new discovery and knowledge had to lead again to questions. But only this path could ensure the acquisition of virtue, expressed in knowledge. The philosopher said that having ideas of good, man would not do evil. Thus, he will put himself in a framework that will help him to exist in society and to bring him benefit. Ethical norms are inseparable from self-knowledge, they, according to the teachings of Socrates, flow from each other.
But the knowledge of truth and its birth are possible onlythanks to the multifaceted consideration of the subject. Socrates' dialogues on this or that topic served as a tool for clarifying the truth, because only in a dispute, where each opponent argues his point of view, one can see the birth of knowledge. Dialectics presupposes discussion until the truth is fully ascertained, each argument gets a counter-argument, and so it continues until the final goal is reached - the acquisition of knowledge.
Principles of Dialectics
Elements of the Socrates Dialecticfairly simple. He used them throughout his life and through them conveyed the truth to his students and followers. They can be represented as follows:
1. "Know yourself"
Эта фраза стала основой философии Сократа.He believed that it was from her that it was necessary to begin all explorations, because knowledge of the world is available only to God, and a different destiny is destined to a person - he must search for himself and learn his capabilities. The philosopher believed that the culture and ethics of an entire nation depend on the level of self-knowledge of each member of society.
2. "I know I know nothing"
This principle essentially distinguished Socrates amongother philosophers and sages. Each of them claimed that he possesses the highest body of knowledge and therefore can call himself a sage. Socrates, on the other hand, followed the path of search, which cannot be completed a priori. The boundaries of the consciousness of the individual can be pushed to infinity, so insight and new knowledge become only a step on the path to new issues and searches.
Surprisingly, even the Delphic oracle consideredSocrates is the wisest. There is a legend which says that, having learned about this, the philosopher was very surprised and decided to find out the reason for such flattering characteristics. As a result, he interviewed a lot of recognized as the most intelligent people of Attica and came to an amazing conclusion: he was recognized as wise, because he does not boast his knowledge. "I know that I do not know anything" - this is the highest wisdom, because absolute knowledge is available only to God and cannot be given to man.
3. "Virtue is knowledge"
This idea was taken very hard inpublic circles, but Socrates could always argue his philosophical principles. He argued that any person seeks to do only what his heart desires. And it wants only the beautiful and the beautiful, so an understanding of virtue, which is the most beautiful, leads to the constant realization of this idea.
We can say that each of the above statements of Socrates can be reduced to three whales:
- self-knowledge;
- philosophical modesty;
- the triumph of knowledge and virtue.
The dialectic of Socrates is represented as a movement of consciousness towards understanding and achieving an idea. In many situations, the ultimate goal remains unattainable, and the question is open.
Socrates Method
The dialectic created by the Greek philosophercontains a method that allows you to take the path of self-discovery and the attainment of truth. It has several basic tools, which to this day have been successfully used by philosophers of various currents:
1. The irony
Without the ability to laugh at yourself it is impossible to come tounderstanding of the idea. After all, according to Socrates, dogmatic self-confidence in its rightness hinders the development of thought and does not leave the right to doubt. Based on the method of Socrates, Plato argued that the true philosophy originates with surprise. It can make a person doubt, and therefore significantly advance on the path of self-knowledge. The dialectic of Socrates, used in ordinary conversations with the inhabitants of Athens, often led to the fact that even the most confident in their knowledge of the Greeks began to feel frustrated in themselves the same. It can be said that this side of the Socrates method is identical to the second principle of dialectics.
2. Maeutics
Mayeutics can be called the last stage of irony, in which a person gives birth to the truth and approaches the understanding of the subject. In practice, it looks like this:
- man gets rid of his arrogance;
- is surprised and disappointed in his ignorance and stupidity;
- comes to understanding the need to search for truth;
- goes the way of answering the questions posed by Socrates;
- each new answer gives rise to the next question;
- After a series of questions (many of which can be asked in a dialogue with oneself), the personality gives rise to the truth itself.
Сократ утверждал, что философия - это непрерывный a process that simply cannot turn into a static value. In this case, you can predict the "death" of the philosopher who becomes a dogmatist.
Maieutics is inseparable from the dialogues.It is in them that one can come to knowledge, and Socrates has taught his interlocutors and followers to seek the truth in different ways. For this, the questions to other people and to oneself are equally good and important. In some cases, it is the question that is asked of itself that becomes decisive and leads to knowledge.
3. Induction
Отличительной чертой диалогов Сократа является that truth is unreachable. It is the goal, but the philosophy itself is hidden in the movement towards this goal. The urge to search is the dialectic in its most direct manifestation. Understanding, according to Socrates, is not the assimilation of truth as food, but only the determination of the necessary object and the path to it. In the future, only forward movement awaits a person, which should not stop.
Dialectics: the stages of development
The dialectic of Socrates was the first and, one might say,spontaneous stage in the development of new philosophical thought. It originated in the fifth century BC and continued to develop actively in the future. Some philosophers limit the historical stages of Socrates' dialectic to three major milestones, but in reality they are presented in a more complex list:
- ancient philosophy;
- medieval philosophy;
- Renaissance philosophy;
- New time philosophy;
- German classical philosophy;
- Marxist philosophy;
- Russian philosophy;
- modern western philosophy.
This list eloquently proves that itthe direction developed throughout all the historical stages that humanity went through. Of course, not in each of them the dialectic of Socrates received a serious impetus to development, but modern philosophy connects with it many concepts and terms that appeared much later than the death of the ancient Greek philosopher.
Conclusion
The contribution of Socrates to the development of modern philosophicalscience is invaluable. He created a new scientific method of searching for truth and turned the energy of a person inside himself, giving him the opportunity to know all the facets of his "I" and make sure that the saying is true: "I know that I don’t know anything."
