The Philosophy Of Socrates

Socrates laid the foundations for western philosophy, upon which later great minds, such as Plato and Aristotle, would build. Despite this, Socrates is most famous for saying “The only thing I know is that I know nothing”. The great thinker made a point of never writing anything down, leaving his students to preserve his thoughts for posterity. Unappreciated, even reviled for his ideas in his own time, he chose execution by poison rather than renounce his mission to seek truth through rational inquiry. Yet his legacy outlives him by two and a half millennia in the western philosophical tradition, which still practices his methods and builds upon his ideas.

This introductory course will look at Socrates’ ideas about reality and the soul, and will examine the famous “Socratic method” of inquiry by question and debate. It is suitable for those looking for an introduction to philosophy, and for those with some existing familiarity looking to learn more about one of history’s greatest thinkers.