Donald Robertson

um all of these things but definitely the sophists loom large in socrates's influences and his partly because he's concerned about them having so much sway over the athenian assembly and the political decisions that are being made how would you describe the main principles of his philosophical worldview

um all of these things but definitely the sophists loom large in socrates's influences and his partly because he's concerned about them having so much sway over the athenian assembly and the political decisions that are being made how would you describe the main principles of his philosophical worldview

um all of these things but definitely the sophists loom large in socrates's influences and his partly because he's concerned about them having so much sway over the athenian assembly and the political decisions that are being made how would you describe the main principles of his philosophical worldview

Well, as we've said, I mean, the Socratic method, the core of what he's doing in a sense is more about the process. So some people in the ancient world would have seen wisdom or the goal of life as being the acquisition of knowledge, like having a bunch of opinions that are true, basically. And Socrates thought that's not real wisdom, though. That's just kind of learning stuff passively.

Well, as we've said, I mean, the Socratic method, the core of what he's doing in a sense is more about the process. So some people in the ancient world would have seen wisdom or the goal of life as being the acquisition of knowledge, like having a bunch of opinions that are true, basically. And Socrates thought that's not real wisdom, though. That's just kind of learning stuff passively.

Well, as we've said, I mean, the Socratic method, the core of what he's doing in a sense is more about the process. So some people in the ancient world would have seen wisdom or the goal of life as being the acquisition of knowledge, like having a bunch of opinions that are true, basically. And Socrates thought that's not real wisdom, though. That's just kind of learning stuff passively.

Real wisdom is more like a cognitive skill. So the goal of philosophy, I think, for Socrates is more of a process that we engage in every day of our lives, learning to think and question things more profoundly. He said the unexamined life is not worth living. He thought the goal of life was to examine your life continually every day.

Real wisdom is more like a cognitive skill. So the goal of philosophy, I think, for Socrates is more of a process that we engage in every day of our lives, learning to think and question things more profoundly. He said the unexamined life is not worth living. He thought the goal of life was to examine your life continually every day.

Real wisdom is more like a cognitive skill. So the goal of philosophy, I think, for Socrates is more of a process that we engage in every day of our lives, learning to think and question things more profoundly. He said the unexamined life is not worth living. He thought the goal of life was to examine your life continually every day.

It was like an ongoing process of personal development that, in a sense, never really ended. So the core of his philosophy, I think, is the actual method of his philosophy. doctrines in a sense often he doesn't state them but he seems to be kind of arriving at them so for example a famous one is in Plato's Republic in the first book Socrates asks for a definition of justice

It was like an ongoing process of personal development that, in a sense, never really ended. So the core of his philosophy, I think, is the actual method of his philosophy. doctrines in a sense often he doesn't state them but he seems to be kind of arriving at them so for example a famous one is in Plato's Republic in the first book Socrates asks for a definition of justice

It was like an ongoing process of personal development that, in a sense, never really ended. So the core of his philosophy, I think, is the actual method of his philosophy. doctrines in a sense often he doesn't state them but he seems to be kind of arriving at them so for example a famous one is in Plato's Republic in the first book Socrates asks for a definition of justice

And his friends say, well, justice is helping your friends and harming your enemies, right? This was a cliche in Athenian culture. It comes from the military world where you'd be helping your military allies and punishing or attacking your enemies in warfare. But it was also applied to civilian life as well. And Socrates questions us from a number of different angles.

And his friends say, well, justice is helping your friends and harming your enemies, right? This was a cliche in Athenian culture. It comes from the military world where you'd be helping your military allies and punishing or attacking your enemies in warfare. But it was also applied to civilian life as well. And Socrates questions us from a number of different angles.

And his friends say, well, justice is helping your friends and harming your enemies, right? This was a cliche in Athenian culture. It comes from the military world where you'd be helping your military allies and punishing or attacking your enemies in warfare. But it was also applied to civilian life as well. And Socrates questions us from a number of different angles.

But as far as I recall, in the Republic, he doesn't specifically state what the alternative conclusion would be. He just kind of implies it. Whereas later philosophers, Plutarch, for example, explicitly says Socrates believed that justice consists in helping your friends, but also helping your enemies by turning them into your friends.

But as far as I recall, in the Republic, he doesn't specifically state what the alternative conclusion would be. He just kind of implies it. Whereas later philosophers, Plutarch, for example, explicitly says Socrates believed that justice consists in helping your friends, but also helping your enemies by turning them into your friends.

But as far as I recall, in the Republic, he doesn't specifically state what the alternative conclusion would be. He just kind of implies it. Whereas later philosophers, Plutarch, for example, explicitly says Socrates believed that justice consists in helping your friends, but also helping your enemies by turning them into your friends.

So the goal is basically to convert enemies into friends, not just to kind of punish or harm your enemies. Socrates was concerned that if we try to harm our friends from a particular point of view, first of all, we're missing out. If we try to harm our enemies, first of all, we're missing out on the opportunity to convert them into allies or friends.

So the goal is basically to convert enemies into friends, not just to kind of punish or harm your enemies. Socrates was concerned that if we try to harm our friends from a particular point of view, first of all, we're missing out. If we try to harm our enemies, first of all, we're missing out on the opportunity to convert them into allies or friends.