Donald Robertson

And what's missing from the Platonic dialogues and from Xenophon, although they refer to historical events and they refer to important figures, I think people still, when they read Plato, get the feeling that Socrates is just walking around in pleasant groves and sandals, kind of pontificating about things, and they don't visualize him properly.

And what's missing from the Platonic dialogues and from Xenophon, although they refer to historical events and they refer to important figures, I think people still, when they read Plato, get the feeling that Socrates is just walking around in pleasant groves and sandals, kind of pontificating about things, and they don't visualize him properly.

as a heavy infantryman who fought in at least three major battles of the Peloponnesian War. They don't imagine him as someone who survives a terrible plague. They don't see him at the heart of Athenian politics, surrounded by these key figures, like these senior statesmen.

as a heavy infantryman who fought in at least three major battles of the Peloponnesian War. They don't imagine him as someone who survives a terrible plague. They don't see him at the heart of Athenian politics, surrounded by these key figures, like these senior statesmen.

as a heavy infantryman who fought in at least three major battles of the Peloponnesian War. They don't imagine him as someone who survives a terrible plague. They don't see him at the heart of Athenian politics, surrounded by these key figures, like these senior statesmen.

And living through one of the most epic wars in European history, the Peloponnesian War lasted 27 years, you know, and under a dictatorship, the 30 tyrants that took over Athens. So his life was incredibly, you know, dramatic.

And living through one of the most epic wars in European history, the Peloponnesian War lasted 27 years, you know, and under a dictatorship, the 30 tyrants that took over Athens. So his life was incredibly, you know, dramatic.

And living through one of the most epic wars in European history, the Peloponnesian War lasted 27 years, you know, and under a dictatorship, the 30 tyrants that took over Athens. So his life was incredibly, you know, dramatic.

Basically, and his philosophy is shaped by, I think, all of these things, his experience as a soldier, living under different political regimes, including a kind of dictatorship that, you know, that was really brutal and sort of political purges where people were just rounded up and executed.

Basically, and his philosophy is shaped by, I think, all of these things, his experience as a soldier, living under different political regimes, including a kind of dictatorship that, you know, that was really brutal and sort of political purges where people were just rounded up and executed.

Basically, and his philosophy is shaped by, I think, all of these things, his experience as a soldier, living under different political regimes, including a kind of dictatorship that, you know, that was really brutal and sort of political purges where people were just rounded up and executed.

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.