470-399 BC Socrates

Socrates (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English" title="Help:IPA for English">/ˈsɒkrətiːz/</a>;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-2">[2]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language">Greek</a>: Σωκράτης <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_Greek" title="Help:IPA for Greek">[sɔːkrátɛːs]</a>, Sōkrátēs; 470/469 – 399 BC)<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-enc1911-1">[1]</a> was a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Greece" title="Classical Greece">classical Greek</a> (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Athens" title="Classical Athens">Athenian</a>) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy" title="Philosophy">philosopher</a> credited as one of the founders of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_philosophy" title="Western philosophy">Western philosophy</a>.

He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato" title="Plato">Plato</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon" title="Xenophon">Xenophon</a> and the plays of his contemporary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes" title="Aristophanes">Aristophanes</a>.

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato#Dialogues" title="Plato">Plato's dialogues</a> are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best disciple', Plato".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-3">[3]</a>

Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics" title="Ethics">ethics</a>, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irony#Socratic_irony" title="Irony">Socratic irony</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method" title="Socratic method">Socratic method</a>, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy" title="Pedagogy">pedagogy</a> in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology" title="Epistemology">epistemology</a>, and his ideologies and approach have proven a strong foundation for much Western philosophy that has followed.

Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggested a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spent as Athens' benefactor.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-52">[52]</a> He was, nevertheless, found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impiety" title="Impiety">impiety</a> ("not believing in the gods of the state"),<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-53">[53]</a> and subsequently sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum" title="Conium maculatum">poison hemlock</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-54">[54]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-55">[55]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-56">[56]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates#cite_note-57">[57]</a>

470-399 BC Socrates

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