Wisdom In Socrates Symposium

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Socrates sees love as something that is in between being beautiful and ugly and believes that love is a search for beauty and wisdom. Much like Diotima, Socrates presses Agathon to have him admit that love is not beautiful as it desires beauty, and one does not desire what one already has therefore it is not beautiful. Socrates view contrasts with that of Aristophanes from the benefits of love to the nature of love, as Socrates sees no benefits in something that is not beautiful. Love is seen as primarily a relational property by Socrates that holds between things rather than a desire or a need for another person. Love is not itself beautiful or good or anything specific as much as it is a relation that holds between the beautiful, the good, and those who

Comparing Socrates' speech on love in the Symposium and what he says about wisdom in Apology, through the perspective of wisdom and ignorance, there is definite contradiction. The reason being that in Symposium, Socrates first implies the idea that people already have knowledge that they do not know they have, and that by question and answer, we can bring out that knowledge. In the Symposium, Socrates' speech on love is a retelling of a story he was told by Diotima. He claimed that love and beauty is only a concept to the ignorant and uneducated people. It is said that through question and answer, people can develop and become aware that love and beauty is a real being instead of an object. Socrates claimed that “[Diotima] [was] the one who

Socrates, an Athenian philosopher who lived from 469 BC until his very unnecessary death in 399 BC, has had his wisdom called into question many times since he has been studied. But to know whether some is wise, we must first know what it means to be wise. According to Websters Dictionary, to be is wise is : (1) having or showing good judgment; (2) informed; (3) learned; (4) shrewd amd cunning. From this definition, it is clear to me that Socrates was wise in every aspect of the word. He shows this wisdom while

In 469 B.C. a man by the name of Socrates was born. Socrates was a very wise man that cared about doing the right thing. He believed that the best ways to develop ideas was in the give and take of conversation, and that the best way to educate people was to ask them a series of questions leading in a particular direction (now named “Socrates method). Socrates had been quick to identify the drawbacks of democracy, and he had also been the teacher of two men who in different ways harmed Athens: Alcibiades and Critias. Which made the parents of the children that Socrates had taught very upset and angry. Granting all this, it lead to the Trial of Socrates 399 B.C. During this trial Socrates expressed his view of death by using his question-and-answer method, for which he was famous for and what seemed to have gotten him in trouble. Socrates did not write so we have to depend on on what others wrote, and by doing that we now get to see the diverse ways people read and understand what was written about his speech. My chosen primary source, Socrates View on Death, is important, because it gives one view of Socrates speech while my outside source, Ancient Greece, gives a slightly more in depth view.

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therefore, should comply with the laws of the state. Speaking for the laws, Socrates says the proof of his love for the state lies in the facts that he raised his children there, never left the city, did not show interest in visiting any other city states, and most importantly, shunned the idea of exile in exchange for his life during his trial, saying he would rather die than leave Athens. By these arguments, Socrates shows that from the state’s POV, he is a loyal citizen who has chosen to live under its rules and to disobey the rules which have been accepted and instilled in him since birth, would be changing his own belief system, to benefit him in a time of need.

Philosophy can be defined as the pursuit of wisdom or the love of knowledge. Socrates, as one of the most well-known of the early philosophers, epitomizes the idea of a pursuer of wisdom as he travels about Athens searching for the true meaning of the word. Throughout Plato’s early writings, he and Socrates search for meanings of previously undefined concepts, such as truth, wisdom, and beauty. As Socrates is often used as a mouthpiece for Plato’s ideas about the world, one cannot be sure that they had the same agenda, but it seems as though they would both agree that dialogue was the best way to go about obtaining the definitions they sought. If two people begin on common ground in a conversation, as Socrates often tries to do, they are

     Socrates was not the most sensitive or attractive man. He showed up to the dinner party half way through dinner, hardly caring about his late entrance. He was very blunt when asking questions as well. Just before Agathon's speech, he asked Agathon a series of questions that almost trapped him into looking extremely foolish(194b-e). Socrates liked to chase things of beauty and value as well. He was always found socializing with attractive people, and his greatest desire was knowledge. His mind was bursting with ideas of virtue and wisdom, and it was this wisdom that showed him love.

Socrates spent his time questioning people about things like virtue, justice, piety and truth. The people Socrates questioned are the people that condemned him to death. Socrates was sentenced to death because people did not like him and they wanted to shut him up for good. There was not any real evidence against Socrates to prove the accusations against him. Socrates was condemned for three major reasons: he told important people exactly what he thought of them, he questioned ideas that had long been the norm, the youth copied his style of questioning for fun, making Athenians think Socrates was teaching the youth to be rebellious. But these reasons were not the charges against him, he was charged with being an atheist and

Socrates, the protagonist of The Apology believes he is providing wisdom to the city of Athens, which is his service to God. Though, very simple, Socrates professes his own ignorance to the jury through out his “apology”. What is quite interesting about his wisdom is the fact that he does not know what he does not know. Furthermore, Socrates believes that he is the greatest philosopher of all time and therefore, must never stop philosophizing. In relation, Socrates goes on and on about virtue and happiness, which is what he believes makes him the greatest philosopher of all time.

What Socrates was looking for in wisdom, was not what everyone else determined as wisdom at the time. Socrates was looking for someone who had a human kind of wisdom, only attainable by man, and not a superhuman wisdom, which no man could obtain. Socrates did not believe he was wise due to the fact that he had no specific definitions and therefore he could not be wise since he did not know anything. Nevertheless, the people he spoke to, who was supposedly wise, were ignorant of their own lack of knowledge, and therefore they could not be wiser than him. The oracle at Delphi made a prophecy about Socrates, stating that Socrates was the wisest of all men. However, Socrates did not believe this prophecy and sought out to find someone wiser than

He claims that Death is not the end of all, being released from ones evil by death, for after death the soul is carried away to judgment. After getting a punishment, it returns to earth in the sequence of ages. The wise soul is directed through the world below, where as the impure soul wanders without a guide and is carried at last to its own place. The distinction between good souls and evil ones, Socrates recognizes that freedom of choice is given to each individual. Because he believes in the fairness of God, he is assured that a different fate for good and evil souls. Socrates is not certain but the idea of reincarnation in the teachings of the unknown religions offers a solution that he believes is at least something that will take place.

Diotima tells Socrates that philosophers (lovers of wisdom) are in between the gods and the ignorant. She says Love is one of the philosophers, because he is in between wisdom and ignorance. This is because his father Plenty has wisdom but his mother does not. Diotima, who says wisdom is one of the most beautiful things, believes "Love is a love for the beautiful, so Love must necessarily be a philosopher" (99).

Under the influence of Diotima, Socrates has come to understand that Love must not be confused with the object of love, which is in contrast, extremely beautiful and extremely good. Diotima has explained to Socrates that if love desires, but does not possess beautiful and good things, then love cannot, as most people think, be a god (Symposium 5). However, though Love cannot be beautiful or good, this does not mean on the contrary that he is ugly and evil, but rather at some point in-between. So Diotima, taught Socrates that Love is not a god, but a daimon, or something like a spirit that not only conveys the prayers of man to the gods and the answers and commands of the gods to the minds of man alike (Symposium 5), connecting one who desires something with that which he desires. “He is by nature neither mortal nor immortal, … never in want and never in wealth; and, further, he