EME 1005- Reflection 11

Socrates was not one to record his philosophies and teachings; he believed learning was living it out instead of writing it down, therefore what we know of his impact come mostly from Plato’s notes. I find this a bit unfortunate because it would have been great to be able to learn and read about his ideas and philosophies in his own words and writings. Although there has been some confusion floating around about what is originally Socrates’ ideas and Plato’s idea, it is still a well known fact that Socrates as Plato’s teacher greatly influenced his ideas. It would make sense for Plato’s idealism to come from his favorite teacher, Socrates. People believed everything Socrates had taught and followed it throughout their life. Socrates tested people’s minds to become strong in what they believed. Moral virtue equaled happiness and moral virtue was absolutely needed in order to be happy. It was believed that a person who did evil things were a bad person and that they would be better off dead than to be alive and evil. Socrates gave the people of this time an example of what was considered to be a worthy lifestyle. He believed a worthy life was one that was examined. Socrates pushed people to have their own minds and to have valid arguments for their beliefs. Socrates taught his followers his idea of afterlife and that higher power did find good and evil relevant. I believed that moral beliefs and values would always matter and there could not be a world without them. As you can see, Socrates did not care too much about factual information but was more worried about being a good person and making sure his followers learned to think for themselves and also be brought up with good morals. He set a good example for this civilization to act right, and not wrong. Because he taught his students to put up valid arguments when discussing theories, I think he sort of brought the idea of harsher, well thought out debates into this world. Unfortunately, Socrates was poisoned for his teachings. His students offered to help his escape before they forced him to take the poison but Socrates was very loyal and showed a strong pride in his belief and chose to take the poison. I have told my mom that teaching is a passion career, not a money career. This moment at the end of Socrates’ life shows a strong flowing passion for his love of teaching his ideals; a passion so strong that he was willing to give up his life for it. Many, many years have passed but his theories are still widely taught and known in today’s society.