Socrates's Teachings: Three Socratic Principles

One of the most famous philosophers of all time, Socrates has sometimes been referred to as one of the wisest men to have ever lived. He was deemed such because of his professed ignorance, which may seem contradictory to being wise. However, Socrates was termed such because he realized that he knew nothing and was aware of his ignorance, which in fact made him wise, as many people who professed to be wise were, in fact, not. Socrates's teachings have been followed for centuries and are based upon three major key points. Socrates was mostly concerned with the practical use of philosophy by way of ethics. He sought to use philosophy as a way to discover how we should live if we were to be truly fulfilled and successful human beings.

The first thing that Socrates believed was that the unexamined life was not worth living. Socrates thought it extremely important to know who we were and what we were trying to become. He deemed this necessary to lead a responsible and fully awake life for if you did not try to figure out who you were and what you believed then it would be as if you were content to just exist and what would be the point in that? Were would be the worth in your existence?

Second, Socrates stated that the most important task in life was caring for the soul. Socrates believed that a person's soul was the real person, who he really was. It was the center of his character and what made him who he was. It was the basis of his thoughts, feelings, values, and decisions and the state of the soul made a person either foolish or wise. Just like the body, the soul should be kept healthy, and Socrates's proposed way of keeping the soul healthy was by introspection and ridding oneself of ignorance. The unhealthy soul was considered one that was ignorant of the true priorities in life. Socrates believed that the most important task people faced was realizing their potential as persons, who they were.

Last, Socrates believed that a good person could not be harmed by other people. Of course, people can physically hurt one another, but what Socrates was referring to is that if the real person, the soul, is good, then outside forces could not harm it. Namely, if the most important part of a person is the soul and the soul is not physical but inward then the soul cannot be harmed. The body may be harmed by another person, but the soul cannot unless one allowed oneself to become susceptible to others and change their beliefs, values, and perceptions on life. However, Socrates believed that if we were constantly searching for wisdom by way of practicing self-evaluation often that we would be liberated from outside harm (our soul, that is, not our bodies).

These three things are the basis of all of Socrates's teachings and what he hoped to convey by them. He advocated self-understanding and felt so strongly about it that he deemed it more important than any other pursuit in life. These principles are what Socrates thought were the most important goals of philosophy.

Source: (Lawhead, The Philosophical Journey).