What made Socrates the greatest philosopher? Was it his method of questioning?

Jump to Last Post 1-5 of 5 discussions (5 posts)
  1. BakerRambles profile image70
    BakerRamblesposted 12 years ago

    What made Socrates the greatest philosopher?  Was it his method of questioning?  What do you think?

  2. NathanielZhu profile image65
    NathanielZhuposted 12 years ago

    Saying Socrates is the greatest philosopher is like saying blue is the greatest color. What makes a philosopher good is merely a matter of whether his discoveries interest us. I consider him great because he contributed greatly to modern medicine and setting the foundation for much of it. I don't think your asking the right question about his "method" of thinking. You just think. Even Albert Einstein had trouble explaining his method because it's something a person just does.
    ASTF.TK

  3. Robephiles profile image93
    Robephilesposted 12 years ago

    Before Socrates philosophers were basically paid tutors.  He was the first to question power structures and the status quo.   But saying he is "the greatest" since he never wrote anything is highly dubious.

  4. BakerRambles profile image70
    BakerRamblesposted 12 years ago

    Sorry for not wording it right...but I believe when Socrates came and went...even if he did or did not set written work into play...he still allowed for the basic foundation behind the Greek culture flourishing...a huge example of this being the hellinized period after Alexander the Great fell was greatly influenced by the father of Greek philosophy, his questioning opening the doors to both middle eastern and western European questioning of political, moral, and scientific structure.

  5. Dicaeopolis profile image60
    Dicaeopolisposted 12 years ago

    Even if Socrates is not the greatest philosopher, he is certainly a foundational figure in the tradition of philosophy. Had there been no Socrates, there would have been no Plato, and then no Aristotle. As Plato and Aristotle were immensely important to the development of western thought, Socrates deserves a great deal of credit.

    The oracle at Delphi claimed that Socrates was the wisest man alive. Socrates himself took this to be true because he alone knew that he was ignorant with regard to the most important things. His avowed ignorance led him to question so many of the people reputed to be wise in Athens.

    I do not think his method of questioning made Socrates great. Rather, I think it was his humility with respect to the topics he asked about. If we take Plato's characterization to be semi-accurate, he seems to have been open to any answer, including answers that proved his preconceived notions wrong or made him look ignorant. He was willing to investigate, upturning tradition in the process if need be, because the he believed that what was true should guide inquiry (This is especially the case in Plato's Euthyphro). Without the view that truth should override tradition and preconceived opinions, most of the science and humanistic thought that follows from Socrates would not have taken place.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)