Who said socrates was the wisest

Chaerephon asked the omniscient oracle if there was anyone wiser than Socrates, and the priestess replied that there was not. Socrates recounts how he took this news with great puzzlement: he knew the oracle could not lie, and yet he was only too aware that he had no particular wisdom or specialized knowledge at all.

In order to test the oracle, or to prove it wrong, Socrates sought out and questioned Athenian men who were highly esteemed for wisdom. First, he interrogated the politicians, then the poets, and then the skilled craftsmen. In questioning the politicians, he found that though they thought they were very wise, they did not in fact know much of anything at all.

The poets, though they wrote great works of genius, seemed incapable of explaining them, and Socrates concluded that their genius came not from wisdom but from some sort of instinct or inspiration which was in no way connected to their intellect.

Furthermore, these poets seemed to think they could speak intelligently about all sorts of matters concerning which they were quite ignorant. In the craftsmen, Socrates found men who truly did have great wisdom in their craft, but invariably, they seemed to think that their expertise in one field allowed them to speak authoritatively in many other fields, about which they knew nothing.

In each case, Socrates affirmed that he would rather be as he is, knowing that he knows nothing, than to be inflated by a false sense of his own great wisdom. Thus, he concludes, he truly is wiser than other men because he does not think he knows what he does not know. For Plato, philosophy is a process of constant questioning, and questioning necessarily takes the form of dialogue.

Plato took it upon himself to write his thoughts down anyway, but he was careful not to write them in such a way that we could easily assimilate his thoughts rather than thinking for ourselves. The ideas in philosophy are often general and abstract. The four main branches of philosophy are logic, epistemology, metaphysics, and axiology.

Logic studies the connection between evidence and conclusions which one wishes to draw from the evidence. He believed that one should focus on self-development than on material possession. The profound thoughts of Socrates are known through the work of Plato and Aristotle, and before them it was Xenophon and Aristophanes. These are some of the most well-known of all Greek philosophers. The Socratic method also known as method of Elenchus, elenctic method, or Socratic debate is a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.

Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Ben Davis June 4, What did the oracle at Delphi say about Socrates? Why is Socrates considered wise by the god of Delphi? What was Socrates mission? What is the main point Socrates made by telling the story about the Oracle of Delphi? The world is not as simple as we perceive it to be. We cannot sit here and act like we got it all figured out.

Maybe we have an innate curiosity as man because we want to understand this strange, infinitely complex universe. Socrates was such a burden to the people of Athens that they put him on trial for being so damn annoying. He had a chance to say sorry and argue his way out of the trial. But Socrates had to be edgy and instead told the jury that he had done nothing wrong. In fact, they should actually be showering him with gifts and giving him free meals for the rest of his life for his dutiful service.

He had a chance to escape death if he ran away and promised to lived a quiet life, not annoying any more people. His friends begged him to take this option, but Socrates argued his way out of that and actually convinced his friend to agree that he should drink the hemlock honorably instead of trying to escape his death. We can learn humility from Socrates. He was never satisfied with what he knew and did not let the people around him be satisfied either. He told them to examine every part of their lives, and question everything everyday.

The key to attaining wisdom is to admit your ignorance. It seems paradoxical because we believe that being wise has something to do with acquiring vast amounts of knowledge.

We tend to group the words knowledge and wisdom together, which leads us to confusing the two terms as synonyms. If I had to personify the two words, I would say that the Sophists would characterize knowledge and Socrates would characterize wisdom. The sophists were prideful in their knowledge and taught Athenians ways to improve their rhetoric and debating skills in exchange for money.

The more knowledge they accumulated, the smarter they believed they were. He sees himself as a champion for Athens. The Oracle of Delphi, a god, who by nature could not lie, proclaimed that Socrates was the wisest of men Plato, trans.

Socrates, a humble man, sought to disprove the claims of the oracle. The laws of the society in which Socrates lived condemned him to die for his own conviction and the reasons for Socrates to remain and accept the punishments of that society have proved to be wise and justified.

In consideration of those beliefs, I feel it is safe to conclude that Socrates would be no more in favor of "civil disobedience" than he was in disobeying the judgement that was brought down against him. Socrates holds incredible respect for the laws which govern him and no deviance, be it great or small, would he permit. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Since Socrates recognizes his ignorance and takes it upon himself to find someone wiser than him; this makes him the wisest man.

In this essay, I will argue that his argument is valid because those who claimed to be wise, are truly ignorant in the eyes of the gods. In Apology, Socrates argues that he is not the wisest man. He then sets out on a mission to find someone wiser than him and prove the oracle wrong.

Priority Care of the Soul. Meaning that, living as a law-bidding citizen and respecting society made you a better person, which is healthy for the soul. By doing so, Socrates portrays the city as a horse who is in need of guidance to water, during his trial in court.

By using the metaphor of leading a horse to water Socrates shows that he was not corrupting the youth but instead being an attribution to the city of Athens.