The Good Teacher: Socrates’ Legacy, Plato’s Works

Socrates lived in Athens from approximately 470 to 399 B.C.E. He was a teacher to the famous philosopher Plato. Socrates had an interesting teaching method which is still used today, he never wrote anything down. His method of teaching was only through discussion and communication with his students. Because there was no school or academies in the age, Socrates taught his students in the middle of the city. The students loved there teacher and the way he expressed ideas by asking state official passing by certain questions to prove a point. Although Socrates was loved by his students he had many enemies for various reasons not exactly known. His enemies finally got to him by having him arrested for corrupting young minds. Socrates was tried and convicted by a jury of five hundred male citizens of Athens. The Athenian court would vote once for conviction or acquittal, and once again if the verdict was guilty, in what we today would call the “Penalty phase,” determining the punishment. Socrates himself gave two speeches, one in his defense and one concerning the punishment. His speech during the penalty phase featured an in-your-face suggestion that the proper punishment would be not death but a reward for services to the stat, much like a sports hero: feted by the city of Athens. Socrates was then convicted and sentenced to be executed. He had the chance to escape however he said that because he lived by Athenian law he wanted to die by Athenian law. If he escaped, he said that they would have won and he wouldn’t have stood by his principles.
Virtue for Socrates means to question the meaning of life and to keep one’s integrity while searching, to not be swayed by one’s physical longings or fear of unpleasant situations or concern for comfort. He believed that using are reason will make us realize what virtue is and will actually make us virtuous.