A divine voice
Socrates continued to laughs at his fellow men not just because he wanted to torture them. Consciousness left him no choice. He always claimed to hear a divine voice in himself. Protesting, for example, against the death sentences, refusing to make claims for political opponents. And finally he paid with his life. In 399 BC. accused him of "corrupting youth" and "not recognizing the gods." A court of 500 jurors with a negligible majority pronounced him guilty.He could, of course, ask for pardon. And when he was ready to leave Athens, at least he would save his life. But he would change himself if he did so - Socrates thought his own conscience and the truth as more important than his life. He said he acted for the good of the state. However, they condemned him to death. Not long after, surrounded by friends, he drank the cup with poison, which later became commonplace.
But what was the main philosophical problem he was dealing with? Socrates was a contemporary of the Sophists and, just like them, he dealt with people and human life, not with the problems of naturophysophos. The Roman philosopher Cicero said hundreds of years later that Socrates had returned philosophy from heaven to earth, settled it in the cities and homes, and forced people to reflect on being and manners for good and evil. But there was a very significant difference between Socrates and the Sophists. He himself was not considered a sophist - in other words, a scholar and a wise person. Unlike the Sophists, he did not accept paying him for the lessons. No, Socrates called himself a philosopher in the true sense of the word. "Philosopher" actually means "a lover of wisdom," a person who strives to achieve it. The philosopher knows too well that he actually knows too little. That's why he's trying to get real knowledge. Socrates was just that rare person. He knew he knew nothing about life and the world. He even tortured himself that he knew so little.
So the philosopher is a man who realizes that there are many things he does not understand. And that damages him. In this way, he is far smarter than all the others who boast about their false knowledge. "The smartest is the one who knows what he does not know." Socrates himself, however, repeated that he knew only one - that he knew nothing.
It is said that once an Athenian asked the Delphic oracle who is the smartest man in Athens. The oracle replied: Socrates. When Socrates learned this, he was surprised. Immediately he went to the city and sought out a man whom he and his acquaintances had thought clever. But when it turned out that this person was unable to answer his questions clearly, he finally realized that the oracle was right. It is important for Socrates to find a secure foundation for our knowledge. He believed that this foundation lies in the human mind. His strong belief in human reason therefore clearly defines him as a rationalist. Socrates believed he heard a divine voice within himself, and this "conscience" showed him what was right. Whoever knows what is good, he will do good, he thought. He believed that proper knowledge led to proper action. And only who does the right thing becomes a righteous man. If we do wrong, it is because we do not know how to do better. That's why it's so important to multiply our knowledge. Socrates aspired to clear and common definitions: what is justice and what - injustice. Unlike the Sophists, he considered that the ability to distinguish righteousness from unrighteousness was based on reason, not on society.
Plato's Academy
Plato was 29 years old when Socrates was forced to drain the poison cup. He studied at Socrates for a long time and carefully watched the trial against him. The fact that Athens condemned to death its most noble citizen not only left an incurable impression on him, but also determined the direction of his philosophical activity. For Plato, Socrates' death was a crystal clear expression of the contradiction between actual conditions in society, real, and real, or ideal. Plato's first action as a philosopher was to publish Socrates' defense speech before the big court. Socrates wrote nothing, but Plato's writings are preserved (besides the defense speech he wrote remarkable letters and nodal philosophical dialogues). The preservation of these writings is due not least to Plato's idea of discovering his own philosophical school in a forest near Athens, which was named after the mythical Greek hero Akademos. So Plato's philosophical school was called the Academy. Plato's academy taught philosophy, mathematics and gymnastics. Although "taught" may not be the right word. There, the lively conversation was the most important. It is not accidental, therefore, that Plato chose the dialogue for a form under which to record his philosophy.