Socrates and Cornel West

Introduction to Philosophy

Philosophy is the reflection of articulation of knowledge and the limitation of existence. It is a Greek term, which consists of two words: philos (love) and sophia (thought, wisdom, knowledge). Therefore, philosophy refers to "love of knowledge". A person who pursues philosophy is an individual who seeks knowledge without a pragmatic view. The person remains curios and inquires about the ultimate foundations of reality. Beyond the development of philosophy as a discipline, the act of philosophizing is intrinsic to the human condition (Guthrie, Pp. 114-127).

Traditionally, philosophy is believed to have two tasks, one analytic and the other synthetic. The first consists primarily of a method—the critical application of rational intelligence and logical reasoning to a variety of subjects with the aim of explicating the meaning of concepts and of judging truth claims. The second task attempts to discover answers to metaphysical questions so as to increase man's knowledge of reality.

Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is “Truth is feared by those who try to suppress it”.

Socrates

Socrates of Athens was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He inspired the work of countless other philosophers and scientists such as Plato, Aristotle, and Xenophon (Dell, Pp. 87-112). Socrates was a philosopher of being, perfectly in line with Ionian thinkers such as Anaxagoras and Archelaus. Socrates believed that reality is incorporeal and transcendent, perceived by the very few thinkers who have the intellect and discipline to penetrate the generally unknowable ideal forms of the universe. Socrates did not write anything, but we know of his thought from his disciples Plato and Xenophon (Winspear, Pp. 117-133).

Found truth using the dialectic

Plato's dialogues indicate that Socrates believed that constant questioning would lead to the truth. His technique in conversation, teaching, and debate was to pose a question, responding to the answer with another question, and so on. Each question became more penetrating and was posed in such a way to yield a desired response from the respondent. Plato's dialogues show that Socrates had already deduced the truth that he was carefully and patiently trying to elicit from his conversant. This technique of assuming a priori truth that one will certainly arrive at through a mental process is the hallmark of deductive reasoning, of which Socrates was the greatest practitioner (Plato, Pp. 196-254).

Threatened Athenian elite

Socrates was unafraid to challenge the beliefs and knowledge of others in his pursuit of truth and his goal of revealing this truth and the correct methods by which to achieve knowledge of the truth to others (Taylor, pp. 66-85). His challenging intellectual demeanor eventually got him into trouble after the Athenians had lost the Peloponnesian War to the Spartans and Athenian democracy was crumbling at the end of the fifth century. Socrates was put on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens, charges that he vigorously denied and showed to be absurd in his trial, recorded by Plato in the Apology. Nevertheless Socrates was convicted and sentenced to die, which he could avoid by exile. Athenian to the ...