Socrates is perhaps the first moral philosopher in European history. In his system of ideas, knowledge and wisdom are elements linked to good, while ignorance is evil (a belief also adopted by his disciple, Plato.
In this article We will see what Socrates’ epistemological theory consisted of and how it was linked to morality. But first let’s start by briefly reviewing the life of this Greek philosopher to better understand why he thought the way he did.
Socrates was born in the city-state of Athens in 469 BC. c. It is known that he participated in the Peloponnesian War against other Greek cities, among which Sparta stood out, and that upon his return he dedicated himself to Athenian politics. In this way he had the opportunity to get used to debating and developing complex ideas through dialogue, something that would later serve to develop his philosophical inquiries.
Years later, when his father died, he inherited an amount of money that allowed him to live without having to work for pay. This fact was what made it possible for Socrates to become a philosopher.
Quickly, Socrates began to gain visibility as a public personality on the streets of Athens. This thinker challenged people to defend their most fundamental beliefs to their ultimate consequences, and from the posing of questions that the other had to answer, it demonstrated that those ideas were not as well founded as they seemed at first. This made him gain followers, students who listened to his conversations.
The influence that Socrates gained made the authorities suspicious of him, and finally they accused him of corrupting young people, for which he was sentenced to death. Socrates he ended up committing suicide by drinking hemlock in the year 399 BC. c.
Socrates’ epistemological theory
These are the main aspects of Socrates’ epistemological theory. Not only was it one of the first attempts to create a philosophical system of epistemology in the West, but it also served as a starting point for such important thinkers as Plato.
1. The need to know what good is
The main objective of human existence, what gives meaning to life, is live following the path of good. By definition, good is a vector that tells us which actions are desirable and which are not.
2. Good is an absolute concept
Both good and evil are concepts that exist independently of us. Whether we think about them or not, whether we exist or not, good and evil are there and they say something about who we are even if we are not aware of it.
3. Philosophical inquiry is necessary
As a consequence of the above, it is necessary to investigate through philosophy to go beyond the simple idea that good exists and know exactly what its form is. Since to act in the correct way it is necessary to know reality, Socrates establishes an equivalence between good and wisdom.
4. The rejection of preconceived ideas
To arrive at the idea of good, we must question everything we think we know to check if it is really based on true ideas. For this, Socrates resorted to a principle of knowledge called maieutics.
Socrates believed that, although many of our beliefs are false, by questioning them we can get closer to the truth.
Maieutics is a form of dialogue in which each statement is responded to with a question which forces the issuer to further develop his ideas. In this way you can check if it has no vulnerable sides or if it really is a simple intuition, an easily falsifiable belief.
As Socrates defended the value of maieutics, He showed no enthusiasm for either long speeches or the possibility of writing books, but preferred dialogue developed in real time as a tool to create knowledge. This idea was taken up by other intellectuals later, although his disciple Plato, despite sharing many ideas with him, did not follow his teacher in that regard (and in fact he took it upon himself to leave Socrates’ ideas in writing, given that the latter did not).
What does “I only know that I know nothing” mean?
For Socrates, this declaration of intent was a way of expressing the importance of basing knowledge on questioning everything that seems obvious. Question ideas It may seem like simply a way to undermine theories, but it can also be seen as the opposite: a way to strengthen them and make them truly correspond to reality through constructive criticism.
