Socrates Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Socrates Philosophy Essay And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the god, or lightly reject his favor by condemning me. For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the god; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life. (Socrates, The Apology) Socrates also refers to himself as a gadfly because he bites, and buzzes at the self-satisfied, which, indebted them to consider matters of virtue. He is also like a gadfly because he is likely to get swatted away because of his bite or words of wisdom. His job was to sting the sleeping horse of the Athenian conscious into wakefulness. Socrates said he was doing a service to the Athenian people by bringing them into reality. What Socrates meant by bringing them into reality was that he was enriching the people with questions and problems that made them think. He wanted them to think for themselves and not just agree with other people like the rich and powerful. He wanted the people to not be scared to think for themselves and he wanted them to learn. When Socrates refers to himself as a gadfly during his trial, he means that he is like an examiner of things. He said that he was given to the state by the god.(Socrates, The Apology) He means by this that he was put here to ask questions to examine life and its surroundings. Socrates is like a gadfly because he pesters his objects or people to hopelessness. He asked so many questions and his questions were so profound and intense, that many people became annoyed at him because they probably could not answer them because they were either too scared to answer them (because they knew that Socrates would probably ask another question on top of the first question if they were able to answer it), or they were just to confused to answer the question Socrates had asked. When Socrates referred himself to a gadfly, it opened up a window to new generations of philosophers who, acted like gadflies themselves. Everywhere we look, we see humanitys philosophical side waking up. People nowa days are asking more questions. I think one of the biggest philosophical questions is where did we come from? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? From Socrates, we have learned a way to ponder these questions and to come up with our own answers. The role of philosophy is important because people need to ask questions to understand life and reality and what is going on around them. I think that asking questions and trying to find the answers to them makes our souls grow and be healthy. We need a healthy soul to be alive. Socrates wanted people to not be ignorant because he said that was unhealthy for the soul. The only way to not be ignorant is to ask questions. And that is exactly what Socrates did. I think that the whole ordeal of Socrates says that the conduct of philosophy changes. Philosophers conduct themselves in a manner to which they are essential and irreplaceable because of their minds, they have a great presence about them, and they dont criticize others for their beliefs, except for Socrates. On the other hand, people who listen to philosophers or go against them, sometimes are rude, they are ignorant, and they dont understand the point a philosopher is trying to make. The conduct of philosophy depends on the person and how they view things. The conduct of philosophy is like the conduct of gadflies because many people get annoyed by the philosophers because of their questions. By how in depth the questions are and by how many questions the philosophers ask. Some people think that philosophers are bothersome. In conclusion, I think all of these things and other things help to define what philosophy is today. If we didnt have people like Socrates and Plato and other great philosophers, where would we be to day in the realm of philosophy? Would people actually want or learn to question certain subjects? I think that if they hadnt ever been born, then we wouldnt think for our selves, or think great thoughts. We would be living in a pretty boring world.