Socrates

Socrates (470-399 BCE) was a Greek philosopher of Athens whose life and death shaped the entire Western philosophical tradition. He left no writings of his own, so his thought is known chiefly through Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes, and later ancient sources. The most important works associated with him include Plato's Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Symposium, as well as Xenophon's Memorabilia. Socrates matters because he turned philosophy toward ethical self-examination: What is justice, courage, virtue, knowledge, and the good life. His method of questioning exposed false certainty and made ignorance the beginning of wisdom rather than a disgrace. Condemned to death by Athens, he became a model of intellectual integrity under civic pressure. His quotes endure because they challenge readers to examine not only what they believe, but how they live. His example still makes honest questioning feel like a moral obligation.

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