Socrates

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Socrates (c.470–399 bc) Greek philosopher, who laid the foundation for an ethical philosophy based on the analysis of human character and motives. None of Socrates writings survive. Information about his life and philosophy is found in the dialogues of his pupil, Plato, and the Memorabilia of Xenophon. The son of a sculptor, he fought in the Peloponnesian War. In 429 bc, according to Plato's Apology, the oracle at Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest man in Greece. Socrates' methodology was based on the dialectic. Unlike the Sophists, he believed that moral excellence is attained through self-knowledge. For Socrates, knowledge and virtue were synonymous; immorality was founded on ignorance. Socrates' criticism of tyranny attracted powerful enemies, and he was charged with impiety and corrupting the young. Condemned to death, he drank the poisonous draft of hemlock required by law.

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