From 469 to 399 B.C.E., the infamous Socrates lived and roamed the streets of Athens, asking perplexing questions, instigating arguments, and publicly humiliating some of his opponents. Scholars insist that we owe Socrates for Western Philosophy as we have come to understand it today.
Alexander Nehamas, a Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, commented on Socrates’ brilliance and popularity: “with the exception of the Epicureans, every philosophical school in antiquity, whatever its orientation, saw in him either its actual founder or the type of person to whom its adherents were to aspire.”
Despite his fame, we know practically nothing about the historical Socrates, in large part because we trust too much the sources that Plato gave us. Plato’s writings always tell a story about Socrates but never demonstrate the philosophical opinions of Plato himself.
As a result, researchers believe that Plato altered the stories of Socrates’ life for promoting Plato’s own philosophy. However, we find inconsistencies across Plato’s works, in addition to inconsistencies in comparison to other authors’ texts.
In addition to Plato, we have two other sources on Socrates from the Greek playwright Aristophanes (450 – 386 B.C.E.) and the Greek philosopher Xenophon (425 – 386 B.C.E.). Aristophanes’ play Clouds remains the earliest source we have on Socrates.
Similarly to Plato, Xenophon studied under a more mature Socrates when Socrates would have at least reached an age of 50 before the two pupils had matured enough to study his radical opinions. On the other hand, Aristophanes knew a much younger Socrates.
We have numerous account of Socrates from Plato which include The Republic, Euthypro, Meno, Phaedo, and Symposium. These titles represent just a few of Plato’s dialogues on Socrates. In contrast, Xenophon wrote just a few works on Socrates which are Apology, Anabasis, Symposium, and Hellenica.
Because all of the accounts differ in some way and highlight several inconsistencies, we cannot determine the most appropriate interpretation of Socrates. To mimic the phrase “Socratic dialogue,” scholars have named this interpretive confusion the “Socratic problem.”
We do, however, know some facts about Socrates. He walked the streets of Athens in a very strange manner. Most Athenians viewed holding a public office as a duty to their state. Socrates never served in public office. Although many Sophists traveled all across Greece, supporting their careers by charging their pupils, Socrates lived in poverty and never charged anyone for his opinions.
Although history obscures this fascinating character, scholars have long celebrated him for his influence, radicalism, and innovation. We may know almost nothing about the real Socrates, but future study and research may help us solve the Socratic problem.