The Philosophers on Conduct, II: Socrates

THE PHILOSOPHERS ON CONDUCT. BY MILTON BENNION, PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY, UNIVERSITY OP UTAH. N. SOCRATES. In Athens, in Socrates' time, belief in religion and the popular sanctions of morality had decayed. The Sophists, the learned teachers of the time, had not only strengthened this popular unbelief, but had even affirmed the impotency of philosophy to arrive at any standard of truth, either in natural science or ethics. The resulting attitude towards life is summed up in the Sophistic maxim, "Man is the measure of all things." They meant by this that the individual man is the measure of all things. Let everyone then do what seems to be right in his own eyes, and especially let him seek what will contribute most to his own individual success. There is no universal standard by which conduct can be measured . This philosophy of life, if it can be called a philosophy, is the logical basis for an irrational, egoistic individualism; an individualism that is intolerable in any respectable philosophy. Socrates threw the whole weight of his personality and philosophic power against this doctrine of the Sophists. He sought to substitute for the worn-out, mythological sanctions on the one hand, and the moral chaos of the Sophists on the other, a moral philosophy grounded in universal reason, of which he found the germ in the minds of all men. His aim in teaching was, by his conversational method, to bring distinctly into consciousness these sub-conscious universals. This manner of teaching he called a process of giving birth to ideas, and he called himself a spiritual mid-wife. ..._

THE PHILOSOPHERS ON CONDUCT. 939 Socrates was not a business man, neither was he a politician. As a moral philosopher, seeking to bring to light the common ideals of life and universal standards of conduct, he counted not the consequences to himself. The conservative leaders in Athens, failing to understand Socrates, identified him with the skeptical Sophists, and accused him of corrupting the youth. By his exposure of the ignorance and pretensions of the Sophists, the radical leaders, he had likewise incurred their enmity . The devotion of his pupils was insufficient to save Socrates from being crushed between these opposing masses of prejudice and hatred. His own frank admissions, and his expressed determination to continue his divine mission of teaching the youth of Athens only made his fate more certain. After he had been condemned to drink the hemlock, he refused opportunities to escape, holding that duty required him to submit willingly to the law of the state . From the time of his imprisonment to that of his execution, he conversed freely with his pupils on the problems of life, death, and immortality. The story of these last hours, as given in Plato's Apology, illustrates a calmness and resolution, in face of the most supreme peril, that are unsurpassed in human history. The life and death no less than the teachings of Socrates have immortalized his name, and made him one of the great historical types of the ideal life. All subsequent schools of ancient European philosophy were proud to support their ethical teachings by reference to the life and teachings of Socrates. He was not the author of a developed system of philosophy, but of a philosophical method. He professed to be wiser than the Sophists only in that he, unlike them, was conscious of his own ignorance. He did not, however, feel himself forever bound to this state of ignorance. He believed most firmly in the possibility of a moral philosophy, and himself developed the foundation for it.* Socrates left no writings. We are therefore dependent upon his contemporaries, his pupils, and subsequent authors, for our knowledge of both his life and his teachings. The most direct and complete information comes from two of his pupils, Xenophon and Plato. The former was a historian and practical man of affairs. * See Utah Educational Review, January, 1908.