The influences of Greek philosophy on Western Ideology, Democracy, and World educational practices is a storied one of many contributions. One of those significant contributions rests within the line of three great men dedicated to knowledge, epistemology, ontology, and the fields of science, education, psychology, neurology, medicine, history, government and especially critical thinking (So much so that a deeper method of query is literally called the Socratic Method). Many of these great thinkers’ contributions have inspired and aspired minds of universal and global significance toward humanity constructs and developments. Doctors, Generals, World Leaders, Scientist, Writers, Performers, Educators and anyone affected by such practitioners have all benefited from the works and minds of these three individuals. A true proximity to greatness is learning how those minds and choices were developed within the specific context of their time and beyond.
Socrates was the teacher of Plato, and Plato the teacher of Aristotle, Aristotle eventually was the mentor and tutor for the only general said to have never lost a battle. Alexander the Great of Macedonia. Socrates was a soldier before he became a philosopher. According to Plato whose writings are the most prominent regarding Socrates, Socrates was an Infantry Soldier that used the long spear, a shield and a mask while fighting on the front lines in at least three known military campaigns. In fact, it is also reported that Socrates once saved the life of a very famous Greek General during one of those battles.
Socrates was all about the questions – he thirsted for knowledge and wanted all others to do the same. Challenge the status quo, look for both objective and subjective truth, use logic, reason, and evidence to support or refute all claims. Socrates believed that eudemonia or eudemonic happiness was the measure of success in mankind. Socrates fathered critical thought processes for the modern Western World as we now know it. Of course, there were most likely logical thinkers and many questions to find answers for prior to Socrates, but the man made a mission out of teaching people to incorporate that methodology into daily life. A message that eventually resulted in a conviction for corrupting the youth of Greece and thereby he was sentenced to death by poison. He was forced to drink hemlock for the crimes of teaching people to ask better questions!
Plato, one of Socrates most advanced students then set up his own school where he went on to advance the works of Socrates and introduced the Theory of Forms (summation for efficacy – a metaphysical theory that espoused a separation of realty in the physical world and other areas of realistic phenomena occurrences that influenced mankind and behavior). Plato was a very well written scholar in stark contrast to his predecessor. Some of Plato’s works worthy of deep reading include;
· The Republic
· The Great Dialogues of Plato
· The Trial and Death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo
All are highly recommended works of literary art for the deep thinker. Plato was also the teacher of Aristotle. Aristotle eventually disagreed with his teacher and the underlying elements of metaphysical and abstract thinking as a separated form or entities in general. Aristotle was more of a holism ideology where he believed that forms from both the metaphysical and physical are integrated into a being rather than a separation of the being itself. One could certainly postulate that the Socratic method of questioning superiority, and existing ideology was distinctly found in Aristotle. A gift from his lineage which Plato played a large part of.
Aristotle went on to become a powerful teacher and philosopher in his own right and through his own merits. Aristotle was the private tutor of Alexander the Great. Aristotle was the pioneering influencer to separate branches of knowledge and practice, including separation of philosophy from psychology. Physics and metaphysics, and rhetoric, and logic. However, the main principle of human inductive reasoning was part and parcel of integration within the branches of knowledge from which the examination and conclusions were conducted.
Each of these three men deserve much more than can be opined or offered about their life’s works from a simple blog post. I would encourage many of you to utilize such blog posts, Google searches, or websites to find the basis of the work and to seek greater understanding of the underpinnings available to the deep thinker that progressively examines the ancient text and mindsets that parallel many great minds of history – is it a parallel or was it an influence?