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Wisdom can be defined as the knowledge of what is right and true. The ancient Greeks
discussed, debated, and studied wisdom. This is called philosophy. The word philosophy
comes from a Greek term meaning "the love of wisdom."
The Greeks believed they could become wise by using reason. Reason is the ability to
think clearly. Greek philosophers developed logic, a step-by-step method of using reason
to think through a problem. A philosopher named Socrates challenged the leaders of Athens
by asked his students to use reason and logic instead of following the directions of the
leaders of Athens. Socrates was a retired stonecutter. As a young
man he fought in the Peloponnesian War and served in the boule, but he devoted the last
years of his life to philosophy. Socrates believed that we all could find truth by thinking
logically and trusting our inner voices. Socrates told his students that “wisdom begins in
wonder.” Socrates did not teach in a school. The old
philosopher drifted around Athens, engaging his students in arguments about justice, bravery,
and ethics. Socrates taught by asking questions that forced his students to use logic. When
teachers ask questions that encourage students to draw conclusions, they are using the "Socratic
method" of teaching. A priest called the Oracle of Delphi pronounced Socrates the wisest man
in Greece. Socrates concluded that while others professed knowledge they did not have, Socrates
knew how little he knew. Socrates asked many questions, but he gave few answers. He often
denied knowing the answers to the questions he asked.
Socrates did not write any books because he believed in the superiority of rhetoric over
writing. Rhetoric is speech that is used to persuade someone. What we know about Socrates
comes mostly from his student, Plato. Plato wrote down his teacher’s ideas in a series
of dialogues. A dialogue is a conversation between two people.
Athens had recently lost the Peloponnesian War to Sparta, and the humiliated leaders
of the polis did not want a critic like Socrates challenging their authority. Socrates called
himself a “gadfly.” A gadfly is a pest that bites livestock. Socrates tried to use
his criticism of Athens to “sting” the polis into recovering the Golden Age that
existed before the long war. The Athenian leaders threatened to bring Socrates
to trial on two charges. Socrates refused to honor the gods. He was also charged with
corrupting the youth of Athens by teaching the young people to trust their own judgment
instead of following the rules of the city leaders. Most Athenians expected the seventy-year-old
Socrates to leave Athens before his arrest, but the old philosopher remained in Athens,
stood trial, and was found guilty. Socrates refused to participate in a plan
to escape from prison. The philosopher calmly accepted his death by drinking from a cup
of poison hemlock, the customary practice of execution of his time. Socrates believed
that he must obey the law, even if he disagreed with it.