Definitions for Socrates
ˈsɒk rəˌtizsocrates

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:4.3 / 3 votes

1. Socratesnoun

   ancient Athenian philosopher; teacher of Plato and Xenophon (470-399 BC)

WiktionaryRate this definition:3.5 / 2 votes

1. Socratesnoun

   A Classical Greek philosopher.

2. Socratesnoun

   of mostly historical use.

3. Etymology: From Σωκράτης.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Socrates

   Socrates (; Greek: Σωκράτης; c. 470–399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity. They demonstrate the Socratic approach to areas of philosophy including rationalism and ethics. The Platonic Socrates lends his name to the concept of the Socratic method, and also to Socratic irony. The Socratic method of questioning, or elenchus, takes shape in dialogue using short questions and answers, epitomized by those Platonic texts in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine various aspects of an issue or an abstract meaning, usually relating to one of the virtues, and find themselves at an impasse, completely unable to define what they thought they understood. Socrates is known for proclaiming his total ignorance; he used to say that the only thing he was aware of was his ignorance, seeking to imply that the realization of our ignorance is the first step in philosophizing. Socrates exerted a strong influence on philosophers in later antiquity and has continued to do so in the modern era. He was studied by medieval and Islamic scholars and played an important role in the thought of the Italian Renaissance, particularly within the humanist movement. Interest in him continued unabated, as reflected in the works of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. Depictions of Socrates in art, literature, and popular culture have made him a widely known figure in the Western philosophical tradition.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. socrates

   Socrates is a renowned classical Greek philosopher who made significant contributions to Western philosophy. Born in approximately 469 BCE in Athens, Greece, he is best known for his Socratic method of questioning, a dialectical method he utilized to stimulate critical thinking and to bring to light ideas about ethical concepts. Socrates did not leave any writings; most of what is known about him and his teachings has been derived from his students, particularly Plato. Socrates was executed in 399 BCE for charges including corrupting the youth and impiety. Despite his controversial end, he is hailed as one of the pivotal figures in the foundation of Western philosophy.

WikidataRate this definition:4.5 / 2 votes

1. Socrates

   Socrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Many would claim that Plato's dialogues are the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity. Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains a strong foundation for much western philosophy that followed.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. Socrates

   Athenian philosopher, pronounced by the Delphic oracle the wisest of men; was the son of Sophroniscus, a statuary, and Phænarete, a midwife; was brought up to his father's profession, in which it would seem he gave promise of success; he lived all his days in Athens, and gathered about him as his pupils all the ingenuous youth of the city; he wrote no book, propounded no system, and founded no school, but was ever abroad in the thoroughfares in all weather talking to whoso would listen, and instilling into all and sundry a love of justice and truth; of quacks and pretenders he was the sworn foe, and he cared not what enmity he provoked if he could persuade one and another to think and do what was right; "he was so pious," says Xenophon in his "Memorabilia," "that he did nothing without the sanction of the gods; so just, that he never wronged any one, even in the least degree; so much master of himself, that he never preferred the agreeable to the good; so wise, that in deciding on the better and the worse he never faltered; in short, he was the best and happiest man that could possibly exist;" he failed not to incur enmity, and his enemies persecuted him to death; he was charged with not believing in the State religion, with introducing new gods, and corrupting the youth, convicted by a majority of his judges and condemned to die; thirty days elapsed between the passing of the sentence and its execution, during which period he held converse with his friends and talked of the immortality of the soul; to an offer of escape he turned a deaf ear, drank the hemlock potion prepared for him with perfect composure, and died; "the difference between Socrates and Jesus Christ," notes Carlyle in his "Journal," "the great Conscious, the immeasurably great Unconscious; the one cunningly manufactured, the other created, living and life-giving; the epitome this of a grand and fundamental diversity among men; but did any truly great man ever," he asks, "go through the world without offence, all rounded in, so that the current moral systems could find no fault in him? most likely never" (469-399 B.C.).

2. Socrates

   Church historian of the 4th century, born at Byzantium; bred to the bar; his "Ecclesiastical History" embraces a period from 306 to 439, a work of no great merit.

Suggested ResourcesRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. socrates

   Quotes by socrates -- Explore a large variety of famous quotes made by socrates on the Quotes.net website.

2. socrates

   Song lyrics by socrates -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by socrates on the Lyrics.com website.

Who Was Who?Rate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Socrates

   He helped introduce brains into Greece. Committed suicide.

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. SOCRATES

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Socrates is ranked #134712 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Socrates surname appeared 125 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Socrates.
   
   60.8% or 76 total occurrences were White.
   23.2% or 29 total occurrences were Asian.
   8% or 10 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   7.2% or 9 total occurrences were Black.

Matched Categories

1. • Athenian
   • Philosopher

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Anagrams for Socrates »

1. coarsest

2. coasters

How to pronounce Socrates?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Socrates in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Socrates in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Socrates in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of Socrates in a Sentence

1. Plato, Symposium:

   But, my dearest Agathon, it is truth which you cannot contradict; you can without any difficulty contradict Socrates.

2. Lydia M. Child:

   Every human being has, like Socrates, an attendant spirit; and wise are they who obey its signals. If it does not always tell us what to do, it always cautions us what not to do.

3. Michel de Montaigne:

   There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent.

4. Dale Carnegie:

   The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don't like their rules whose would you use

5. William Kunstler:

   You can crucify a Jesus, you can poison a Socrates, you can hang John Brown or Nathan Hale, you can kill a Che Guevara, you can jail a Eugene Debs or a Bobby Seale. You can assassinate John Kennedy or a Martin Luther King, but the problems remain, the hangman's rope never solved a single problem except that of one man.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Socrates
2. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Socrates
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Socrates
6. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Socrates
7. ^ Who Was Who?
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/984/pg984-images.html#:~:text=Socrates
8. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html
9. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Socrates