Reliving Of Socrates Study On The Necessity Of Morality Philosophy

Among various teachings of Socrates, the most influencing ones are undoubtedly “know yourself”, “the knowledge of one’s ignorance” and “midwifery”. But in my opinion, the central key to understanding Socrates’ philosophy is the doctrine “the unexamined life is not worth living”, which in turn leads to a series of questions such as “What is to be examined?” “Who will examine?” and “What kind of life is worth living?” It is well-known that Socrates never gave any direct answers to these questions, but perhaps we should seek the answers not in what he said but in what he did. He converts the abstract thinking and knowledge system of natural philosophers into a way of life: Be abstinent in life, and therefore to pursue the ultimate “good”, that is “happiness”. In this way of life, he has to impel people to the perfection of their soul, being alive or dead. Meanwhile, the foundation of Socrates’ idea is “the immortality of soul”. It is, at the same time, the fundamental presupposition of all philosophers’ theories. To prove the immortality of soul doesn’t mean to prove the actual existence of soul. It mainly offers a foundation of such a theory. It is the same case while talking about “God”. The idea of “God” is demonstrated by philosophers in order to support the theories instead of proving the actual existence of “God”. In other words, the completeness of knowledge is only possible with the immortality of soul, which acts as the basic principle of life as well as the master of knowledge. The word “knowledge” refers not to that of a certain skill but to that endowed by the perfect god on human beings. In Apology, Socrates is not in a panic while facing the two accusations against him because his own “daimon”(spirit) does not forbid him, which could be interpreted as a support to his “silence”. Though Socrates is the only one who has “daimon”, does it prove his impiety? Meanwhile, Socrates persuades Crito by law in Crito. Law itself means reason, so Crito is the argument on reason, and “daimon” implies Socrates’ reason. This dissertation focuses on Socrates’ “death” led to by the accusation of the Athens to comprehend the meaning of “living”. Only when facing death, do people understand the finitude of life. There is no way to lead a good life without a thorough understanding of “death”-- the so-called “living for death”, let alone understanding the value of “living”. At last, we can see the sublimity of virtue in life from Socrates’ attitude towards death, which make a further explanation of the necessity of morality philosophy.