Socrates (Philosophy)

Socrates main characteristic was a relentless drive to find the truth. His tool of choice was dialogue. He felt by using logic and inductive reasoning he could arrive at the truth or at least in its general direction. Like all Greeks of his time, Socrates’ loved the spoken word. He used it without regard for sensibilities or conventions to achieve his goal…. the Truth.

The most interesting and influential thinker in the fifth century B.C was Socrates, whose dedication to careful reasoning transformed the entire enterprise. Since he sought genuine knowledge rather than mere victory over an opponent, He familiarized himself with the rhetoric and dialectics of the Sophists. Socrates employed the same logical tricks developed by the Sophists to a new purpose, the pursuit of truth. Thus, his willingness to call everything into question and his determination to accept nothing less than an adequate account of the nature of things mak...