Socrates

We spent most of the class today learning about Socrates. As a young man he worked as a stonemason. He also fought in the Peloponnesian war. His working background and battlefield experiences may have shaped the way he viewed the world. He began meeting with young students outside the agora for workshops. Socrates had a specific method he used when he was teaching. He asked a series of questions to determine students underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. This led to the scientific method, in which you start out with a hypothesis, then set out to prove/disprove your theory through experimentation. Socrates was charged with 2 crimes, corruption of Athens youth, and impiety. He defended himself and even admitted that he did these things but said he was right in what he did. A jury of 500 male citizens found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death by poison (hemlock) He even had an opportunity to escape, but refused, proving his loyalty to Athenian democracy. We also talked about Athens and how it attracted many great thinkers to trade their knowledge. Visitors from all around came and shared their knowledge about science.