What it means to be a Philosopher?

“This is patently absurd; but whoever

wishes to become a philosopher must
learn not to frightened by absurdities”

BERTRAND RUSSEL
 Quiz # 2
During that time, at the door of the academy, the school that
was founded by Plato and where Aristotle spent his academic
years, It as written: “ LET NO ONE WHO ENTER HERE BE
IGNORANT OF 1. _______________________”
2. ___________Study of Origin of human
knowledge
3. ___________The Science and art of
distinguishing correct from the incorrect
4. ___________ The study that deals with the origin
of the world
5. __________The science and art of life should be
lived
THOUGHT Morality REALITY

6. ______________ 8. _______________ 10. _____________

7. ______________ 9. _______________
Answers:
1. Geometry
2. Epestemology
3. Logic
4. Metaphysics
5. Ethics
 PHYLOSOPHY
Thought Reality
LOGIC, Metaphysics,theodicy,
EPISTEMOLOGY Cosmology,Philosophical
Psychology,Philosophy of
Science and Math
MORALITY
Ethics, Aesthetics and philosophy of persons
 HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN
SOMEONE CALLS YOU “
PILOSOPO” ? WHY DO YOU
FEEL THAT WAY?
 PILOSOPO
- Refers to someone who asks a
lot of questions, many of which
are judged as nonsense or out-
of-this world.
 We often do not take a
“ pilosopo”seriously because
we think of them as simply
trying to get attention by
annoying others.
 But is this really
what a philosopher
is?
Philos-Sophia is the
love of wisdom.
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• Known from the writings of his student, PLATO.
• He lived during Golden age of Athens
• He was the son of Sophronicus, a sculptor.
Phaenarete – a midwife
• He referred to Daedalius, the traditional founder
of sculpting and stonemasonry, to be his
ancestor.
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• Known from the writings of his student, PLATO.
• He lived during Golden age of Athens
• He was the son of Sophronicus, a sculptor.
Phaenarete – a midwife
• He referred to Daedalius, the traditional founder
of sculpting and stonemasonry, to be his
ancestor.
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• A lot of people appreciate his intelligence, only a few
would appreciate his looks.
• His acquaintance s would describe him as short,
bearded and bald,ugly and had a pug-like face, his
noise was flat, his lips large, and his prominent swollen
eyes sat beneath a pair of unruly brows.
• Shabby dressed and barefooted
• Physically tough and they knew that he had a record of
courage in battle.
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• He was very much involved in city affairs as a
thinker and as a teacher.
• As a young man, he served in the army against
Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.
• He married Xanthippe – who was of notoriously
foul temper.
• He was considered as the most intelligent man of
Athens
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• He never had to teach everybody directly, instead, he
would just engage in conversations with everybody.
• His activity rested on two unshakeable premises.
• 1. The principle that no person should participate nor
do wrong, even indirectly , in any wrong doings.
• 2. The conviction that nobody who really what is good
and right could act against him.
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• His teachings called the attention of the political
government.
• The majority of Athenian popular assembly demanded
death without trial for the admirals of the intellectual
aristocracy, who opposed the popular tyranny and the
reactionary elements.
• Socrates, who on that day happened to be the
president of the assembly
Socrates of Athens, Greece (470-399 BCE )
• He was accussed by the Poet, Meletus,
The politician, Anytus, and the orator,
Lycon.
• Two charges; a. Corrupting the youth, b.
denying the national gods and
introducing new gods in their stead.
Three famous younger contemporaries of Socrates;
• 1. ARISTOPHANES
• 2. PLATO
• 3. XENOPHON
• The handed down and preserved the philosophy of
Socrates.
The main feature of his philosophy;
“ Ethical wisdom” – the recognition of the fundamental
importance of the ethical life of the human person and of
doing good deeds as the basic principle of human activity.

The famous statement of Socrates in his Philosophy;

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
- That a life devoid of philosophical speculation is hardly a
human life as it is incomplete and it is not fully functioning due
to the lack of virtue or excellence.