Socrates (what does mean philosophy)

The word Philosophy is Greek for "love/pursuit of knowledge", but for Socrates philosophy is so much more than that. Socrates does not merely love knowledge. For Socrates knowledge is a way of life, in fact, the only way. When faced with the opportunity to escape death on the condition that Socrates quit "philosophizing", Socrates would rather die. Socrates also mentions that people should not fear death since they don't know what it will be like. This shows that Socrates mind is always open to new possibilities. In Socrates time, many people simply believed what they were told, but Socrates did not just accept any answer.

Socrates spent most of his life as a drifter who was passionate about asking people questions. Socrates believes that was his purpose in life, and he says "I must set the god's command above everything. So I had to go to every man who seemed to possess any knowledge, and investigate the meaning of the oracle (Arthur 14)." And so, I believe that based on what Socrates does, philosophy is asking questions, and never taking anything for granted. Socrates never just assumes anything, he asks as many people as he can in order to be absolutely certain. In order to really begin to know and understand something, one must ask many questions about it. It is only through this process of questioning that we begin to learn.

My example above concerned the color of the ocean, but it also raises questions about the color of the sky. I believe that a good question should elicit further questioning, according to Socrates' actions. If Socrates were alive today (one can't be too sure if his immortal soul is still around or not) he might even ask "but is the ocean really there at all?" This just goes to show that Socrates never just assumes anything. Yes, one can see, feel, and experience the ocean with all the other senses, but is it real or just an illusion? This might even become an endless cycle of questions, but the more I answer, the closer I come to knowing my subject.

To conclude based on Socrates' actions, I think that philosophy is the science of asking many questions, which in turn raises more questions which must be answered in order to know or understand something.

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