Socrates Thread

[NoJo]

Post your pics or anectodes about the great Greek philospher Socrates here, folks!

 

[NoJo]

http://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/s/fotos/socrates.jpg

 

[amuse bouche]

The unexamined life is not worth living for man.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Socrates was only 15 when he invented Morse Code, 18 when he wrote "Bugle Boy Rag," and 21 when he invented the acting method that still bears his name, which involves asking endless questions about your character until people want to kill you.

Socrates's wife Feltippe hounded him to an early grave because he refused to use a strigil after his all-night nude wrestling symposia.

He wasn't gay, but he was known as the gladfly of Athens, Georgia.

He invented the foot coverings we know today as "socks".

His last words were, "Never give a sucker an even break!" And then he drank headlock and died.

--Zoot

 

[gauchecritic]

Socrates, because someone had to.

 

[Coming Together]

Socrates, because someone had to.

Nice legs.

 

[matriarch]

Post your pics or anectodes about the great Greek philospher Socrates here, folks!

Why??

 

[NoJo]

Why??

I assume you're being Socratic there, Mat.

 

[gauchecritic]

Proposition

... is that the AH believes that Socrates, but paradoxically not his method or teachings, is a fabulous figure concocted by such bit-players as Plato, Aristotle, Aristophenes and Xenophon in order to promulgate wild and untested ideas on the nature of discourse and philosophy.

 

[rgraham666]

I liked the man. He spent his whole life pissing people off.

"Well," he would ask them, "if you believe this is true, could you please explain that?"

Most of the time it was things they hadn't considered before and didn't really want to consider.

No wonder they killed him. They'd gotten sick of thinking.

Everything is easier than thinking.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

"By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher."

*****

"I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled [poets] to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean."

*****

 

[Aurora Black]

Socrates was a sexy bastard.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

The scary thing, last christmas I recieved a Socrates T-shirt as a gift. A print of his death on the front and the quotes "I am neither an Athenian nor a Greek but a citizen of the world" and "I know only that I know nothing."

The card that came with the shirt verified everything Dr Mabeuse posted, plus the evidence that he could fly and had laser vision.

 

[Aurora Black]

The card that came with the shirt verified everything Dr Mabeuse posted, plus the evidence that he could fly and had laser vision.

Okay....

 

[dr_mabeuse]

The card that came with the shirt verified everything Dr Mabeuse posted, plus the evidence that he could fly and had laser vision.

Yes. Invented the bacon cheeseburger too.

God, I love Google! I couldn't remember the name of those things Greek athletes used to scrape the oil and sweat and dirt off their bodies with, so I went to Google and searched on "Greek athletes sweat oil dirt" and found it right away: a "strigil".

Found a lot of other good stuff too. I'll see you guys later.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

Yes. Invented the bacon cheeseburger too.

God, I love Google! I couldn't remember the name of those things Greek athletes used to scrape the oil and sweat and dirt off their bodies with, so I went to Google and searched on "Greek athletes sweat oil dirt" and found it right away: a "strigil".

Found a lot of other good stuff too. I'll see you guys later.

That's the stain on my shirt! barbecue sauce from my bacon cheeseburger!

 

[SEVERUSMAX]

I thought that Diogenes the Cynic said that bit about being a "citizen of the world".

I like that he wasn't interested in "dressing the part" of the great teacher. He was grubby. He didn't care what people thought of his looks. I'm not that grubby, but that takes BALLS. Especially given what I know about his wife.

 

[AppleBiter]

"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance."

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Dude, So-crates!
http://www.garnersclassics.com/pics/billted/stare.jpg

 

[Aurora Black]

Dude, So-crates!
http://www.garnersclassics.com/pics/billted/stare.jpg

Hahahaha! That's priceless!

 

[R. Richard]

He wasn't gay, but he was known as the gladfly of Athens, Georgia.

--Zoot

Yes and his experiences were anlyzed in a Socriatic dialog by one Charlie Daniels in which it was determined that Socrates was, in fact, the Devil. An amazing individual.

Since Socrates never published, Socrates died. Truly it is written, "Publish or perish!"

 

[NoJo]

Yes and his experiences were anlyzed in a Socriatic dialog by one Charlie Daniels in which it was determined that Socrates was, in fact, the Devil. An amazing individual.

Since Socrates never published, Socrates died. Truly it is written, "Publish or perish!"

He didn't publish, but he had a great biographer.

One of Plato's dialogues "Euthyphro", deals with morality. In it, Socrates, awaiting trial (which of course ended in his death), calmly discusses morals and holiness with the "straight man", the pompous Euthyphro. The translation is by Hugh Tredennick and Harold Tarrant. The comments are by Tarrant.

Tredennick captures the chatty style of the dialogues, and Socrates' polite but withering ironic humour, which sometimes comes as a bit of a surprise for people who are expecting a drier style from someone as "important" as Plato.

The dialogue from the Penguin Edition of "The Last Days of Socrates" is here: http://www.greefermadness.com/pub/_im/euthyphro/euthyphro.pdf

 

[rgraham666]

My understanding is that the Socrates in Plato was dependent on whether Plato was a journalist or a philosopher.

In The Dialogues, Plato was a journalist, reporting on conversations that most likely occurred.

The Socrates in The Republic was a character created to give intellectual weight to the corporatist dictatorship that Plato was proposing

 

[Guest]

Jose, you continue to inspire me.

not your madre,

Perdita

 

[NoJo]

My understanding is that the Socrates in Plato was dependent on whether Plato was a journalist or a philosopher.

In The Dialogues, Plato was a journalist, reporting on conversations that most likely occurred.

The Socrates in The Republic was a character created to give intellectual weight to the corporatist dictatorship that Plato was proposing

Exactly. Euthyphro is written by the young Plato, only shortly after the death of his beloved teacher; he probably would have tried very hard not to put words into Socrates' mouth.