Socrates, the Midwife of Souls essays

Socrates, the Midwife of Souls essays Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, was a man of the people. His father was an artisan, one of the stone masons who squared, fixed and polished the blocks of which the Parthenon was built. Socrates took up the chisel of his father, the stone mason. He felt himself to be a born artisan, but he was more attracted to fashioning a different sort of material, the human soul, with the same certainty, knowledge and workmanly conscientiousness he applied to his stone work. He felt the artisan bound to his trade by strict and delicate rules, was most capable of understanding the human soul. He wanted to invent a technique for producing noble characters. His mother, who was a midwife, provided another foundation for Socrates life vision. He would deliver souls of the truth they bore within themselves. He would become a midwife for souls. Socrates was known for being very strange, almost extravagant in his behavior. However, he was also a man of great common sense and strict logic. Fat, with bulging eyes, snub nose, broad nostrils, and a wide mouth, he was considered the ugliest man in Athens. Since he held the body in such low esteem, he rarely took a bath. But, as his friends knew, he was "all glorious within," "the most upright man of that day". His self-control and powers of endurance were exemplary; "he had so schooled himself to moderation that his scanty means satisfied all his wants." And he came to be considered one of the greatest philosophers of all time. Socrates believed our most important task, in fact, the very meaning of our lives, was the care of ones soul. He believed the soul was our true self, our very essence, and our bodies the mere instrument utilized in dealing with the physical world. Socrates seemed confidant that human beings survive physical death, therefore possessing an immortal soul. Socrates' view of the soul stands in sharp contrast with the Homeric and...