Who was Socrates and why did he leave no writings?

Socrates was an enigmatic classical Greek philosopher from Athens who authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of writers like Plato and Xenophon. A polarizing figure, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth in 399 BC, leading to his execution by poison. His distinctive conversational style of questioning laid the groundwork for Western moral philosophy and the Socratic method.

What we know

• Socrates authored no texts and is primarily known through the posthumous accounts of classical writers such as Plato and Xenophon. [4]
• In 399 BC, Socrates was put on trial in Athens where he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. [4, 5]
• Philosophy developed prior to Socrates is conventionally referred to as pre-Socratic philosophy. [3]
• The Socratic method of questioning, or elenchus, uses short questions and answers to examine various aspects of an issue or virtue. [4]

Still open

• Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a precise historical reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, creating what is known as the Socratic problem.
• There are debates among scholars regarding the reliability of Plato's Apology as an account of the historical trial.

Where to go next

• how it workedHow did the Socratic method work?
• how we knowWhat was the Socratic problem?
• the bigger pictureWho were the pre-Socratic philosophers?
• a case in pointWhat happened during the trial of Socrates?
• what followedHow did Plato influence Western philosophy?
• an unexpected connectionDid the word philosopher come from Egypt?Modern research suggests that the founding Greek word philosophos borrows from and translates an older Egyptian concept meaning lover of knowledge.

Sources

• [1]list of ancient Greek philosophers (Wikidata Q6605826) · CC0 1.0
• [2]List of ancient Greek philosophers · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Ancient Greek philosophy · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Socrates · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Apology (Plato) · CC BY-SA 4.0