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110-461: (Redirected from Attributes ) [REDACTED] Look up attribute in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Attribute may refer to: Attribute (philosophy) , an extrinsic property of an object Attribute (research) , a characteristic of an object Grammatical modifier , in natural languages Attribute (computing) , a specification that defines

220-495: A property (Greek: idion , Latin: proprium ) is one of the predicables . It is a non- essential quality of a species (like an accident ), but a quality which is nevertheless characteristically present in members of that species. For example, "ability to laugh" may be considered a special characteristic of human beings. However, "laughter" is not an essential quality of the species human , whose Aristotelian definition of "rational animal" does not require laughter. Therefore, in

330-442: A Socrates of "intolerable smugness and complacency". Symposium is a dialogue of Socrates with other prominent Athenians during an after-dinner discussion, but is quite different from Plato's Symposium : there is no overlap in the guest list. In Memorabilia , he defends Socrates from the accusations of corrupting the youth and being against the gods; essentially, it is a collection of various stories gathered together to construct

440-689: A category of positions in the philosophy of mind which hold that, although the world is constituted of just one kind of substance —the physical kind—there exist two distinct kinds of properties: physical properties and mental properties . In other words, it is the view that non-physical, mental properties (such as beliefs, desires and emotions) inhere in some physical substances (namely brains). This stands in contrast to physicalism and idealism. Physicalism claims that all properties, include mental properties, ultimately reduce to, or supervene on, physical properties. Metaphysical idealism, by contrast, claims that "something mental (the mind, spirit, reason, will)

550-487: A crime). The ontological fact that something has a property is typically represented in language by applying a predicate to a subject . However, taking any grammatical predicate whatsoever to be a property, or to have a corresponding property, leads to certain difficulties, such as Russell's paradox and the Grelling–Nelson paradox . Moreover, a real property can imply a host of true predicates: for instance, if X has

660-426: A happy man, if he really possesses this art ( technē ), and teaches for so moderate a fee. Certainly I would pride and preen myself if I knew ( epistamai ) these things, but I do not know ( epistamai ) them, gentlemen". In some of Plato's dialogues, Socrates appears to credit himself with some knowledge, and can even seem strongly opinionated for a man who professes his own ignorance. There are varying explanations of

770-405: A known expert on the subject, usually in the company of some young men and boys, and by dialogue proves the expert's beliefs and arguments to be contradictory. Socrates initiates the dialogue by asking his interlocutor for a definition of the subject. As he asks more questions, the interlocutor's answers eventually contradict the first definition. The conclusion is that the expert did not really know

880-454: A matter, the discussion places doubt on the common opinion. Socrates also tests his own opinions through the Socratic method. Thus Socrates does not teach a fixed philosophical doctrine. Rather, he acknowledges his own ignorance while searching for truth with his pupils and interlocutors. Scholars have questioned the validity and the exact nature of the Socratic method, or indeed if there even

990-469: A means to eudaimonia (the "identical" and "sufficiency" theses, respectively). Another point of debate is whether, according to Socrates, people desire what is in fact good—or, rather, simply what they perceive as good. Moral intellectualism refers to the prominent role Socrates gave to knowledge. He believed that all virtue was based on knowledge (hence Socrates is characterized as a virtue intellectualist). He also believed that humans were guided by

1100-408: A new apology for Socrates. Plato's representation of Socrates is not straightforward. Plato was a pupil of Socrates and outlived him by five decades. How trustworthy Plato is in representing the attributes of Socrates is a matter of debate; the view that he did not represent views other than Socrates's own is not shared by many contemporary scholars. A driver of this doubt is the inconsistency of

1210-485: A predicament known as the Socratic problem . The works of Plato, Xenophon, and other authors who use the character of Socrates as an investigative tool, are written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and his interlocutors and provide the main source of information on Socrates's life and thought. Socratic dialogues ( logos sokratikos ) was a term coined by Aristotle to describe this newly formed literary genre. While

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1320-456: A property of an object, element, or file Attribute (knowledge representation) , a component of an ontology Attribute (role-playing games) , a type of statistic for a fictional character See also [ edit ] Attribute clash , a display artefact on some home computers Attribute hierarchy method , a cognitively based psychometric procedure Attribution (disambiguation) Property (disambiguation) Topics referred to by

1430-418: A rooster to Asclepius . Don't forget to pay the debt.” In 399 BC, Socrates was formally accused of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, and for asebeia (impiety), i.e. worshipping false gods and failing to worship the gods of Athens. At the trial, Socrates defended himself unsuccessfully. He was found guilty by a majority vote cast by a jury of hundreds of male Athenian citizens and, according to

1540-559: A single deity, while at other times he refers to plural "gods". This has been interpreted to mean that he either believed that a supreme deity commanded other gods, or that various gods were parts, or manifestations, of this single deity. The relationship of Socrates's religious beliefs with his strict adherence to rationalism has been subject to debate. Philosophy professor Mark McPherran suggests that Socrates interpreted every divine sign through secular rationality for confirmation. Professor of ancient philosophy A. A. Long suggests that it

1650-484: A spouse; still others deny that Socrates suggests any egoistic motivation at all. In Symposium , Socrates argues that children offer the false impression of immortality to their parents, and this misconception yields a form of unity among them. Scholars also note that for Socrates, love is rational. Socrates, who claims to know only that he does not know, makes an exception (in Plato's Symposium ), where he says he will tell

1760-456: A subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre. Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem . Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he

1870-488: A sufficiently hard surface). Several intermediary positions exist. The Identity view states that properties are both categorical (qualitative) and dispositional; these are just two ways of viewing the same property. One hybrid view claims that some properties are categorical and some are dispositional. A second hybrid view claims that properties have both a categorical (qualitative) and dispositional part, but that these are distinct ontological parts. Property dualism describes

1980-651: A wrestling school in the company of Lysis and his friends. They start their dialogue by investigating parental love and how it manifests with respect to the freedom and boundaries that parents set for their children. Socrates concludes that if Lysis is utterly useless, nobody will love him—not even his parents. While most scholars believe this text was intended to be humorous, it has also been suggested that Lysis shows Socrates held an egoistic view of love, according to which we only love people who are useful to us in some way. Other scholars disagree with this view, arguing that Socrates's doctrine leaves room for non-egoistic love for

2090-448: Is given to the object via its relation with another object. For example, mass is a physical intrinsic property of any physical object , whereas weight is an extrinsic property that varies depending on the strength of the gravitational field in which the respective object is placed. Another example of a relational property is the name of a person (an attribute given by the person's parents). In classical Aristotelian terminology,

2200-529: Is a central character. In this drama, Aristophanes presents a caricature of Socrates that leans towards sophism, ridiculing Socrates as an absurd atheist. Socrates in Clouds is interested in natural philosophy, which conforms to Plato's depiction of him in Phaedo . What is certain is that by the age of 45, Socrates had already captured the interest of Athenians as a philosopher. It is not clear whether Aristophanes's work

2310-813: Is a consensus that Socrates accepts that acknowledging one's lack of knowledge is the first step towards wisdom. Socrates is known for disavowing knowledge, a claim encapsulated in the saying " I know that I know nothing ". This is often attributed to Socrates on the basis of a statement in Plato's Apology , though the same view is repeatedly found elsewhere in Plato's early writings on Socrates. In other statements, though, he implies or even claims that he does have knowledge. For example, in Plato's Apology Socrates says: "...but that to do injustice and disobey my superior, god or man, this I know to be evil and base..." ( Apology , 29b6–7). In his debate with Callicles, he says: "...I know well that if you will agree with me on those things which my soul believes, those things will be

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2420-533: Is also truthful when saying he knows-E, for example, that it is evil for someone to disobey his superiors, as he claims in Apology . Not all scholars have agreed with this semantic dualism. James H. Lesher has argued that Socrates claimed in various dialogues that one word is linked to one meaning (i.e. in Hippias Major , Meno , and Laches ). Lesher suggests that although Socrates claimed that he had no knowledge about

2530-419: Is anachronistic to suppose that Socrates believed the religious and rational realms were separate. In several texts (e.g., Plato's Euthyphro 3b5; Apology 31c–d; Xenophon's Memorabilia 1.1.2) Socrates claims he hears a daimōnic sign —an inner voice heard usually when he was about to make a mistake. Socrates gave a brief description of this daimonion at his trial ( Apology 31c–d): "...The reason for this

2640-472: Is commonly seen as ironic when using praise to flatter or when addressing his interlocutors. Scholars are divided on why Socrates uses irony. According to an opinion advanced since the Hellenistic period , Socratic irony is a playful way to get the audience's attention. Another line of thought holds that Socrates conceals his philosophical message with irony, making it accessible only to those who can separate

2750-430: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Attribute (philosophy) A property is any member of a class of entities that are capable of being attributed to objects. Terms similar to property include predicable , attribute , quality , feature , characteristic , type , exemplifiable , predicate , and intensional entity . Generally speaking, an object

2860-413: Is enough evidence to refute both claims. In his view, for Socrates, there are two separate meanings of "knowledge": Knowledge-C and Knowledge-E (C stands for "certain", and E stands for elenchus , i.e. the Socratic method). Knowledge-C is something unquestionable whereas Knowledge-E is the knowledge derived from Socrates's elenchus . Thus, Socrates speaks the truth when he says he knows-C something, and he

2970-425: Is hard to define his exact political philosophy. In Plato's Gorgias , he tells Callicles : "I believe that I'm one of a few Athenians—so as not to say I'm the only one, but the only one among our contemporaries—to take up the true political craft and practice the true politics. This is because the speeches I make on each occasion do not aim at gratification but at what's best." His claim illustrates his aversion for

3080-592: Is heavier than B" is a relational predicate , but it is derived from the two non relational properties: the mass of A and the mass of B. Such relations are called external relations, as opposed to the more genuine internal relations. Some philosophers believe that all relations are external, leading to a scepticism about relations in general, on the basis that external relations have no fundamental existence. Socrates Socrates ( / ˈ s ɒ k r ə t iː z / , Ancient Greek : Σωκράτης , romanized :  Sōkrátēs ; c.  470 – 399 BC)

3190-406: Is impossible. Most believe that Socrates left no space for irrational desires, although some claim that Socrates acknowledged the existence of irrational motivations, but denied they play a primary role in decision-making. Socrates's religious nonconformity challenged the views of his times and his critique reshaped religious discourse for the coming centuries. In Ancient Greece, organized religion

3300-806: Is in terms of exact, repeatable, instantiations known as universals . The other realist position asserts that properties are particulars (tropes), which are unique instantiations in individual objects that merely resemble one another to various degrees. Transcendent realism, proposed by Plato and favored by Bertrand Russell , asserts that properties exist even if uninstantiated. Immanent realism, defended by Aristotle and David Malet Armstrong , contends that properties exist only if instantiated. The anti-realist position, often referred to as nominalism claims that properties are names we attach to particulars. The properties themselves have no existence. Properties are often classified as either categorical and dispositional . Categorical properties concern what something

3410-432: Is known about him comes from the accounts of others: mainly the philosopher Plato and the historian Xenophon , who were both his pupils; the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes (Socrates's contemporary); and Plato's pupil Aristotle , who was born after Socrates's death. The often contradictory stories from these ancient accounts only serve to complicate scholars' ability to reconstruct Socrates's true thoughts reliably,

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3520-557: Is like, e.g. what qualities it has. Dispositional properties, on the other hand, involve what powers something has, what it is able to do, even if it is not actually doing it. For example, the shape of a sugar cube is a categorical property while its tendency to dissolve in water is a dispositional property. For many properties there is a lack of consensus as to how they should be classified, for example, whether colors are categorical or dispositional properties. According to categoricalism , dispositions reduce to causal bases. On this view,

3630-432: Is meeting with Euthyphro, a man who has accused his own father of murder. When Socrates first hears the details of the story, he comments, "It is not, I think, any random person who could do this [prosecute one's father] correctly, but surely one who is already far progressed in wisdom". When Euthyphro boasts about his understanding of divinity, Socrates responds that it is "most important that I become your student". Socrates

3740-414: Is merely mythical, Pegasus encodes the property of being a horse, but Pegasus exemplifies the property of being a character of Greek mythology as well. Edward Jonathan Lowe even treated instantiation , characterization and exemplification as three separate kinds of predication. Broadly construed, examples of properties include redness, the property of being two, the property of being nonexistent,

3850-473: Is named—are mainly the Gorgias (467c–8e, where Socrates discusses the actions of a tyrant that do not benefit him) and Meno (77d–8b, where Socrates explains to Meno his view that no one wants bad things, unless they do not know what is good and bad in the first place). Scholars have been puzzled by Socrates's view that akrasia (acting because of one's irrational passions, contrary to one's knowledge or beliefs)

3960-405: Is not the case with Plato's Socrates. Generally, logoi Sokratikoi cannot help us to reconstruct the historical Socrates even in cases where their narratives overlap, as authors may have influenced each other's accounts. Writers of Athenian comedy, including Aristophanes, also commented on Socrates. Aristophanes's most important comedy with respect to Socrates is The Clouds , in which Socrates

4070-416: Is one that cannot become more specific. This distinction may be useful in dealing with issues of identity . Impure properties are properties that, unlike pure properties , involve reference to a particular substance in their definition. So, for example, being a wife is a pure property while being the wife of Socrates is an impure property due to the reference to the particular "Socrates". Sometimes,

4180-749: Is said to exemplify , instantiate , bear , have or possess a property if the property can be truly predicated of the object. The collection of objects that possess a property is called the extension of the property. Properties are said to characterize or inhere in objects that possess them. Followers of Alexius Meinong assert the existence of two kinds of predication: existent objects exemplify properties, while nonexistent objects are said to exemplify , satisfy , immanently contain or be consubstantiated by properties that are actually possessed and are said to encode , be determined by , be consociated with or be constituted by properties that are merely ascribed to objects. For example, since Pegasus

4290-439: Is seeking to prove a claim wrong. According to the first line of thought, known as the constructivist approach, Socrates indeed seeks to refute a claim by this method, and the method helps in reaching affirmative statements. The non-constructivist approach holds that Socrates merely wants to establish the inconsistency between the premises and the conclusion of the initial argument. Socrates starts his discussions by prioritizing

4400-525: Is serious when he says he has no knowledge of ethical matters. This opinion is not shared by many other scholars. For Socrates, the pursuit of eudaimonia motivates all human action, directly or indirectly. Virtue and knowledge are linked, in Socrates's view, to eudaimonia , but how closely he considered them to be connected is still debated. Some argue that Socrates thought that virtue and eudaimonia are identical. According to another view, virtue serves as

4510-402: Is something you have heard me frequently mention in different places—namely, the fact that I experience something divine and daimonic, as Meletus has inscribed in his indictment, by way of mockery. It started in my childhood, the occurrence of a particular voice. Whenever it occurs, it always deters me from the course of action I was intending to engage in, but it never gives me positive advice. It

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4620-411: Is that Socrates was convicted on religious grounds; the second, that he was accused and convicted for political reasons. Another, more recent, interpretation synthesizes the religious and political theories, arguing that religion and state were not separate in ancient Athens. The argument for religious persecution is supported by the fact that Plato's and Xenophon's accounts of the trial mostly focus on

4730-832: Is that impure properties are not relevant for similarity or discernibility but taking them into consideration nonetheless would result in the principle being trivially true. Another application of this distinction concerns the problem of duplication, for example, in the Twin Earth thought experiment . It is usually held that duplication only involves qualitative identity but perfect duplicates can still differ concerning their non-qualitative or impure properties. Daniel Dennett distinguishes between lovely properties (such as loveliness itself), which, although they require an observer to be recognised, exist latently in perceivable objects; and suspect properties which have no existence at all until attributed by an observer (such as being suspected of

4840-410: Is the ultimate foundation of all reality, or even exhaustive of reality." An intrinsic property is a property that an object or a thing has of itself, independently of other things, including its context. An extrinsic (or relational ) property is a property that depends on a thing's relationship with other things. The latter is sometimes also called an attribute , since the value of that property

4950-415: Is this that has opposed my practicing politics, and I think its doing so has been absolutely fine." Modern scholarship has variously interpreted this Socratic daimōnion as a rational source of knowledge, an impulse, a dream or even a paranormal experience felt by an ascetic Socrates. Socrates's theory of virtue states that all virtues are essentially one, since they are a form of knowledge. For Socrates,

5060-416: Is useful in reconstructing the historical Socrates. Other ancient authors who wrote about Socrates were Aeschines of Sphettus , Antisthenes , Aristippus , Bryson, Cebes, Crito , Euclid of Megara , Phaedo and Aristotle, all of whom wrote after Socrates's death. Aristotle was not a contemporary of Socrates; he studied under Plato at the latter's Academy for twenty years. Aristotle treats Socrates without

5170-637: The Peloponnesian War and distinguished himself in three campaigns, according to Plato. Another incident that reflects Socrates's respect for the law is the arrest of Leon the Salaminian . As Plato describes in his Apology , Socrates and four others were summoned to the Tholos and told by representatives of the Thirty Tyrants (which began ruling in 404 BC) to arrest Leon for execution. Again Socrates

5280-493: The Sicilian Expedition . Socrates spent his time conversing with citizens, among them powerful members of Athenian society, scrutinizing their beliefs and bringing the contradictions of their ideas to light. Socrates believed he was doing them a favor since, for him, politics was about shaping the moral landscape of the city through philosophy rather than electoral procedures. There is a debate over where Socrates stood in

5390-598: The modern era . He was studied by medieval and Islamic scholars and played an important role in the thought of the Italian Renaissance , particularly within the humanist movement . Interest in him continued unabated, as reflected in the works of Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche . Depictions of Socrates in art, literature, and popular culture have made him a widely known figure in the Western philosophical tradition. Socrates did not document his teachings. All that

5500-481: The Socratic dialogues are mostly fictional: according to Joel, the dialogues' authors were just mimicking some Socratic traits of dialogue. In the mid-twentieth century, philosophers such as Olof Gigon and Eugène Dupréel , based on Joel's arguments, proposed that the study of Socrates should focus on the various versions of his character and beliefs rather than aiming to reconstruct a historical Socrates. Later, ancient philosophy scholar Gregory Vlastos suggested that

5610-644: The Socratic inconsistency (other than that Socrates is simply being inconsistent). One explanation is that Socrates is being either ironic or modest for pedagogical purposes: he aims to let his interlocutor to think for himself rather than guide him to a prefixed answer to his philosophical questions. Another explanation is that Socrates holds different interpretations of the meaning of "knowledge". Knowledge, for him, might mean systematic understanding of an ethical subject, on which Socrates firmly rejects any kind of mastery; or might refer to lower-level cognition, which Socrates may accept that he possesses. In any case, there

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5720-545: The accusation that Socrates is an atheist. Socrates notes the contradiction between atheism and worshipping false gods. He then claims that he is "God's gift" to the Athenians, since his activities ultimately benefit Athens; thus, in condemning him to death, Athens itself will be the greatest loser. After that, he says that even though no human can reach wisdom, seeking it is the best thing someone can do, implying money and prestige are not as precious as commonly thought. Socrates

5830-410: The accusers could have fuelled their rhetoric using events prior to 403 BC. A fundamental characteristic of Plato's Socrates is the Socratic method, or the method of refutation ( elenchus ). It is most prominent in the early works of Plato, such as Apology , Crito , Gorgias , Republic I , and others. The typical elenchus proceeds as follows. Socrates initiates a discussion about a topic with

5940-668: The battlefield. He discusses Socrates in four works: the Memorabilia , the Oeconomicus , the Symposium , and the Apology of Socrates . He also mentions a story featuring Socrates in his Anabasis . Oeconomicus recounts a discussion on practical agricultural issues. Like Plato's Apology , Xenophon's Apologia describes the trial of Socrates, but the works diverge substantially and, according to W. K. C. Guthrie , Xenophon's account portrays

6050-436: The bias of Xenophon and Plato, who had an emotional tie with Socrates, and he scrutinizes Socrates's doctrines as a philosopher. Aristotle was familiar with the various written and unwritten stories of Socrates. His role in understanding Socrates is limited. He does not write extensively on Socrates; and, when he does, he is mainly preoccupied with the early dialogues of Plato. There are also general doubts on his reliability on

6160-405: The boundary between the two seems blurred. Xenophon's and Plato's accounts differ in their presentations of Socrates as a person. Xenophon's Socrates is duller, less humorous and less ironic than Plato's. Xenophon's Socrates also lacks the philosophical features of Plato's Socrates—ignorance, the Socratic method or elenchus —and thinks enkrateia (self-control) is of pivotal importance, which

6270-544: The character of Socrates that he presents. One common explanation of this inconsistency is that Plato initially tried to accurately represent the historical Socrates, while later in his writings he was happy to insert his own views into Socrates's words. Under this understanding, there is a distinction between the Socratic Socrates of Plato's earlier works and the Platonic Socrates of Plato's later writings, although

6380-400: The charges of impiety. In those accounts, Socrates is portrayed as making no effort to dispute the fact that he did not believe in the Athenian gods. Against this argument stands the fact that many skeptics and atheist philosophers during this time were not prosecuted. According to the argument for political persecution, Socrates was targeted because he was perceived as a threat to democracy. It

6490-442: The classical framework, properties are characteristic qualities that are not truly required for the continued existence of an entity but are, nevertheless, possessed by the entity. A property may be classified as either determinate or determinable . A determinable property is one that can get more specific. For example, color is a determinable property because it can be restricted to redness, blueness, etc. A determinate property

6600-530: The cognitive power to comprehend what they desire, while diminishing the role of impulses (a view termed motivational intellectualism). In Plato's Protagoras (345c4–e6), Socrates implies that "no one errs willingly", which has become the hallmark of Socratic virtue intellectualism. In Socratic moral philosophy, priority is given to the intellect as being the way to live a good life; Socrates deemphasizes irrational beliefs or passions. Plato's dialogues that support Socrates's intellectual motivism —as this thesis

6710-465: The contemporary teleological intelligent-design argument . He claims that since there are many features in the universe that exhibit "signs of forethought" (e.g., eyelids), a divine creator must have created the universe. He then deduces that the creator should be omniscient and omnipotent and also that it created the universe for the advance of humankind, since humans naturally have many abilities that other animals do not. At times, Socrates speaks of

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6820-459: The controversy has not yet ceased. Socrates discusses divinity and the soul mostly in Alcibiades , Euthyphro , and Apology . In Alcibiades Socrates links the human soul to divinity, concluding "Then this part of her resembles God, and whoever looks at this, and comes to know all that is divine, will gain thereby the best knowledge of himself." His discussions on religion always fall under

6930-403: The custom, proposed his own penalty: that he should be given free food and housing by the state for the services he rendered to the city, or alternatively, that he be fined one mina of silver (according to him, all he had). The jurors declined his offer and ordered the death penalty. Socrates was charged in a politically tense climate. In 404 BC, the Athenians had been crushed by Spartans at

7040-535: The death penalty by making him drink a cup of hemlock (a poisonous liquid). In return, Socrates warned jurors and Athenians that criticism of them by his many disciples was inescapable, unless they became good men. After a delay caused by Athenian religious ceremonies, Socrates spent his last day in prison. His friends visited him and offered him an opportunity to escape, which he declined. The question of what motivated Athenians to convict Socrates remains controversial among scholars. There are two theories. The first

7150-562: The decisive naval Battle of Aegospotami , and subsequently, the Spartans laid siege to Athens. They replaced the democratic government with a new, pro-oligarchic government, named the Thirty Tyrants . Because of their tyrannical measures, some Athenians organized to overthrow the Tyrants—and, indeed, they managed to do so briefly—until a Spartan request for aid from the Thirty arrived and a compromise

7260-414: The definition in the first place. The interlocutor may come up with a different definition. That new definition, in turn, comes under the scrutiny of Socratic questioning . With each round of question and answer, Socrates and his interlocutor hope to approach the truth. More often, they continue to reveal their ignorance. Since the interlocutors' definitions most commonly represent the mainstream opinion on

7370-494: The early Socratic dialogues of Plato were more compatible with other evidence for a historical Socrates than his later writings, an argument that is based on inconsistencies in Plato's own evolving depiction of Socrates. Vlastos totally disregarded Xenophon's account except when it agreed with Plato's. More recently, Charles H. Kahn has reinforced the skeptical stance on the unsolvable Socratic problem, suggesting that only Plato's Apology has any historical significance. Socrates

7480-527: The end of life was knowledge of virtue, and he used to seek for the definition of justice, courage, and each of the parts of virtue, and this was a reasonable approach, since he thought that all virtues were sciences, and that as soon as one knew [for example] justice, he would be just..." Some texts suggest that Socrates had love affairs with Alcibiades and other young persons; others suggest that Socrates's friendship with young boys sought only to improve them and were not sexual. In Gorgias , Socrates claims he

7590-487: The established democratic assemblies and procedures such as voting—since Socrates saw politicians and rhetoricians as using tricks to mislead the public. He never ran for office or suggested any legislation. Rather, he aimed to help the city flourish by "improving" its citizens. As a citizen, he abided by the law. He obeyed the rules and carried out his military duty by fighting wars abroad. His dialogues, however, make little mention of contemporary political decisions, such as

7700-420: The exact dates of their composition are unknown, some were probably written after Socrates's death. As Aristotle first noted, the extent to which the dialogues portray Socrates authentically is a matter of some debate. An honest man, Xenophon was no trained philosopher. He could neither fully conceptualize nor articulate Socrates's arguments. He admired Socrates for his intelligence, patriotism, and courage on

7810-644: The existence of gods is taken for granted; in none of his dialogues does he probe whether gods exist or not. In Apology , a case for Socrates being agnostic can be made, based on his discussion of the great unknown after death, and in Phaedo (the dialogue with his students in his last day) Socrates gives expression to a clear belief in the immortality of the soul. He also believed in oracles, divinations and other messages from gods. These signs did not offer him any positive belief on moral issues; rather, they were predictions of unfavorable future events. In Xenophon's Memorabilia , Socrates constructs an argument close to

7920-423: The fragility of a wine glass, a dispositional property, is not a fundamental feature of the glass since it can be explained in terms of the categorical property of the glass's micro-structural composition. Dispositionalism , on the other hand, asserts that a property is nothing more than a set of causal powers. Fragility, according to this view, identifies a real property of the glass (e.g. to shatter when dropped on

8030-583: The fundamental nature of properties. These center around questions such as: Are properties universals or particulars? Are properties real? Are they categorical or dispositional? Are properties physical or mental? At least since Plato , properties are viewed by numerous philosophers as universals , which are typically capable of being instantiated by different objects. Philosophers opposing this view regard properties as particulars , namely tropes . A realist about properties asserts that properties have genuine, mind-independent existence. One way to spell this out

8140-410: The god? The trajectory of Socratic thought contrasts with traditional Greek theology, which took lex talionis (the eye for an eye principle) for granted. Socrates thought that goodness is independent from gods, and gods must themselves be pious. Socrates affirms a belief in gods in Plato's Apology , where he says to the jurors that he acknowledges gods more than his accusers. For Plato's Socrates,

8250-453: The gods were inherently wise and just, a perception far from traditional religion at that time. In Euthyphro , the Euthyphro dilemma arises. Socrates questions his interlocutor about the relationship between piety and the will of a powerful god: Is something good because it is the will of this god, or is it the will of this god because it is good? In other words, does piety follow the good, or

8360-477: The history of philosophy. Still, his testimony is vital in understanding Socrates. In a seminal work titled "The Worth of Socrates as a Philosopher" (1818), the philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher attacked Xenophon's accounts; his attack was widely accepted. Schleiermacher criticized Xenophon for his naïve representation of Socrates. Xenophon was a soldier, argued Schleiermacher, and was therefore not well placed to articulate Socratic ideas. Furthermore, Xenophon

8470-460: The ideals of democratic Athens was a reason why he did not want to escape prison and the death penalty. On the other hand, there is some evidence that Socrates leaned towards oligarchy: most of his friends supported oligarchy, he was contemptuous of the opinion of the many and was critical of the democratic process, and Protagoras shows some anti-democratic elements. A less mainstream argument suggests that Socrates favoured democratic republicanism ,

8580-492: The laws and customs of Athens. He learned the basic skills of reading and writing and, like most wealthy Athenians, received extra lessons in various other fields such as gymnastics, poetry and music. He was married twice (which came first is not clear): his marriage to Xanthippe took place when Socrates was in his fifties, and another marriage was with a daughter of Aristides , an Athenian statesman. He had three sons with Xanthippe. Socrates fulfilled his military service during

8690-547: The lens of his rationalism. Socrates, in Euthyphro , reaches a conclusion which takes him far from the age's usual practice: he considers sacrifices to the gods to be useless, especially when they are driven by the hope of receiving a reward in return. Instead, he calls for philosophy and the pursuit of knowledge to be the principal way of worshipping the gods. His rejection of traditional forms of piety, connecting them to self-interest, implied that Athenians should seek religious experience by self-examination. Socrates argued that

8800-478: The meaning of various virtues, questioning their substance; Socrates's quest for a definition was an attempt to clear the atmosphere from their radical skepticism. Some scholars have argued that Socrates does not endorse the priority of definition as a principle, because they have identified cases where he does not do so. Some have argued that this priority of definition comes from Plato rather than Socrates. Philosopher Peter Geach , accepting that Socrates endorses

8910-448: The nature of virtues, he thought that in some cases, people can know some ethical propositions. There is a widespread assumption that Socrates was an ironist, mostly based on the depiction of Socrates by Plato and Aristotle. Socrates's irony is so subtle and slightly humorous that it often leaves the reader wondering if Socrates is making an intentional pun. Plato's Euthyphro is filled with Socratic irony. The story begins when Socrates

9020-758: The objective resemblances and causal powers of things". The traditional conception of similarity holds that properties are responsible for similarity: two objects are similar because they have a property in common. The more properties they share, the more similar they are. They resemble each other exactly if they share all their properties. For this conception of similarity to work, it is important that only properties relevant to resemblance are taken into account, sometimes referred to as sparse properties in contrast to abundant properties . The distinction between properties and relations can hardly be given in terms that do not ultimately presuppose it. Relations are true of several particulars, or shared amongst them. Thus

9130-467: The parts of his statements which are ironic from those which are not. Gregory Vlastos has identified a more complex pattern of irony in Socrates. In Vlastos's view, Socrates's words have a double meaning, both ironic and not. One example is when he denies having knowledge. Vlastos suggests that Socrates is being ironic when he says he has no knowledge (where "knowledge" means a lower form of cognition); while, according to another sense of "knowledge", Socrates

9240-436: The polarized Athenian political climate, which was divided between oligarchs and democrats. While there is no clear textual evidence, one widely held theory holds that Socrates leaned towards democracy: he disobeyed the one order that the oligarchic government of the Thirty Tyrants gave him; he respected the laws and political system of Athens (which were formulated by democrats); and, according to this argument, his affinity for

9350-485: The priority of definition, finds the technique fallacious. Αccording to Geach, one may know a proposition even if one cannot define the terms in which the proposition is stated. Plato's Socrates often claims that he is aware of his own lack of knowledge, especially when discussing ethical concepts such as arete (i.e., goodness, courage) since he does not know the nature of such concepts. For example, during his trial, with his life at stake, Socrates says: "I thought Evenus

9460-547: The property of being identical to Socrates , the property of being a desk, the property of being a property, the property of being both round and square, and the property of being heterological . Some philosophers refuse to treat existence as a property, and Peter van Inwagen suggested that one should deny the existence of certain "properties" so as to avoid paradoxes such as Russell's paradox and Grelling–Nelson paradox , though such moves remain controversial. In modern analytic philosophy there are several debates about

9570-530: The property of weighing more than 2 kilos, then the predicates "..weighs more than 1.9 kilos", "..weighs more than 1.8 kilos", etc., are all true of it. Other predicates, such as "is an individual", or "has some properties" are uninformative or vacuous. There is some resistance to regarding such so-called " Cambridge properties " as legitimate. These properties in the widest sense are sometimes referred to as abundant properties . They are contrasted with sparse properties , which include only properties "responsible for

9680-499: The real Socrates. Socrates died in Athens in 399 BC after a trial for impiety ( asebeia ) and the corruption of the young. He spent his last day in prison among friends and followers who offered him a route to escape, which he refused. He died the next morning, in accordance with his sentence, after drinking poison hemlock . According to the Phaedo , his last words were: “Crito, we owe

9790-416: The reason a person is not good is because they lack knowledge. Since knowledge is united, virtues are united as well. Another famous dictum—"no one errs willingly"—also derives from this theory. In Protagoras , Socrates argues for the unity of virtues using the example of courage: if someone knows what the relevant danger is, they can undertake a risk. Aristotle comments: " ... Socrates the elder thought that

9900-577: The relation "... is taller than ..." holds "between" two individuals, who would occupy the two ellipses ('...'). Relations can be expressed by N-place predicates, where N is greater than 1. Relations should be distinguished from relational properties. For example, marriage is a relation since it is between two people, but being married to X is a relational property had by a certain person since it concerns only one person. There are at least some apparent relational properties which are merely derived from non-relational (or 1-place) properties. For instance "A

10010-443: The religion-based accusations. First, Socrates had rejected the anthropomorphism of traditional Greek religion by denying that the gods did bad things like humans do. Second, he seemed to believe in a daimonion —an inner voice with, as his accusers suggested, divine origin. Plato's Apology starts with Socrates answering the various rumours against him that have given rise to the indictment. First, Socrates defends himself against

10120-522: The rumour that he is an atheist naturalist philosopher , as portrayed in Aristophanes's The Clouds ; or a sophist . Against the allegations of corrupting the youth, Socrates answers that he has never corrupted anyone intentionally, since corrupting someone would carry the risk of being corrupted back in return, and that would be illogical, since corruption is undesirable. On the second charge, Socrates asks for clarification. Meletus responds by repeating

10230-415: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Attribute . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Attribute&oldid=1249070319 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

10340-407: The search for definitions. In most cases, Socrates initiates his discourse with an expert on a subject by seeking a definition—by asking, for example, what virtue, goodness, justice, or courage is. To establish a definition, Socrates first gathers clear examples of a virtue and then seeks to establish what they had in common. According to Guthrie, Socrates lived in an era when sophists had challenged

10450-432: The terms qualitative and non-qualitative are used instead of pure and impure . Most but not all impure properties are extrinsic properties. This distinction is relevant for the principle of identity of indiscernibles , which states that two things are identical if they are indiscernible , i.e. if they share all their properties. This principle is usually defined in terms of pure properties only. The reason for this

10560-451: The truth about Love, which he learned from a 'clever woman'. Classicist Armand D'Angour has made the case that Socrates was in his youth close to Aspasia , and that Diotima , to whom Socrates attributes his understanding of love in Symposium , is based on her; however, it is also possible that Diotima really existed. While Socrates was involved in public political and cultural debates, it

10670-437: The very truth..." Whether Socrates genuinely thought he lacked knowledge or merely feigned a belief in his own ignorance remains a matter of debate. A common interpretation is that he was indeed feigning modesty. According to Norman Gulley, Socrates did this to entice his interlocutors to speak with him. On the other hand, Terence Irwin claims that Socrates's words should be taken literally. Gregory Vlastos argues that there

10780-436: The virtues, and find themselves at an impasse , completely unable to define what they thought they understood. Socrates is known for proclaiming his total ignorance ; he used to say that the only thing he was aware of was his ignorance, seeking to imply that the realization of our ignorance is the first step in philosophizing. Socrates exerted a strong influence on philosophers in later antiquity and has continued to do so in

10890-399: Was a Socratic method. In 1982, the scholar of ancient philosophy Gregory Vlastos claimed that the Socratic method could not be used to establish the truth or falsehood of a proposition. Rather, Vlastos argued, it was a way to show that an interlocutor's beliefs were inconsistent. There have been two main lines of thought regarding this view, depending on whether it is accepted that Socrates

11000-678: Was sentenced to death . He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity. They demonstrate the Socratic approach to areas of philosophy including epistemology and ethics . The Platonic Socrates lends his name to the concept of the Socratic method , and also to Socratic irony . The Socratic method of questioning, or elenchus , takes shape in dialogue using short questions and answers, epitomized by those Platonic texts in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine various aspects of an issue or an abstract meaning, usually relating to one of

11110-443: Was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers , particularly his students Plato and Xenophon . These accounts are written as dialogues , in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine

11220-502: Was a dual lover of Alcibiades and philosophy, and his flirtatiousness is evident in Protagoras , Meno (76a–c) and Phaedrus (227c–d). However, the exact nature of his relationship with Alcibiades is not clear; Socrates was known for his self-restraint, while Alcibiades admits in the Symposium that he had tried to seduce Socrates but failed. The Socratic theory of love is mostly deduced from Lysis , where Socrates discusses love at

11330-650: Was attracted to youth, as was common and accepted in ancient Greece, he resisted his passion for young men because, as Plato describes, he was more interested in educating their souls. Socrates did not seek sex from his disciples, as was often the case between older and younger men in Athens. Politically, he did not take sides in the rivalry between the democrats and the oligarchs in Athens; he criticized both. The character of Socrates as exhibited in Apology , Crito , Phaedo and Symposium concurs with other sources to an extent that gives confidence in Plato's depiction of Socrates in these works as being representative of

11440-493: Was biased in his depiction of his former friend and teacher: he believed Socrates was treated unfairly by Athens, and sought to prove his point of view rather than to provide an impartial account. The result, said Schleiermacher, was that Xenophon portrayed Socrates as an uninspiring philosopher. By the early twentieth century, Xenophon's account was largely rejected. The philosopher Karl Joel , basing his arguments on Aristotle's interpretation of logos sokratikos , suggested that

11550-414: Was born in 470 or 469 BC to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete , a stoneworker and a midwife, respectively, in the Athenian deme of Alopece ; therefore, he was an Athenian citizen, having been born to relatively affluent Athenians. He lived close to his father's relatives and inherited, as was customary, part of his father's estate, securing a life reasonably free of financial concerns. His education followed

11660-521: Was fragmented, celebrated in a number of festivals for specific gods, such as the City Dionysia , or in domestic rituals, and there were no sacred texts. Religion intermingled with the daily life of citizens, who performed their personal religious duties mainly with sacrifices to various gods. Whether Socrates was a practicing man of religion or a 'provocateur atheist' has been a point of debate since ancient times; his trial included impiety accusations, and

11770-433: Was given the chance to offer alternative punishments for himself after being found guilty. He could have requested permission to flee Athens and live in exile, but he did not do so. According to Xenophon, Socrates made no proposals, while according to Plato he suggested free meals should be provided for him daily in recognition of his worth to Athens or, more in earnest, that a fine should be imposed on him. The jurors favoured

11880-478: Was sought. When the Spartans left again, however, democrats seized the opportunity to kill the oligarchs and reclaim the government of Athens. The accusations against Socrates were initiated by a poet, Meletus , who asked for the death penalty in accordance with the charge of asebeia . Other accusers were Anytus and Lycon. After a month or two, in late spring or early summer, the trial started and likely went on for most of one day. There were two main sources for

11990-671: Was the sole abstainer, choosing to risk the tyrants' wrath and retribution rather than to participate in what he considered to be a crime. Socrates attracted great interest from the Athenian public and especially the Athenian youth. He was notoriously ugly, having a flat turned-up nose, bulging eyes and a large belly; his friends joked about his appearance. Socrates was indifferent to material pleasures, including his own appearance and personal comfort. He neglected personal hygiene, bathed rarely, walked barefoot , and owned only one ragged coat. He moderated his eating, drinking, and sex, although he did not practice full abstention. Although Socrates

12100-482: Was true that Socrates did not stand for democracy during the reign of the Thirty Tyrants and that most of his pupils were against the democrats. The case for it being a political persecution is usually challenged by the existence of an amnesty that was granted to Athenian citizens in 403 BC to prevent escalation to civil war after the fall of the Thirty. However, as the text from Socrates's trial and other texts reveal,

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