The original word for philosophy steams from the Greek word philosopha,meaning ‘love of wisdom’. Although Socrates himself never claimed to have any answers to the questions he raised, his views and methods of philosophy are the cornerstone of what philosophy is today. The nature of philosophy, as viewed by Socrates, is centred around the wellness of the soul, virtue being defined as knowledge and the pursuit of truth through the questioning of beliefs.Socrates heavily subscribed to a dualistic view of the body and the soul.He saw the body, or “the flesh” as something engaging in vacant pleasures and of no value to the betterment of an individual. Instead, Socrates focused himself on the soul, by nature being divine and therefore deserving of the most attention. Socrates: And is life worth living for us with that part of us corrupted that unjust actions harms and just actions benefits? Or do we think that part of us, whatever it is, that is concerned with justice and injustice, is inferior to the body? Crito: Not at all. S: Is it more valuable? C: Much more. In this passage from Crito, Socrates clearly puts emphasis on the soul, exclaiming that even life itself becomes death when in pursuit of worldly, fleshly desires. Concerned with the wellness of the soul and the divine, Socrates defines virtue as the knowledge of good. He believed that if one knows what is good, he will always do what is good. This lead Socrates to the conclusion that those who do wrong haven’t the knowledge of what is good. This is what most likely lead to Socrates placing a primary focus on discussing ethics. Socrates: So with other matters, not to enumerate them all, and certainly with actions just and unjust, shameful and beautiful, good and bad, about what we are now deliberating, should we follow the opinion of many and fear it [wisdom] or that of the one who has knowledge of these things and before whom we feel fear and shame ...
