Mathias de Alencar

Socrates' philosophy Mathias de Alencar

Facing the thorny problem of Socrates, the present study seeks to outline the essential points of what might be called a Socrates Philosophy, starting not from the analysis of Socrates as it appears in Plato and Xenophon, but from the sources hitherto not properly considered by the critics together. The most important of these, the comedy of Aristophanes, begins our journey by highlighting in Socrates his decisive contribution to the educational scene of 5th century Athens. This contribution, centered on the question of the self as the foundation for what is most valuable in human life, was responsible for inspiring the educational perspective of Isocrates, the second testimony analyzed, and of those who became known as "minor Socrates," whose inspiration lies at the origin of the various schools of Hellenism: Euclid of Mégara and his philosophy of the unity of Good; Aeschin of Sphism and the Socratic erotic as an educational method; Aristipo of Cyrene and his epistemology of the pleasant life; Anthistenes of Athens and philosophical excellence as an intellectual fortress raised in discourse. Each one of them will make it possible for us to recover the due value of the philosophical education initiated by Socrates.