Philosophers

**by Katie** If you have a favorite celebrity or know of one, you have something on common with an average citizen of ancient Greece. Who were the celebrities of ancient Greece? The philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. What were their lives like, and how do they appear or used in modern society and philosophy?
 * Celebrities of Ancient Greece**

The names of important Greek philosophers are widely known. For example: Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Plato was born 427 BC in Athens Greece ( Greek Philosopher Plato. ). Plato is responsible for much western philosophy that is still used today, about 2,400 years later ( .Downey, By Ed ) Philosophies such as that the world is rational and you could figure it out through philosophical thinking ( .Downey, By Ed). Socrates was born in 469 BC in Athens Greece. (Howstuffworks “Ancient Greek Philosophers) This philosopher is a great influence on almost all the philosophers that come after him. (Waterfield, Robin) Something that he is well known for is the “Socratic Method”, which is when posed with a question, instead of giving away the solution, he thought they would learn more if he answered with another question instead. (Howstuffworks “Ancient Greek Philosophers) Aristotle was born 384 BC in Athens Greece. (Ancient Greek Philosophy) Aristotle is a descendant of Socrates and Plato, but they all still had fairly original and fantastic ideas of their own. (Ancient Greek Philosophy) He believed that matter is that base of everything that ever exists.

Where the philosophers came from (Athens) most all the schools were private until the 400s BC. Each school usually had about 10-15 students all of which were boys (girls did not attend school), and most all the students attending school were from wealthy families, because education did not come cheap for most. ( Ancient Greece ) Socrates was the son of a stonecutter, so he was not born into a family where wisdom was encouraged, but he was still given a Greek public school education. ( Socrates Biography – Life, Name, Story, Death, History, School, Young, Son, Information, Born, Time ) Later, when Socrates was well known and made many friends, fans, and enemies, he took on his own pupils. Although he did not actually technically start a school or have fees, a few of his pupils (a good example is Plato) also became well known philosophers. ( Howstuffworks “Ancient Greek Philosophers ) Plato on the other hand was raised with his two brothers with a step-father of political power, and wealth, so it is believed to be likely that he received an excellent education. It is safe to say that he was a good student with Socrates as a tutor. ( .Downey, By Ed) Plato went on to teach just like Socrates had, and taught other well known philosophers such as Aristotle. (Index of Ancient Greek Philosophers – Scientists) Aristotle’s father was an educated doctor to a king and Aristotle was sent to an Academy at the age of seven, where Plato taught at. (Aristotle’s Life) So the answer would be yes, they are all educated.

In ancient Greece social class you were either, upper class (citizen, leisure time, and an easy going job or no job at all ), middle class (citizen, and a job), lower class(not a citizen, used to be a slave), or a slave (Self explanatory). Generally if you had any time for things such as art, or philosophy you were considered apart of the upper class. ( Greek Social Classes ) Socrates as a child was in the high part middle class, because his father had a job as a sculpture/stonecutter, and Socrates received a good education, but most of his thoughts were from an early age, and his intelligence was self driven.( Socrates Biography – Life, Name, Story, Death, History, School, Young, Son, Information, Born, Time ) Plato’s father passed away when he was young, and his mother remarried to a politician. His step father provided them with a good education, and secured them in the upper class. Having this position helped him become a philosopher, because having Socrates as a tutor could not have been possible without a seat in the upper class. ( .Downey, By Ed) Aristotle, like Plato, had a nice living in the upper class. Being taught by Plato was not free, by this time Plato had a school referred to as ‘The Academy”. His father was also educated, and was physician to a king. (Downey, By Ed) So the social bracket the ancient Greek philosophers were usually in were upper class, and sometimes middle class, because a higher education was much more easy to come by for those who could access or afford it.

Greek philosophers were like celebrities of ancient Greece. It was a philosopher from ancient Greece who actually coined the term “Celebrity”, deriving from the word celebrated. Sadly quite a few of them mad people angry, and were sometimes killed. Socrates for example was sentenced to death when the Athens lost the war. He was a teacher of a general who has become a traitor, and a selfish political leader who put hundreds of citizens to death.( Howstuffworks “Ancient Greek Philosophers ) Also it is said he was charged for having sexual relations to young boys. ( Greek Philosophers ) They charged him for corrupting the youth, and was sentenced to death by hemlock. Plato, and other students attended his death. (14) Plato has no record of clash with Greek government or otherwise. Although an unpopular opinion he held was that homosexuality was okay, which made some people uncomfortable. He believed that the only true love was between two men. He died peacefully in his sleep at about age 80. ( Greek Philosophers ) Aristotle, unlike Plato or Socrates did have clash, but not enough to be sentenced to death. When the Greek government was a in a flux, and things were changing in relation to god connected to the government, Aristotle was accused of impiety (lack of respect for god or gods) although he was not killed there was a serious threat. Aristotle fled to his mother’s estate on an island to wait it out. A year later he died there, from a “disease he had been long subject to”. ( Downey, By Ed) So having such a position of fame, and power can be both a good and bad thing. Being a philosopher can make you a move and shaker, which could upset people no matter how respected you are. So yes, there were some cases where they were unpopular and it may have hindered them.

Philosophy can never really be outdated, if it is good, and thought provoking philosophy. Which from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, it was. Socrates is probably the most commonly referred to out of the three. Socrates is well known for his Socratic Method, which is encouraging the student to probe further with cleverly posed questions and make them answer with their own mind instead of just handing it to them. ( Howstuffworks “Ancient Greek Philosophers ) Socrates (and his students) were //huge // advocates of logic and reason, and believed almost anything could be achieved with it, and encouraged more science, math, etc. ( Think, Ability To) Examples of this is that in History we learn about the Socratic method today, and is mentioned in Mrs. Burvall’s video on Greek philosophers. Socrates passion for logic and logical curriculum is used today, because in Greek schools math and sciences were barely taught. Today they just important as any other topic. Plato had very logical, structured ideals on things such as, the mind, education, and truth. For example he believed that we must step outside of the desire to be angry, eat, or have sex, and employ the mind to logic and use the mind. He believed that if you are educated you can appreciate beauty and detail in things you did not know before. In truth he believed if you wanted truth you had the traits of a philosopher, and if you turned to ignorance and had no desire for justice you were blind. (Think, Ability To) For Aristotle, one of his philosophies that can be applies to modern day is metaphysics. He was the first to think of what would happen if you were to study one single matter or substance. Today you can pursue a job intertwined with metaphysics. (Think, Ability To) So these Greek philosophers and their ideas are very prominent in our lives, even if we may not always notice.

Now the celebrities of ancient Greece are a long ways away from the more common celebrities of today. The philosophers’s lives were full of rich thought, and come from well do to families. Although that may seem nice, that comes along with innovative ideas causing issues and possibly putting your life on the line. Would you risk it? Again unlike modern celebrities, their ideas are timeless and age well through the different eras, and are still applied. That’s what makes them worthy of still being celebrities.

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