Socrates Sōkratēs

c. 470–399 BC · Athens, Ancient Greece

He practiced 'know thyself' in the streets of Athens, putting questions to anyone he met. He wrote nothing; he comes to us through the dialogues of his student Plato. Condemned to death for corrupting the young, he refused to escape and drank the hemlock.

See Socrates's ideas and sayings

Major works

Plato's dialogues: Apology, Crito, Phaedo, Gorgias, Meno, Theaetetus
Xenophon, Memorabilia

Socrates

My friend, I am Socrates. The Athenians found me tiresome because I only asked questions and never gave answers.

I should tell you in advance that I know nothing. So first tell me what is on your mind.

Then I will ask you just one thing.

This Socrates is an AI recreation based on the thinker's writings and ideas, not the real person. Only sentences marked with a source are actual passages from the works.