I know we have a previous thread on Socrates, but, I came across this passage in a wonderful book on Socrates by Luis Navia. This is the concluding paragraph of the book, and i transcribed it, because I thought it was so meaningful. It covers the whole of the intellectual gamut. Please read and post any comments.
Socrates is not a language philosopher for whom the analysis of language is the goal of all philosophical activity, and neither is he an existential thinker facing the absurdity of the human condition. He is not a Platonic idealist whose imagination roams at the ease in ethereal dogmas of speculation, nor a theological philosopher for whom the dogmas of this or that religion constitute the basis of his thoughts, nor a militant humanist for whom anything that transcends immediate human physical dimension is devoid of meaning. He is none of these things, and yet, in a sense, he is all of them. He is a philosopher, simply and purely, that is a man of reason and curiosity. To the confused and aimless world in which we now live he teaches that philosophy is not merely an academic profession for the benefit of linguistic dabblers and ideological preachers, but a total commitment to a life of reason and honesty, through the example of which, the young may learn to reorient their lives in a meaningful direction; that education is not a thoughtless system of instruction and indoctrination whose exclusive aim is to satisfy blindly the demands of the job market, but a process of self-growth in which people can learn to be better and happier persons; that science is not the embodiment if the truth which is pontifically preached, as if from a pulpit, by scientific dilettantes, but an open and honest search for knowledge, and an activity that must be forced to conform to the spiritual and physical exigencies of the human condition; that religion is not the entrapment of the mind in emotional and obscurantist bonds created, heaven knows why, by fallible persons who declare themselves infallible, or by fundamentalists who sacrifice the spirit in the name of the inert word, but an attitude of critical reverence towards a higher dimension which may possibly hover over us; that politics is not the unintelligent allegiance to parties, flags, slogans, or anthems, through which shrewd manipulators enslave and exploit the unthinking masses, but a general concern for the welfare of humanity, not of this or that country, not of this or that race, but of the whole human world; that ethics is not the scholastic study of ethical utterances and usages in which analytical experts, just like the ancient Sophists, often excel, but a way of life committed to certain ethical convictions that make sense in the light of reason; that human existence is not just a concatenation of fleeing moments which are devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, wealth, power or success in some form or another, but a task to be pursued by each one of us, just as a great artist strives to complete his supreme creation; that revolutions, whether cultural or political, are bound to fail, as long as the spiritual revolution to regenerate the soul in each one of us has not been successful. This is, I believe what Socrates teaches. His message may be difficult to accept and even more difficult to actualize. But do we really have any other choice?
Socrates is not a language philosopher for whom the analysis of language is the goal of all philosophical activity, and neither is he an existential thinker facing the absurdity of the human condition. He is not a Platonic idealist whose imagination roams at the ease in ethereal dogmas of speculation, nor a theological philosopher for whom the dogmas of this or that religion constitute the basis of his thoughts, nor a militant humanist for whom anything that transcends immediate human physical dimension is devoid of meaning. He is none of these things, and yet, in a sense, he is all of them. He is a philosopher, simply and purely, that is a man of reason and curiosity. To the confused and aimless world in which we now live he teaches that philosophy is not merely an academic profession for the benefit of linguistic dabblers and ideological preachers, but a total commitment to a life of reason and honesty, through the example of which, the young may learn to reorient their lives in a meaningful direction; that education is not a thoughtless system of instruction and indoctrination whose exclusive aim is to satisfy blindly the demands of the job market, but a process of self-growth in which people can learn to be better and happier persons; that science is not the embodiment if the truth which is pontifically preached, as if from a pulpit, by scientific dilettantes, but an open and honest search for knowledge, and an activity that must be forced to conform to the spiritual and physical exigencies of the human condition; that religion is not the entrapment of the mind in emotional and obscurantist bonds created, heaven knows why, by fallible persons who declare themselves infallible, or by fundamentalists who sacrifice the spirit in the name of the inert word, but an attitude of critical reverence towards a higher dimension which may possibly hover over us; that politics is not the unintelligent allegiance to parties, flags, slogans, or anthems, through which shrewd manipulators enslave and exploit the unthinking masses, but a general concern for the welfare of humanity, not of this or that country, not of this or that race, but of the whole human world; that ethics is not the scholastic study of ethical utterances and usages in which analytical experts, just like the ancient Sophists, often excel, but a way of life committed to certain ethical convictions that make sense in the light of reason; that human existence is not just a concatenation of fleeing moments which are devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, wealth, power or success in some form or another, but a task to be pursued by each one of us, just as a great artist strives to complete his supreme creation; that revolutions, whether cultural or political, are bound to fail, as long as the spiritual revolution to regenerate the soul in each one of us has not been successful. This is, I believe what Socrates teaches. His message may be difficult to accept and even more difficult to actualize. But do we really have any other choice?
