Philosophy Misunderstood

I've recently been thinking about the meaning of philosophy itself

and I've come into conclusion that suggests it might have been

completely misunderstood and falsely taught. I'll try to explain my

point here, but if you have any questions after reading this text,

feel free to comment on this text and I will reply, trying to clear

any misunderstood words or sentences.

Firstly, let's stop to think about the word “philosophy”. As many of

you probably know, it's formed by two separate words: ????? (phílos,

meaning friend or lover) and ????? (sophía, meaning wisdom). And

what is wisdom, that philosophers are so eagerly claiming to love?

Doesn't it involve thinking? Isn't that thinking supposed to be

rational?

Yea, I'm pretty sure it is.. Of course this is just what I believe

but I don't think anyone can claim I'm wrong about this. Still, if I

am wrong, correct me.

Anyways, most philosophy-enthusiasts are studying and teaching

theories of the other, known philosophers. They seem to be studying

to believe what the philosophers before them believed and the

opinions of those philosophers, instead of thinking and trying to

really find some answers for themselves. This is clearly visible

when you ask a philosophy enthusiast for a proof that speaks for

their theory and they try to use, as a proof, another theory that

hasn't been proved either.

Now you must be thinking that I didn't make this up by myself, this

was what Socrates left behind. Exactly, that's what it is: The

Socratic Method, which is shortly put a try to find the answer

through rational thinking that involves elimination of irrational

and unexplained, proof-lacking possibilities. I consider it the only

useful thing the ancient Greece left for us, just as I consider

Socrates the only real philosopher among who's been written about.

Just to refresh the memory of the reader, I want to summarize the

legend of Socrates as the wisest human: A friend of Socrates,

Chaerephon, asked the oracle of Delphi whether or not there was

someone wiser than Socrates and the oracle said there isn't anyone.

Socrates knew that the oracle had never given anyone praise for any

achievements or knowledge, so he decided to find out why the oracle

had said such a thing. He went to question some people who were

considered wise by the people. He questioned them about good, beauty

and virtue, finding out they really knew nothing but still believe

they knew much. So, Socrates ended up with a conclusion that the

reason for him being the wisest was that what he didn't know, he

didn't think he knows.

As you probably know, there aren't any proves that he ever wrote

anything about his theories; there are only the writings of Plato

through which we can get an idea of Socrates' so called teachings.

Yes, Socrates ran a sophist school and yes, it has been said that he

took payments for teaching, but it has also been said by Plato and

Xenophon – a Greek historian who lived ca. 431-355 BC – that he did

not because he wanted to make clear that he was not a teacher. His

teachings, as they are considered, were written in Plato's dialogues

with him because Plato decided to do it, most probably not because

Socrates himself wanted. I doubt he even knew what Plato was doing.

Anyways, what can be read about Socrates' opinions and beliefs are

still only that; opinions and beliefs. They're not rules that people

should follow. After all, Socrates was just a man, a human being,

just like the rest of us and thus capable of making mistakes.

Now, as I said, Socrates was just a human being – like the rest of

us – so probably he also had some of the common vices like greed

that each and everyone of us has in one form or another. What if he

wanted to boss around? After all, it has been told by Plato that he

wanted governments to be ruled by Philosophers and that he heard a

“divine voice” that prevented him from doing wrong. Such a thing as

“divine voice” couldn't be rationally explained, so that should be

cut out from a philosopher in the first place. What if he made it

up, knowing that people in such religious surroundings would obey

more easily and let him do what he wants if he justified all his

deeds and decisions with this “divine voice”, claiming with its help

never to do wrong?

Then again, there is something that confuses me a bit.. Why did he

accept the death sentence and drink the poison? Plato wrote about

those events quite a lot, but according to what I've read, he wasn't

there when it happened. What if Socrates was losing his mind and

wanting to die? What if he was frustrated of life? What if he knew

that after dying in such conditions, he would surely be remembered

and what if he wanted just that? We'll never know for sure..

Anyways, as many of you also know, Socrates didn't want to get into

politics. I haven't heard any possible explanations yet and I

haven't read about it much, so I probably shouldn't be writing about

it yet, but what if he lacked the self confidence for it or wanted

to boss around, just not on huge crowds? Or maybe it was just a try

to tell people that they shouldn't follow the beliefs, thoughts and

opinions of the others. I'm sure this is the most accepted

explanation for it and it is what I personally believe.

I believe the only thing Socrates ever waned to leave to people was

the Socratic method that simply tells people to think and gives some

basic advice on how it might be good to do so that it's effective

and leaves you with knowledge instead of beliefs and opinions. He

wanted people to question themselves and the others in order to find

the true answers to their problems.