Socratic Wisdom

One of the people I find to be wise as Socrates, is a pastor from our local church.  He possesses multiple positive qualities that make him stand out as a leader. The few times I interacted with him directly, I realized that the pastor was a humble man willing to listen to others. Despite his wealth of knowledge of spiritual matters, he is courageous enough to listen to divergent perspectives. In addition, his humility, acceptance of his shortcomings, and desire for self-improvement are admirable. Generally speaking, most influential people—like pastors—have a tendency to act as though they know everything.

According to Benson (2000), people’s beliefs are their opinions, not necessarily the truth. Additionally, perception and reality differ, and one cannot force one’s truth on others. Therefore, whatever people call facts are a collection of educated guesses that are yet to be disapproved. The pastor aligns with this principle in his conversations and speeches, privately and publicly. He approaches religious matters with an open mind, ready to learn or familiarize himself with divergent viewpoints.

The pastor’s Socratic wisdom has been evident on various occasions. One such occasion was during debates regarding the ideal dress code and grooming to church. That was after several young church members started donning what is traditionally regarded as inappropriate clothing to church. Another concern was the hairstyles some church members had adopted, drawing attention to their failure to adhere to traditional church principles. Instead of calling out such members, the pastor called for a meeting with young churchgoers to understand why they insist on dressing unconventionally. The outcome of the meeting was that this was a generational issue as the dressing did not contravene ethics. Socrates’s wisdom calls for an open mind, constant inquiry, and readiness to learn.

References

Benson, H. H. (2000). Socratic wisdom: the model of knowledge in Plato’s early dialogues. Oxford University Press, USA.

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Forum 1

Our writing assignments are practical, personal, and have to do with you as much as philosophy

I would like you to go into your community and find an example of someone you know who is wise.

You can talk to this person or just write this paper from memory

Who do you know that is wise in the way Socrates is wise?

Why do you think he is wise?

Give us some examples of his wisdom in action.

Socratic Wisdom

Refer to one of our Plato-Socrates texts at least twice

This should be about 1-3 paragraphs–about a page give or take

Put a cover sheet on that gives your info, a title that reflects your main idea and some kind of image that reflects the main point you want to make about the paper.

This paper is meant to lead into a more formal and traditional paper on the Cave.