Philosopher Who Put Nothing On Paper

Although the Athenian thinker Socrates (about 470 - 399 BC) is regarded the Father of Western philosophy, he never committed his ideas to paper. Our only knowledge of him comes from the writings of his Greek contemporaries - Aristophanes, Xenophon, and particularly his pupil, Plato. Socrates appears as the main character in Plato’s “Dialogues”. Most scholars believe, however, that in the book Plato was not reporting Socrates’ views, merely using it as a mouthpiece for his own. Condemned to death for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens, Socrates continued to discuss philosophy with his friends and pupils in jail. He refused to take advantage of their offers to help him escape, electing instead to drink the lethal hemlock handed to him by his executioners.