The Hellenic influence upon the intellectual development of the world is
infinite. The intellectual force emanating from the sources of Greek art,
literature and philosophy permeated thru the ages and have helped to shape
the destiny of our civilization. "Except the blind forces of Nature," says
Sir Henry Sumner Maine, "nothing moves in this world which is not Greek in
its origin." [1.] Without a shadow of doubt, Greek Philosophy forms the firm
background of progressive and reflective thought in all its phases and
ramifications.
In the history and evolution of Hellenic thought, we find two tendencies of
inquiry,--one dealing with the objective manifestations of the universe, and
the other directed towards the study of the mind. To the former class
belong Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras, and others that
attempted to discover some principle for the explanation of the natural
phenomena. To accomplish this end, mathematics, physics, metaphysics, etc.,
were resorted to. The other great epoch, which may be termed the
Renaissance of Greek Philosophy, was conceived by the Supreme Greek thinker,
Socrates, who forms the subject thesis of this paper.
Socrates was the father of psychology and the grandfather of modern
psychopathology. He was the first one that attempted to study man from the
point of view of subjectivity. In the words of Snyder, "In Socrates, the
human mind burst forth into knowing itself as thinking."[2.] And Zeller very
thoughtfully remarks: "The interests of philosophy being thus turned away
from the outer world and directed towards man and his moral nature, and man
only regarding things as true and binding of the truth of which he was
convinced himself by intellectual research, there appears necessarily in
Socrates a deeper importance attached to the personality of the
thinker."[3.] In Phaedrus, Socrates speaks: "I am a lover of knowledge, and
in the cities I can learn from men; but the fields can teach me
nothing."[4.] Although Aristophanes pictures Socrates in the clouds as
preaching natural philosophy, yet there is no authentic record of this.
The source of information regarding the biography of Socrates and his
philosophy comes from two authors, Xenophon and Plato. The former portrays
him as a moral philosopher and in his book, Memorabilia, he seems to
eulogize his master. The latter however presents him as a thinker, and it
is maintained by many critics that Plato put into the mouth of Socrates his
own ideas. It is lamentable that this great philosopher committed nothing
of his monumental work in writing.