Reflection #11 Impact of reasoning

Ideas from the philosopher Socrates impacted people to reason and question. His philosophy “the elenchus” was used to show those who listened to him that they were confused about there own beliefs. Although many believe Socrates to be a very wise man, he adamantly stated that the only truth that he knew was that he in fact knew nothing. This philosophy does not define a simple truth but rather confuses people by asking them questions about there beliefs and reveling there inconsistencies. In education this can be a both a positive and a negative. Positive because it leads you to question everything and to seek knowledge and a negative as it leaves you will even more questions, some that you may never be able to answer. The examined life shows Socrates being judged by the Athenian Senate on multiple charges. Socrates becomes a martyr for the elenchus, which shows that to seek knowledge, is worth the ultimate sacrifice. The impact of this is felt in today’s society. We seek new knowledge not just by looking up information but by also questioning those ideas. New ideas can be very hard to accept and to question the old ideas can mean death. Some people want to be right and have the answers so badly that to question their knowledge is an insult. When Socrates began to question people intelligence and left many with doubt this started an epidemic of searching for knowledge among the young. In many societies’s to question what “is” fact is a sacrilege in itself. Yet without questioning what “is” there can be no growth as a society. In the ancient Greek world moral excellence was described as fostering character habits that you wanted to achieve in life. In American culture to questions someone’s morality is considered rude. However, the impact of this idea is that in order to judge others moral character you must be willing to answer questions about your own moral character. In other words, sweep around your own front door before you begin to sweep around mine. This will keep you from making the assumption that you have the right answer regarding moral issues that you may not have.