From: jimruttshow8596
Socrates is recognized as a pivotal figure in Western philosophy and is deeply associated with the pursuit of wisdom and truth through self-examination [01:33:12]. His ideas, particularly his emphasis on knowing oneself, laid foundational groundwork for subsequent philosophical and religious insights [00:57:05].
The Socratic Revolution
The emergence of Socrates is understood as a “kairos” or a critical turning point in history [01:23:36]. This period saw a “second order thinking” come online, influenced by new psychotechnologies like alphabetic literacy and numeracy [00:54:18]. This enhanced metacognition, allowing for critical awareness of the mind, identifying pervasive self-deception, and fostering a capacity for self-transcendence [00:54:55].
Socrates utilized this cognitive shift to promote different identities and perspectives, leading to the pervasive “two worlds mythology” [00:55:29]. While this model is criticized for its potential for manipulation, it also highlights the human capacity to “see through illusion and into reality,” a defining feature of wisdom [01:02:47].
”Know Thyself”
The watchword of Socrates was “Know Thyself” [01:33:23]. This command does not refer to one’s autobiography or a pre-packaged identity [01:34:41]. Instead, it is about becoming aware of the “machinery of the self” and actively directing one’s “selfing” (turning the self into a verb) towards becoming a wiser and more virtuous person [01:35:21]. For Socrates, true self-knowledge is interwoven with knowing others and the world, continuously seeking connections across these three dimensions [01:35:54]. This pursuit is inherently aspirational [01:36:18].
Socrates vs. Natural Philosophers
Socrates was impressed by the endeavors of the natural philosophers who sought to understand the nature of things through observation and reason, but he found their approach lacking in providing guidance on how to become wiser or overcome self-deception [01:36:16]. He sought truths that were disclosed in transformation and that, in turn, afforded further transformation [01:36:44]. This reciprocal relationship distinguishes wisdom from mere knowledge [01:36:56].
Socrates vs. The Sophists
Socrates famously criticized the Sophists, whom he saw as teaching people to “bullshit” themselves and each other [01:39:42]. The Sophists developed rhetoric, a psychotechnology that made things deeply salient and promised powerful transformation, but often disconnected from any attempt to get at the truth [01:37:34]. This led to pervasive individual and group self-deception and contributed to the rise of demagoguery [01:39:51].
In contrast to lying, which relies on someone else’s concern for the truth, “bullshitting” involves directing one’s attention to make something salient, regardless of its truth value, leading to a self-deceptive cycle [01:42:31]. Socrates recognized that the mind can be manipulated through this process, disengaging attention from a concern for truth [01:43:52].
Truth, Salience, and the Examined Life
Socrates’s core tenets included knowing that he did not know and the declaration that “the unexamined life is not worth living” [01:48:26]. This “unexamined life” refers to a life devoid of the continuous effort to couple “salience for transformation” with truth [01:49:09].
For Socrates, the pursuit of wisdom involves cultivating “virtue” (meaning a power encompassing skills, states of mind, and character traits) [01:49:15]. This meta-virtue of wisdom leads to seeking transformative truths and allows for the revelation of truths through transformation [01:49:29]. Such a life offers the most meaning in life, which is crucial for tolerating and compensating for the unavoidable suffering and pain that life entails [01:50:09].
Socrates and Altered States of Consciousness
Historical accounts suggest that Socrates himself engaged in practices that induced altered states of consciousness, such as standing in a trance for extended periods [01:32:10]. This aligns with the understanding that such states can afford extraordinary abilities and insights, similar to how shamans used various methods to deliberately alter consciousness [01:33:05].
Legacy
Socrates’s profound influence, particularly through his disciple Plato, led to the “Socratic-Platonic revolution” [01:30:07]. This period, alongside the emergence of major world religions, established enduring philosophical schools of ethics and approaches to understanding existence [00:56:55]. His work is considered a significant part of the historical philosophical influences that continue to shape thought today [00:00:00].