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Socrates was born.

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Plato was born.

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Socrates (469/470-399 BCE) hailed from Greek and was considered the Father of Philosophy. In his youth, he studied music, gymnastics and followed his father as a sculptor. He also served in the army with distinction.

When Socrates was middle aged, he realized that the people who were looked down on actually possessed more wisdom. Therefore, he questioned elders in front of youths, and many youngsters followed him for his bravery. Later, these youths opened up Socratic schools and preached his teachings. As a philosopher, Socrates disregarded social customs and religions, and he did not care for class distinctions, as he talked to women, servants and slaves alike. Moreover, he referred himself as a "gadfly", constantly inquiring people of all social statuses regarding morality issues, stimulating critical thinking and drawing out ideas. This method is later described as "Socratic questioning". Despite his knowledge, however, he never recorded his words, as he viewed teaching through texts to be ineffective and a waste of time.

In his later years, he was accused of denying the Gods' will and corrupting the youth of Athens. Moreover, his former student, Critias, was recently overthrown as a tyrant, and his father blamed Socrates for misguiding his son. He openly refused any legal aid and defended himself, citing his actions as just and divine. Despite the efforts of his many students and famous speechwriters who admired him, he was sentenced to death. He was surrounded by friends and family when he was forced to commit suicide by drinking hemlock. Although he wrote nothing, his ideals were passed down by his disciples, most notably Plato and Xenophon.

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Throughout his life, Socrates has firm beliefs in several philosophical ideas. However, he questioned the effectiveness of teaching, and he did not document any of his ideas. They include:

-Socrates views the God's will to be always just and right.

-Socrates identifies knowledge with virtue. He firmly believes that morality can be taught and spread.

-He states that "an unexamined life is not worth living". One must prioritize knowledge and wisdom before their personal interests. The knowledge would guide one into performing ethical and morally correct actions, leading to a successful life.

-It is better to suffer from injustice then to commit it, since performing evil deeds harms the soul, which is the most important part of a human.

-By acting with virtue and morality, one eases their soul, the most important part of their existence, and fulfils their lives. A virtuous life leads to happiness.

-A true hero does not care about his death or dangers to his life. Just like Socrates, they only need to pay attention to their actions, and whether they are morally correct or wrong.

-Humans are not innately evil. They are intellectualists. They act in a way that they believe it is the best for them, but their lack of knowledge of what is good or bad makes their actions to be perceived as immoral.

-Socrates does not accept the fact that two equally justified moral values conflict with each other. He believes that there must be one that is superior to the other.

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Throughout his life, Socrates deeply respected and followed Athenian law without question. However, during the reign of the Thirty Tyrants and his unfair trial, Socrates practiced an early form of civil disobedience. Unlike others who feared death penalties by disobeying the law, he mocked their laws, expressing his views that their legal system did not represent justice and God's words.

-Socrates views the state as his parent, his education and the origin of law. Therefore, he would never disobey or resist the laws of his nation, even if he is sentenced to death.

-He views obeying the law as a "contract" and a "mutual obligation", and this is why a responsible citizen should obey them.

-Citizens in a state must obey the law of the state, or persuade the state to change the law, or leave the state.

-However, during his trial, Socrates believed that his preaching is acceptable, and he was carrying services for the divine. He values the Gods' will over law, the society and their rigid expectations.

Socrates' actions from disobeying the Thirty Tyrants and his trial have shown that he accepts civil disobedience, only when the law is unjustified and they impede his way of following God's words.

Socrates' civil disobedience does not contradict his teachings. He determines if the law should be followed by examining whether it is instituted legally and conforms with the law.

Socrates respects laws that display true justice and morality. He defies legal positivism: he does not follow laws just because they are laws.

A good legal system must not be tyrannical. It should allow citizens to leave the city freely or discuss the law. In other words, people should be allowed to practice philosophy.

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On Our Obligation to Obey the Law - a short reading from Plato's Crito

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Socrates was sentenced to death because of impiety and corruption of youths. He was forced to commit suicide by drinking a poisonous beverage made with hemlock.

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Plato (428-357 BCE) was one of the most famous and influential Greek philosophers. As a student of Socrates, he expanded on the ideas and techniques of his former teacher and invented Platonism, which included famous theories such as the Forms and Platonic Love. Plato was born from a noble Athenian lineage. In his youth, he was well-versed in philosophy, poetry and gymnastics.

After meeting Socrates in his adolescence, he became a devoted follower of Socrates. Socrates' style of relentless questioning, as well as asking and answering to stimulate critical thinking became the foundation of Plato's philosophy. He was one of the students that was present at Socrates' trial and execution. He even recorded his teacher's trial in his work Apology. After the former's death, he travelled to Southern Italy, Sicily and Egypt to explore and learn. His interactions with the Pythagoreans piqued his interest in mathematics.

At 40 years old, Plato returned to Athens and founded his own philosophical school. His establishment of the academy showed that he moved beyond Socrates' teachings, who questioned a teacher's ability to transfer knowledge to students. Plato taught a lot of students, with Aristotle being one of the most famous ones. Furthermore, he spreads the teachings of Socrates. His most famous works include the Republic, Apology, the Symposium and Crito, all of which feature Socrates as a main character. Later, Plato died in Athens, with his body buried beneath the academy grounds. His academy flourished for nearly three centuries, until it was destroyed in an invasion by Rome.

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Socrates was a well-known philosopher, and his ideologies of critical thinking and constant questioning led to many students preaching his teachings. One of his most famous students is Plato, who worked to perfect Socrates' method of teaching and documented his ideas. Both had a mutual and heartfelt respect for each other. Plato even once mentioned to his students that Socrates was "the justest man alive".

Both individuals primarily pursued the components to a successful and virtuous life. Plato's Apology was considered the dialogue with the most accurate depiction of Socrates'  trial. Since Socrates had never written anything about his teachings, scholars have primarily used Plato's writings, which often depicts Socrates as the main character to understand the details of Socrates' life and trials. He is literally the "mouthpiece" of Socrates.

After Socrates' death, Plato retained his respect in his former friend. In his early works, Plato has frequently utilized Socrates as a character in order to honor his teacher and make his dialogues more convincing. However, in his middle to late works, he started to exclude Socrates' from his dialogues or put him in a minor role. Scholars speculate that since Plato had a reputation on his own, he no longer required Socrates' name to verify his teachings.

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Similar to Socrates, Plato was regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of natural law. In his works, he expanded on Socrates' idea that law should be all-encompassing and display justice.

-Instead of encouraging conflicts and wars, Plato viewed laws as a method to make a state flourish by introducing virtues like wisdom, moderation and justice. It should also help citizens to develop these virtues inside themselves.

-Naturally, humans are not opposed to one another. They often share mutual good will. Therefore, legislation helps to reconcile any conflicts of interest and makes people live in harmony.

-A successful constitution should allow political power to be distributed across the country. Absolute power from a party would only lead to ignorance and eventual failure.

-A successful political system should grant enough freedom for citizens to willingly follow the leaders and not resent them. It should be concerned about the welfare of citizens, while granting authority to wise leaders who citizens would find pleasant. There needs to be some restrictions to their rights.

-A balanced educational system requires the state to provide citizens with proper education .

-A law should serve the interests of the citizens. It has authority over all citizens, and any law that doesn’t protect the welfare of the entire state is a “bogus” law.

-Plato believes law should uphold geometric equality, which refers to treating people based on their cultures and ability. In other words, laws should account for the differences in humans. Since citizens have different natures, and to treat them all in the same way is a type of inequality.

-Injustice is a disease in society that needs to be cured through punishment. The emergence of imprisonment in Greek society is reported to be innovated by Plato.

-“Scrutineers”, or law enforcement agents, should be characters with proven reputations and they should approach matters impartially. However, if anyone believes they are being treated unfairly by them, they should be able to accuse them and seek fairness in a trial.

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As Socrates' prized pupil, Plato held his mentor in high regard. Therefore, Plato's early dialogues all include Socrates. However, as time passed, the appearance of Socrates began to dwindle.

-Plato divides the idea of souls into three parts: a rational part that enjoys truth and logic, a spirited part that loves honor and victory, and an appetitive part that desires entertainment and wealth. Virtue occurs when one balances these three aspects well.

One of Plato's central ideology is the Theory of Forms. He mentions supra-sensible entities called forms, which suggest that matter in the physical realm are imitations of counterparts an idea from their spiritual world. These forms are the perfect representation of that quality. For example, a law representing the form of equality is the most equal, while objects with the form of beauty are the prettiest.

Plato believes the self-proclaimed "wise" cannot live a virtuous life since they do not properly interact with these forms.

When a person finds themselves doing something that they actually believe is not the right thing to do, they suffer from akrasia (moral weakness).

Plato coins the term platonic love (eros). He regards love that involves physical and sexual contact to be frustrating and immoral. In his dialogues, he claims that true, moral love should not involve contact, as it is the most beautiful and the the form of beauty.

-Plato believes that human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. They affect the choices of humans.

Human goods like money, health or strength do not make one’s life flourish. In the hands of a corrupt person, these traits would be useless and wasted. They must rely on divine goods (virtue) in order for a good life.

Virtue requires not only reason and meticulous thinking, but also cultivation of correct feelings.

The soul is the master of the body, and it should be given priority. Nevertheless, many people pursue the body ( wealth, beauty, pleasure) over the soul (virtue).

The evil doer actually desires what is good, so when they act wrongly, they are not doing what they actually want to do

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Plato died in Athens, and his body was buried beneath his beloved academy.

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Socrates' ideologies, albeit ancient, still has a significant impact on today's society. For instance,  Socrates' brave and unprecedented act of peacefully rejecting state laws has highlighted the value of civil disobedience, inspiring countless social activists to advocate for change, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Moreover, when he insisted that just legislation should allow people to discuss the law with their leaders, he was inventing a necessary change to society: Freedom of Speech. Thanks to his contribution,  citizens can now speak out against unconstitutional laws through appeals and peaceful protests. As for morality, Socrates invented philosophical ethics. As he often asked about what is wrong or right, he shaped the very foundation of ethics- the conflict between good and evil. This relevation has influenced the moral and legal codes of the Western world, which discusses the different perceptions of morality by humans.

On the other hand, Plato's works also tremendously changed the system of law and morals in human history. The Laws, a late dialogue written in his late years, described what a practical government would function. Although it was unfinished, it still contained a decent framework of future legal systems. Many of its described elements, such as distribution of power for parties and accounting for differences in humans are still relevant to this day. For instance, the rule of law is instated by Britain since the leaders believe a just legal system should not be tyrannical. Just like Plato, they agreed that laws should be inclusive enough to protect everyone in the state. Regarding morality, Plato's Theory of Forms and his theory of love explained how a virtuous relationship should be. Instead of purely sexual contact, people should love others with respect and admiration, since true love should display the Form of Beauty. Later coined by scholars as "Platonic love", Plato's theory described what a moral relationship between humans should be: mutual admiration and appreciation.