Ancient philosophy. Life and creativity of Socrates. /part 5/

Xenophon, defending Socrates, wishes only in general terms to mark the positive religious character of his morality, which leaves aside the theological dimensions of the problem. Socrates asks: Antiphon, you seem to think happiness lies in luxury and entertainment; I, on the contrary, believe that the less a person spends in empty entertainment, the more he comes close to God. And since God is perfection, he who has come close to God has come close to the highest moral ideal .

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Philosophy, as Socrates as it is, is not just a curious study of nature, but a teaching about how to live. But since life is an art, and knowledge is needed for perfection in art, the basic practical question of philosophy must precede the problem of the essence of knowledge. So Socrates laid the beginning of the tradition characterizing classical philosophy as a whole. Its best examples are a drastic experience in the constant search for the truth, which is also necessary for the controversy and the dialogue. Truth does not arise and is not in a completely finished form in the head of the individual. According to Socrates, she is born in a conversation between the people who seek the truth together.

And if a modern man understands that Socrates, Plato, Seneca, Leibniz, or Kant need not only "as sources of information", but finds in the works of classics an impulse and own creative reflection, it means that this tradition is alive and today, and continues to do his good work. Socrates shows that religion is not purely irrational; the example of his extraordinary personality is also proof that neither faith nor morality can be built solely on logic. Even his friends could not deny his great inner power of attraction. And if he were only a philosopher discussing in most cases abusive concepts with those willing to talk and argue with him, he would never have such a power over human souls.

His mysterious glamor stems from this Socrates who could have been immersed in contemplation for hours, anticipating a completely new teaching about mankind in the future, listening to his "inner voice," and with all his being to believe in the reality of the Divine Good. Unlike the mystics, he does not find words to tell about his visions and his profound insights into the spirit. But it is this, mysterious, listening to the "Divine Voice in Myself", which always follows invariably and ultimately in principle, it captivates its disciples by suggesting their faith in the Highest Blag. And not by chance some Fathers of St. Church have assigned Socrates to one of the "Christians before Christ"