From Sophism to Socratic Skepticism
Socrates (469 BCE - 399 BCE)
Socrates was, of course, a “sophist” – a teacher of knowledge – as were Plato
and Aristotle, but this sophistic view of “truth” is exactly what these philo-sophers wanted to get beyond. For the Socratic
philosophers, sophism simply raised the question: beyond the realm of pure
opinion (sophism) and without, perhaps, recourse to religion, how can we know for certain
that we have located "truth"?
So this is the context within which to begin understanding Socrates: he gets in trouble with the Athenians for asking them to question the fundamental assumptions upon which they base their perceptions of truth. He challenges both their ontology and their epistemolgy (see below), and in so doing reinvents how humanity thinks of 'Truth' and how we go about finding it.
Socratic Skepticism
When we read Plato’s Socratic Dialogues we’re usually struck by the fact that
Socrates never really tells us anything – he hardly advances any answers
of his own and really only forces the other characters to question their own
beliefs (this line of questioning is the famous "Socratic Method"). For this he’s usually accused of simply being a
skeptic, someone
who questions but offers no answers, and this may be fairly accurate – certainly
that’s why the Athenians got sick of him.
So consider Socrates the first philosopher because he asked the questions that all subsequent philosophers have tried to answer:
What is the nature of truth and reality? (this is the field of ontology)
How do we know the true nature of anything – such as virtue, justice, love etc.?
How do we go about answering those questions? (this is the field of epistemology)
How can we possibly make good choices – as a democracy, as members of a jury, as individuals – if we do not begin with those questions?
Without addressing these questions, how could one address the questions of virtue addressed in his Apololgia or "Defense"?
Plato and Aristotle: Attempting to locate Truth.
Socrates will die before he has a chance to answer those questions, and so his student Plato, and Plato’s student, Aristotle, will offer two radically different sets of answers, and these two radically different sets of answers will pretty much define how we’ve thought about truth forever more. See: Plato vs. Aristotle