THE PERSONALITY OF SOCRATES
It is difficult to construct a biographic sketch of Socrates
in a chronological and systematic order. He was born in the
year 469 B. C. His father was Sophroniscus, a sculptor,
and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife. He followed his
father's vocation and it is believed that he showed poor
skill in the profession. We know nothing of his early
intellectual and moral development. Since he was bred in
Athens, he most probably received the usual education
peculiar to that age. He was a soldier and took part in
military campaigns and wars. It is maintained that in military
life he displayed considerable bravery, endurance and
fortitude. The exact date of his appearance in public arena
is difficult to ascertain, however, "in the traditions of his
followers he is almost uniformly represented as an old, or as
a gray-headed man."[5.]
There are distinctive traits in the personality of Socrates
that are worthy of emphasis because of their dynamic
import.
He was described as eccentric in his general mode of conduct. He
"strutted proudly barefoot along the streets of Athens; he was careless
and shabby in his dress; in his manner he was affected and haughty and
was subject to ecstatic trances and visions. During these trances he
would maintain a standing posture for hours, buried in his thoughts, and
was quite oblivious to the external world. There was a celebrated
occasion in the camp at Poteidaice, when Socrates was not quite forty;
on that occasion he stood motionless from early morning on one day till
sunrise on the next, right through a night when there was a very hard
frost. When the sun rose he said his prayer and went about his
business."[6.] It is also claimed that he would
give vent to bursts of anger and fiery passion.
Ever since early boyhood Socrates is supposed to have
heard an inner voice, which he called a divine sign. It came
to him quite often both on important and on insignificant occasions.
According to Xenophon, this voice gave him both negative and positive
warnings; however, Plato holds that this voice only exercised its
influence in opposing the execution of certain things. "And not only was
he generally convinced" says Zeller, "that he stood and acted in the
service of God, but he also held that supernatural suggestions were
communicated to him, not only through the medium of public oracles, but
also in dreams, and more particularly by a peculiar kind of higher
inspiration which goes by the name of the Socratic
daimoviov."
[7.]
Even by his contemporaries he was regarded as singular and
eccentric and his general behavior was ever foreign to his compatriots.
Indeed Lelut[8.] boldly asserts that Socrates
was "un fou." Nevertheless "attempts were not wanting to excuse him," so
writes Zeller, "either on the ground of the universal superstition of
his age and nation, or else of his having a physical tendency to
fanaticism."[9.]
Another interesting feature in the life of Socrates is that he
married late and that his matrimonial life was far from being happy, and
in the words of Schwegler, "He nowhere shows much regard for his wife
and children; the notorious, though altogether too much exaggerated
ill-nature of Xantippe, leads us to suspect, however, that his domestic
relations were not the most happy."[10.] It is
also important to note that there was a turning point in the history of
his life when he took up the preaching of philosophy. It must be borne
in mind that he took no money for his teaching and at the same time he
left his wife and children destitute. In regard to this Draper remarks,
"There is surely something wrong in a man's life when the mother of his
children is protesting against his conduct, and her complaints are
countenanced by the community."[11.]
It is also significant that Socrates displayed a certain
degree of masochism; our historians tell us that Socrates
would deny himself bodily comforts and insist on enduring
hardship. Xenophon in Memorabilia says: "But they
knew that Socrates lived with the utmost contentment on
very small means, that he was most abstinent from every
kind of pleasure, and that he swayed those with whom he
conversed just as he pleased by his
arguments."
[12.] Again, "Is it not the duty of
every man to consider that temperance is the foundation of every virtue,
and to establish the observance of it in his mind before all things? For
who, without it, can either learn anything good or sufficiently practice
it? Who, that is a slave to pleasure is not in an ill condition both as
to his body and his mind? It appears to me, by Juno, that a free man
ought to pray that he may never meet with a slave of such a character,
and that he who is a slave to pleasure should pray to the gods that he
may find well-disposed masters; for by such means only can a man of that
sort be saved."
[13.] And, "He appeared also to
me, by such discourses as the following, to exhort his hearers to
practice temperance in their desires for food, drink, sensual
gratification, and sleep, and endurance of cold, heat and
labor."
[14.]
Although he condemned poederastia, yet he was always
fond of the male sex, particularly of the young. This,
however, may be explained on the ground that his object was
to appeal to the young. Nevertheless, dynamic psychology
demands a deeper meaning for such a motive. In this connection
it would be interesting to quote Xenophon: "As to
love, his counsel was to abstain rigidly from familiarity
with beautiful persons; for he observed that it was not easy
to be in communication with such persons, and observe
continence. Hearing, on one occasion, that Critobulus, the
son of Criton, had kissed the son of Alcibiades, a handsome
youth, he asked Xenophon, in the presence of Critobulus,
saying, "Tell me, Xenophon, did you not think that Critobulus
was one of the modest rather than the forward, one of
the thoughtful rather than of the thoughtless and inconsiderate?"
Certainly," replied Xenophon. "You must now,
then, think him extremely headstrong and daring; one who
would even spring upon drawn swords, and leap into the
fire." "And what," said Xenophon, "have you seen him
doing, that you form this opinion of him?" "Why, has he
not dared," rejoined Socrates, "to kiss the son of Alcibiades,
a youth extremely handsome, and in the flower of his age?"
"If such a deed," returned Xenophon, "is one of daring and
peril, I think that even I could undergo such peril." "Unhappy
man!" exclaimed Socrates, "and what do you think
that you incur by kissing a handsome person? Do you not
expect to become at once a slave instead of a freeman? To
spend much money upon hurtful pleasures? To have too
much occupation to attend to anything honourable and profitable?
And to be compelled to pursue what not even a mad
man would pursue?" "By Hercules," said Xenophon,
"what extraordinary power you represent to be in a kiss!"
"Do you wonder at this?" rejoined Socrates; "are you not
aware that the Tarantula, an insect not as large as half an
obolus, by just touching a part of the body with its mouth,
wears men down with pain, and deprives them of their
senses?" "Yes, indeed," said Xenophon, "but the Tarantula
infuses something when it bites." "And do you not
think, foolish man," rejoined Socrates, "that beautiful
persons infuses something when they kiss, something which
you do not see? Do you not know that the animal, which
they call a handsome and beautiful object, is so much more
formidable than the Tarantula, as those insects instil something
when they touch, but this creature, without even
touching, but if a person only looks at it, though from a very
great distance, instils something of such potency, as to drive
people mad? Perhaps indeed Cupids are called archers for
no other reason but because the beautiful wound from a
distance. But I advise you, Xenophon, whenever you see
any handsome person, to flee without looking behind you;
and I recommend to you, Critobulus, to absent yourself
from hence for a year, for perhaps you may in that time,
though hardly indeed, be cured of your wound." Thus he
thought that those should act with regard to objects of love
who were not secure against the attractions of such objects;
objects of such a nature, that if the body did not at all desire
them, the mind would not contemplate them, and which,
if the body did desire them, should cause us no trouble.
For himself, he was evidently so disciplined with respect to
such matters, that he could more easily keep aloof from the
fairest and most blooming objects than others from the most
deformed and unattractive. Such was the state of his feelings
in regard to eating, drinking, and amorous gratification;
and he believed that he himself, with self-restraint, would
have no less pleasure from them, than those who took great
trouble to pursue such gratifications, and that he would
suffer far less anxiety."
[15.]
There is another interesting anecdote which is worthy of
mention: "The Syrian soothsayer and physiognomist,
Zopyrus, saw in the countenance of Socrates the imprint of
strong sensuality. Loud protests were raised by the assembled
disciples, but Socrates silenced them with the remark:
`Zopyrus is not mistaken; however, I have conquered those
desires.'"[16.]
It is also evident that Socrates' mother must have
played some role in his mental life. It should be recalled
that at first he followed his father's profession, which seemingly
made no impression upon him, and later he took up
his new vocation, preaching philosophy, which he loved to
identify with that of his mother, and indeed by reason of
this the positive side of the Socratic method is known as "the
art of intellectual midwifery." "Socrates compared himself,"
writes Schwegler, "with his mother, Phaenarete, a
midwife, because his office was rather to help others bring
forth thoughts than to produce them himself, and because
he took upon himself to distinguish the birth of an empty
thought from one rich in content."[17.]
Further evidence of the deep reverence for his mother
is seen in Memorabilia where his eldest son, Lamprocles,
finds fault with his mother, and Socrates, though apparently
entertaining very little love for his wife, yet takes up a defensive
attitude towards her and offers the following argument
to his son: "Yet you are displeased at your mother,
although you well know that whatever she says, she not only
says nothing with intent to do you harm, but that she wishes
you more good than any other human being. Or do you
suppose that your mother meditates evil towards you?"
"No indeed," said Lamprocles, "that I do not imagine."
"Do you then say that this mother," rejoined Socrates,
"who is so benevolent to you; who, when you are ill, takes
care of you to the utmost of her power that you may recover
your health, and that you may want nothing that is necessary
for you, and who, besides, entreats the gods for many
blessings on your head, and pays vows for you, is a harsh
mother? For my part, I think that if you cannot endure
such a mother, you cannot endure anything that is
good."
[18.]
And in Crito, Socrates relates a dream shortly before
his death, in which his mother appeared, and to quote Plato:
"Crito says, `And what can this dream have been?' Socrates
replied, `I thought a woman came to me, tall and fair, and
clothed in white, and she called me and said `Socrates,
Socrates, in three days' time you will come to the fertile land,
Phthia.' "[19.]
To sum up briefly, the personality of Socrates showed
some psychopathic traits. It must also be borne in mind
that in that critical period, middle age, a sudden change
occurred in his mental life when he suddenly commenced to
exhibit profound interest in preaching philosophy. Moreover,
it must be emphasized that he apparently reacted to
hallucinations of an auto psychic nature. The self-asceticism,
and most probably the mother-complex cannot be passed
without mention. Although he presented these negative
qualities, nevertheless he left a great school of philosophy,
which beyond doubt is still felt in the intellectual and moral
world. Despite this, Athens committed an unpardonable
crime in putting Socrates to death. He, like other martyrs,
shared the same fate of the mob. Lowell's verse very
justly applies to Socrates:
"Truth forever on the scaffold;
Wrong forever on the throne."[20.]
With this characterization of Socrates, we are now in a
position to discuss that part of his philosophy which has a
definite bearing on modern psychopathology. Three important
phases of his philosophy come under consideration:
1. The dialectic method;
2. The conception of virtue;
3. Know thyself.
