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Socrates Influence On Western Civilization Essay

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W. H. Auden asserted, “Had Greek civilization never existed, we would never have become fully conscious, which is to say that we would never have become, for better or worse, fully human.” This statement is true since, without Greeks, western civilizations would be missing many things that benefit us today. One of many things western civilization benefit from Greek is in the Scientific, medical and philosophy field. Even the arts and the writing in Greek history is an influence in western civilization today. An example is Socrates influence on western civilization.
Socrates was born in Athens the place that was booming in arts, science, and philosophy. According to History.com Staff, Socrates had “...[a] moderate wealth... (History.com Staff)”, yet for some reason whenever Socrates was out in town he was “barefoot[ed], long-haired and unwashed... (History.com Staff)”, which must have been bizarre for the people of Athens that time considering that beauty was held up to such high standards. One of …show more content…

Plato's belief was that “moral virtues are universal and absolute, not relative (Hunt, Martin, Rosenwein, Smith 2010).” he believed that it was the way people are whether they were good or bad, and that nothing can be changed about it. Plato was the first man to believe that the person's spirit is different from the body itself. According to David Davidson “Platonism is part of the vital structure of Christian theology (Davidson)." Which helped influence Christianity since Plato believed that there was a perfect world for people, which is what the Christian believed to be heaven. Plato was not Christian but Platonism did help people understand Christianity a bit better. Like Socrates, Plato also tried to keep his teaching very vague so that the readers can view their own strength or weakness in their own

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