How And Why Did Socrates Plato And Aristotle Affect Western History?

How and why did Socrates (470-390 B.C.), Plato (427-347 B.C.), and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) affect Western history
Name
Institution
Date
How and why did Socrates (470-390 B.C.), Plato (427-347 B.C.), and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) affect Western history
Philosophy guides our viewpoint on important issues like ethics, moral responsibilities, politics and the general understanding of the world. Modern day philosophers still come up with new ideas on different subjects, but most of these principles stem from several viewpoints of great philosophers like Socrates. The Athenians are known to have produced some of the best thinkers in human history among them Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, whose great ideas had a major influence in western civilization (Perry et al., 2015).
Socrates was an influential thinker; he coined several philosophies during his time, Socrates viewed and acted differently from the usual thinkers of his time. Socrates was born in Athens during the period when the city witnessed one of its largest cultural expansions (Nelson, 2015). Socrates was a son of a midwife and sculptor, he had the privilege to interact with the intellectual elite at the court and rulers of Athens despite his origins (Nelson, 2015).
Socrates was motivated by events around him, pushing him to study philosophy. He reviewed the works of other Greek philosopher like Heraclitus and Parmenides, who later influenced his thinking (Lane, 2015). Socrates was uncomfortable with the sophists and their self-centeredness more so their ideas about everything being comparative (Lane, 2015).
Socrates loved, desired and believed in the truth. One of the examples of his effect on philosophy is the dialog Euthyphro, Socrates states that what is considered a good act is not good just because the gods have said; something good should be useful to people and make them happier (Nelson, 2015).
Socrates believed that ethics is not about the gods or scripture to determine what is good or bad but it is about life, Socrates emphasized on individual excellence (Nelson, 2015). Socrates is among the most influential Western philosophers, however, he did not write any of his philosophies, many of his works were documented by Plato (Lane, 2015). Socrates majorly contributed to the study of philosophy that moved away from natural science toward the reflection of a system of ethics and questioning individual ethical conduct (Lane, 2015).
Socrates beliefs and his outrageous death molded Plato to become one of the greatest philosopher in the world. Plato was Socrates’ student who later became among the most influential figures in western civilization. ...