caption death_date death_place influenced era birth_place school_tradition main_interests nationality notable_ideas name birth_date alt influenced_by image article_title region
a bust of socrates in the louvre 399 bc -lrb- aged approx . 71 -rrb- athens most , aristotle , aristippus , antisthenes subsequent western philosophy ; more specifically , plato ancient philosophy deme alopece , athens classical greek epistemology , ethics greek socratic method , socratic irony socrates 470/469 bc a bust of socrates parmenides socrates louvre.jpg socrates
 western philosophy
socrates

socrates -lrb- ; , `` sōkrátēs '' ; 470/469 -- 399 bc -rrb- was a classical greek -lrb- athenian -rrb- philosopher credited as one of the founders of western philosophy .
he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers , especially the writings of his students plato and xenophon and the plays of his contemporary aristophanes .
plato 's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of socrates to survive from antiquity , though it is unclear the degree to which socrates himself is `` hidden behind his ` best disciple ' , plato '' .
through his portrayal in plato 's dialogues , socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics , and it is this platonic socrates who lends his name to the concepts of socratic irony and the socratic method , or `` elenchus '' .
the latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions , and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers , but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand .
plato 's socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the field of epistemology , and the influence of his ideas and approach remains a strong foundation for much western philosophy that followed .
