Born in Athens
Born to Sophroniscus, a stonemason, and Phaenarete, a midwife. His mother’s profession would later become a metaphor for his own method: helping others give birth to ideas.
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Socrates walked barefoot through Athens, asking questions that made powerful people uncomfortable. He claimed to know nothing, which made him wiser than those who claimed to know everything. His method (relentless questioning, following the argument wherever it leads) became the foundation of Western philosophy. Athens executed him for it. He drank the hemlock calmly, still talking about the soul.
