by Max Baseman

Created on: April 24, 2009

Greek philosophers had a heavy influence on the modern world. Ideas of conduct put forth by the philosophers of ancient Greece have either lived to this day or have inspired new forms of conduct. The systems of organization and science are used in modern education. The Greek ideas of governance have been adopted into the modern world. In order to understand how the Greek philosophers molded the modern world it is vital to examine the Greek theories of conduct.

Just as people today search for the answer to the question of conduct, Socrates "tried to find the definitions of the virtues, such as courage and justice"(1). The common rule used today to judge our heros, whether they will "[do] what [they] think is right even in the face of universal opposition" is one of "Socrates' most famous philosophical ideas"(2). Socrates believed that "the issue of primary importance was ethics, living a good life"(3). Socrates one of the fathers of philosophy had many students, his most well known student was Plato, who began recording some of Socrates thoughts and later moved onto his own theories of philosophy (4).

"Plato (427-347 B.C.) is surely the most famous of all philosophers"(5).
"The most famous of Plato's dialogues is... called The Republic... The Republic is one of the single most influential works in Western philosophy."(6). The Republic primarily deals with the philosophical question of conduct and "how to live a good life"(7). Other schools of philosophy such as Stoicism, Epicureanism, Skepticism, and Neoplatonism have seeped into the modern world and into the modern language. A stoic being someone who endures without showing their feelings, a epicurean being a person devoted to sensual enjoyment, a skeptic being the characteristic of questioning or doubting accepted opinions, Neoplatonism was a major influence on early Christian writings, it focuses on the soul being above the imperfect material world. Just as Greek Philosophers like Socrates and Plato, have taught the world how to do the right thing and how to live our lives, the theories and ideas of the fathers of Philosophy have carried over into the question of education.

The systems and school of today still use and apply the theories and answers that the Greek fathers of philosophy proposed to the second question of philosophy, the question of education. Socrates suggested that "when one realizes that he does not know anything, he starts to gain knowledge"(8). He believed that teachers should prompt ideas

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