Living from 469 – 399 B.C.E., Socrates of Athens spent a majority of his live walking the streets, inciting arguments, and profoundly perplexing most of those who listened to him. Many scholars claim that Socrates laid the foundations for Western Philosophy as we know it today.

Alexander Nehamas, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, wrote of Socrates, “with the exception of the Epicureans, every philosophical school in antiquity, whatever its orientation, saw in him either its actual founder or the type of person to whom its adherents were to aspire.”

Despite his fame, we know practically nothing about the historical Socrates, in large part because we trust too much the sources that Plato gave us. Plato’s writings always tell a story about Socrates but never demonstrate the philosophical opinions of Plato himself.

As a result, researchers believe that Plato altered the stories of Socrates’ life for promoting Plato’s own philosophy. However, we find inconsistencies across Plato’s works, in addition to inconsistencies in comparison to other authors’ texts.

Next to Plato, two sources on Socrates are extant today from the Greek thinker Xenophon (425 – 386 B.C.E.) and the Greek playwright Aristophanes (450 – 386 B.C.E.). Aristophanes wrote the play Clouds which currently is our earliest source on Socrates.

Very much like Plato, Xenophon studied under Socrates when Socrates was at least in his 50′s, an age at which the two pupils might have been mature enough to study under him. Conversely, Socrates and Aristophanes would have likely interacted when Socrates was much younger.

We have numerous account of Socrates from Plato which include The Republic, Euthypro, Meno, Phaedo, and Symposium. These titles represent just a few of Plato’s dialogues on Socrates. In contrast, Xenophon wrote just a few works on Socrates which are Apology, Anabasis, Symposium, and Hellenica.

Since we must face the fact that these texts contradict each other in some way, we currently cannot interpret the historical Socrates with much authority. Scholars, who loves their puns, have labeled this obscurity as the “Socratic problem.”

Conversely, we know a few things about the famous Socrates. He stumbled along the Athenian streets in a very strange manner. Secondly, the general Athenian, particular one born into wealth, would ultimately accept his duty to take a public office. The great Philosopher never participated in formal politics. The Sophists often moved from city to city to take on pupils to make a living, but Socrates chose a life of poverty and never took money for his teachings.

Indeed, our lack of historical documentation limits our knowledge of Socrates, but scholars have and will forever herald Socrates for his ingenuity, confidence, and legacy. Although we currently grasp in the dark for the real Socrates, future work in this area of study may reveal new and fascinating aspects of his brilliant life.

Take time to look through some of the best philosophy books of the Western tradition. Find the philosophy books you’ve always wanted to read.