Category Archives: History

Arts, History, Philosophy

(Philosophy) Essential Thinkers: Socrates

c. 470 – 399BC

Socrates

Socrates: ‘The only thing that I know is that I know nothing.’

SOCRATES lived through times of great political upheaval in his birthplace of Athens, a city which would eventually make him a scapegoat for its troubles and ultimately demand his life. Much of what is known about Socrates comes through the works of his one-time pupil Plato, for Socrates himself was an itinerant philosopher who taught solely by means of public discussion and oratory and never wrote any philosophical works of his own.

Unlike the Greek philosophers before him, Socrates was less concerned with abstract metaphysical ponderings than with practical questions of how we ought to live, and what is the good life of man. Consequently, he is often hailed as the inventor of that branch of philosophy known as ethics. It is precisely his concern with ethical matters that often led him into conflict with the city elders, who would accuse him of disrupting and corrupting the minds of sons of the wealthy elite with revolutionary and unorthodox ideas.

 

SOCRATES was certainly a maverick, often claiming to the consternation of his interlocutors that the only thing he was sure of was his own ignorance. Indeed, much of his teaching consisted in asking his audience to define various common ideas and notions, such as ‘beauty’, or ‘the good’, or ‘piety’, only to show through reasoned argument that all the proposed definitions and common conceptions lead to paradox or absurdity. Some of his contemporaries thought this technique disingenuous, and that Socrates knew more than he was letting on. However, Socrates’ method was meant to provide salutary lessons in the dangers of uncritical acceptance of orthodoxy. He often railed against, and made dialectic victims of, those who claimed to have certain knowledge of some particular subject. It is chiefly through the influence of Socrates that philosophy developed into the modern discipline of continuous critical reflection. The greatest danger to both society and individual, we learn from Socrates, is the suspension of critical thought.

 

LOVED by the city’s aristocratic youth, Socrates inevitably developed many enemies throughout his lifetime. In his seventieth year, after Athens had gone through several changes of leadership and failing fortunes, Socrates was brought to trial on charges of ‘corrupting the youth’ and ‘not believing in the city gods’. The charges were brought principally to persuade Socrates to renounce his provocative public speaking and convince the citizens of Athens that the new leadership had a tight rein on law and order. With a plea of guilty he might perhaps have walked away from the trial and lived out the rest of his life as a private citizen. However, in characteristic style, he robustly defended himself, haranguing his accusers and claiming that god himself had sent him on a mission to practice and teach philosophy. When asked, upon being found guilty, what penalty he thought he should receive, Socrates mocked the court by suggesting a trifling fine of only 30 minae. Outraged, a greater majority voted for Socrates to be put to death by the drinking of hemlock than had originally voted him guilty. Unperturbed, Socrates readily agreed to abide by the laws of his city and forbade his family from asking for a stay of execution.

Socrates’ trial, death and final speeches are wonderfully captured by Plato in his dialogues Apology, Crito and Phaedo.

. See also Philosophy: An introduction…

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Britain, Government, History, Politics, Russia, Society

Corbyn: ‘I’m the victim of a McCarthyite witch-hunt’

CORBYN’S STANCE OVER UK NERVE AGENT ATTACK

The leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, has suggested he is the victim of a “McCarthyite” witch-hunt as he faces a growing backlash over his refusal to blame Russia for the Salisbury spy poisoning.

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry – a key Corbyn ally – and shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith broke ranks to accept it was beyond doubt that Moscow was responsible.

But instead of backing down, the Labour leader defied his critics by warning the Prime Minister not to “rush way ahead of the evidence” in the “fevered” atmosphere of Westminster.

In a move that will fuel backbench anger over his weak stance, Mr Corbyn urged the Government to take “a calm, measured” approach and said we should not “resign ourselves to a new Cold War”.

He suggested the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq showed government claims that Russia was behind the attack may be wrong.

In an article for The Guardian, he wrote: “To rush way ahead of the evidence being gathered by the police, in a fevered parliamentary atmosphere, serves neither justice nor our national security.

“Labour is of course no supporter of the Putin regime, its conservative authoritarianism, abuse of human rights or political and economic corruption, “he wrote. “That does not mean we should resign ourselves to a new ‘Cold War’ of escalating arms spending, proxy conflicts across the globe and a McCarthyite intolerance of dissent.”

Senator Joseph McCarthy became infamous in the 1950s for carrying out an anti-Communist “witch-hunt” at the start of the Cold War.

Mr Corbyn backed Mrs May’s decision to expel 23 diplomats from Britain, but called for diplomacy.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson branded the Labour leader a “conspiracy theorist” for his continued refusal to fully accept Russia was behind the attack.

He said: “The scientists at Porton Down are the very best in the world. Their knowledge, their expertise so clearly points to one direction and you really do have to be a conspiracy theorist of the wildest kind to believe that there is anything other than fact about the statement that Russia has done this.”

Shadow defence secretary Miss Griffith told BBC Radio 4s Today programme: “We very much accept what the Prime Minister said, this is a very sophisticated nerve agent, and that Russia is responsible for this attack.”

Mrs Thornberry said: “The Russian government has been given every opportunity to provide any credible, alternative explanation as to how its nerve agents came to be used in this attack, but they have not even tried to do so.”

It is understood around 30 MPs have signed an Early Day Motion tabled by Labour backbencher John Woodcock “unequivocally” accepting the “Russian state’s culpability”.

 

SENATOR Joseph McCarthy lent his name to the so-called “witch-hunts” that were carried out against suspected Soviet sympathisers living in America.

The Senator for Wisconsin fuelled the “Red Scare” in 1950 by claiming he had a list of 205 Communists manipulating government policy. More than 2,000 government employees were sacked with little proof and Hollywood writers, directors and actors were blacklisted.

In 1954, he outraged President Eisenhower when he investigated Communist influence in the army.

He lost his public standing after military hearings were broadcast on state media. Lawyer Joseph Welch asked him: “Have you no sense of decency, sir?” Three years after the hearings he died of liver failure.

 

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China, Government, History, Politics, Society

China’s leader told he can rule for life

CHINA

PRESIDENT Xi Jinping has been given the go-ahead to rule China for the rest of his life.

The country’s parliament voted overwhelmingly earlier this week to abolish the 35-year-old law limiting leaders to two consecutive terms in power.

The decision marks a leap back in time, reversing the system of “collective leadership”. And it elevates Mr Xi to the same supreme position enjoyed by Mao Zedong, the dictator who ruled China from 1949 to his death in 1976.

The National People’s Congress backed the constitutional amendment by voting 2,958 in favour – with only two voting against and three abstaining.

Once the parliamentary ballot had been cast, to polite applause, the announcer declared: “The constitutional amendment item has passed.” Mr Xi, who would have had to step down in 2023, showed little emotion. The slide towards one-man rule will fuel concerns about a return to the excesses of autocratic leadership and the possible economic consequences.

Mr Xi’s confident leadership style and tough attitude towards corruption has won him popular support.

Now 64, the unchallenged leader of the world’s most populous nation worked his way up from the poverty of a rural commune. Mr Xi – married to soprano Peng Liyuan, 55, with whom he has one daughter – was appointed leader of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012 and has moved to concentrate power in his own hands. He has appointed himself to bodies that oversee security, finance and economic reform.

Critics fear the lessons of history are being forgotten. Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political commentator, said: “This marks the biggest regression in China’s legal system since the reform and opening-up era of the 1980s. I’m afraid that this will all be written into our history in the future.”

In a sign of the issue’s sensitivity, government censors have aggressively cleared social media of expressions ranging from “I disagree” to “Xi Zedong”.

Mr Xi’s control has crushed hopes for reform among China’s embattled liberal scholars and activists, who now fear even greater repression. China allows no political opposition and has relentlessly persecuted groups seeking greater civic participation.

The country’s growing economic power also means world leaders are unlikely to make too much of the developments.

Only last month Theresa May visited China in what was seen as the first step towards a post-Brexit trade deal with the country. Commercial deals worth a total of £9billion were said to have been signed during the trip.

Most powerful man since Mao

The vote makes Xi Jinping China’s most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong.

It also undoes the system of “collective leadership” introduced to avoid a repeat of Chairman Mao’s long and bloody reign.

The founding father of the People’s Republic of China, Mao ruled from when he seized power in 1949 to his death in 1976.

He introduced dramatic and disastrous reforms as he established his own brand of Communism.

The Great Leap Forward – a mass mobilisation of labour to improve production and output – resulted in famine and the deaths of millions.

In 1966 Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to purge the country of opponents. It crippled the economy and thrust China into ten years of turmoil, bloodshed and hunger. It also saw the imprisonment of a huge number of citizens.

His final years saw attempts to build bridges with the US, Japan and Europe, but his reputation could never be restored.

Such was Mao’s devastating impact that in 1982 a law was passed limiting presidents to two terms.

Its reversal will raise fears of a return to the horrors of Mao’s reign.

 

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