Socrates (470 - 399 B.C.) Plato's mentor was steeped in the Orphic tradition. Socrates is one of the most significant philosophers, yet very little is known of him. What remains is mostly from the works of Plato and Aristophanes' The Clouds. Socrates largest influence on Western thought comes from his influence on Plato's world view.
Socrates spent all of his life in Athens. A stone mason, according to some historians, Socrates (according to Plato) refused to accept payment for his philosophizing/teaching. This distinction is important as neither Socrates nor Plato wished to be compared to the Sophists. Despite this, Socrates was considered a Sophist in his own time.
The legend of Socrates holds that he was put to death in 399 B.C. (this story is told with great piety in Plato's Phaedo which presents Socrates' death as the ideal death for the philosopher). Socrates had been charged with Impiety because he was teaching the Greek youth to question traditions and beliefs. He was also charged with being an evil doer and a curious person. In reality, Socrates was a friend/supporter of the recently overthrown tyrant. He had served as a spy for that tyrant as well as engaging in political agitation against the democratic government that overthrew the tyrant and had Socrates put to death. The jury that Socrates faced was composed of Anytus (a member of the new regime), Meletus (a poet), and Lykon (a sophist). They found him guilty. The court sentenced him to death, then changed their mind and tried to exile him. According to the Phaedo, Socrates held that his principles refused to allow him to accept exile, so he drank the hemlock.
Many historians today argue that both Socrates and Plato were political players and the odds are that the legend is untrue. Yet, after this date (399 B.C.) both Plato and Socrates were lionized by Greek, and eventually, Western culture.
Socrates greatest contribution to philosophy would appear to be the dialectic. He pioneered the "teaching" process that evolves from questioning students in order to lead them to new knowledge. As Honderich explains, the "Socratic method" is: The question-and-answer method of philosophizing (dialectic) used by Socrates in Plato's early dialogues (e.g. Euthyphro), often seen in conjunction with pretended ignorance, whereby a self-professed expert's over-confident claim to knowledge is subverted. Sometimes the idea is to clear the mind for the subsequent development of more adequate views. More generally, Socratic method is any philosophical or pedagogical method that disinterestedly pursues truth through analytical discussion. Plato compares Socrates' use of dialectic to both a gadfly and a sting ray. he holds that it is a gadfly because he is asking questions to create the craving for knowledge. Plato calls him a stingray because he rubs those who don't know in the dirt.
Despite his refusal to take money and his use of the dialectic rather than traditional lecture styles, Socrates was considered a Sophist. Despite this, he focused on having hi students examine their commitments and beliefs. His big issue was individual ethics. His big search was for truth. He didn't teach the "good," rather he taught that the individual didn't know the good of the moment and that the individual needed to reform their thinking through the dialectic.
Socrates hated the sophists. He hated their materialism. He hated the fact that they didn't share his idealism. He claimed they did not teach virtue, only winning.