nes, but assumed ignorance himself
in order to convince others of ignorance. By a series of suggestive
questions he would lead his pupils or opponents into admissions which
finally established the truth that Socrates saw at the outset. This is
known as the "Socratic Method," or the dialectical method, and this form
of inductive teaching was an important contribution to education.

Although Socrates left no writings, his great pupils, Xenophon and
Plato, have given the world a full account of his teachings. Plato
speaks in highest terms of his moral character, declaring that "he was
not of this world." Xenophon also adds his testimony in the following
words: "No one ever knew of his doing or saying anything profane or
unholy." Socrates believed in one Supreme Being, the intelligent Creator
of the universe. He also believed in the immortality of the soul. These
doctrines were altogether contrary to Greek polytheism, the prevailing
religion of Athens, and they prove him to have been far in advance of
the age in which he lived. While he established no school, Socrates
nevertheless must ever rank as one of the world's greatest teachers and
thinkers.

In his death he fully exemplified the truth of his own philosophy. He
was accused of corrupting the youth and denying the deities, and was
condemned to die by drinking a cup of hemlock. He calmly submitted to
his fate, refusing to avail himself of an opportunity to escape.
According to the account given in Plato's "Phaedo," he spent his last
hours discussing with the friends who attended him the question of the
immortality of the soul.

PLATO (B.C. 429-347)

Plato was a disciple of Socrates, and to him we are chiefly indebted for
an account of the teachings of his great master. For twenty years he sat
at the feet of the philosopher, and drank from the fountain of knowledge
possessed by that wonderful man. He also traveled in other lands,
particularly Egypt and Italy, in pursuit of knowledge. He became one of
the most remarkable scholars and philosophers, not only of antiquity,
but of all time. When forty years of age he founded a school at Athens,
though it is not as a teacher that he is chiefly known, but as a writer
and sage. "Plato among the Greeks, like Bacon among the moderns, was the
first who conceived a method of knowledge." His great work is his
"Republic," in which he pictures the ideal State and outlines his scheme
of education, which is built on ideals of both