What did Socrates think of self-interest and virtue?

Answer 1

Socrates and "care of the self"

Young Socrates also knew the Sophists and listened to their debates and ceremonial orations. Socrates and the Sophists neither science nor Sophistry, however, could answer a new philosophic question that struck him.

The earlier Greek thinkers had been concerned almost wholly with physics and cosmology until the Sophists suggested that what should be done instead was to teach young men skills to satisfy their natural self-interest.

Instead, Socrates wondered: "What is a 'self'?" Although "Know Thyself!" was one of three sayings carved on the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, the directive proved difficult to carry out. The so-called scientific views of the time particularly that of atomism, defined the self as a physical organ that responded to environmental pressure. Socrates felt, however, that the Sophists, for all their talk of self-interest, had little curiosity about the status of a self; they assumed that it was merely an isolated centre constantly greedy for more pleasure, prestige, and power.

The Sophists further thought that the values that people advocated were all conventional, varying from one culture to another, and that no one would ever act against his or her own interest, regardless of how many people talked as though they would. This complex of ideas offered little to explain human nature and excellence. Socrates' Later Life and Thought Socrates, setting about his search for the self, was convinced of the importance of his quest. Until educators and teachers knew what human excellence was, he thought, they were engaging in false pretences by claiming that they knew how to improve students or societies. Socrates believed that objective patterns, or "forms," exist that define human excellence, that these are neither culturally relative nor subjective, and that philosophic inquiry could discover them. In the period after Athenian defeat in the Peloponnesian War, however, the political leaders did not want to be awakened; uncritical patriotism seemed to them what they and Athens needed. In an attempt to frighten Socrates away, they threatened to bring him to trial for "impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens." Socrates stayed and stood trial. In his Apology, Plato reconstructs his speech to the jury in defence of his beliefs. He was convicted and executed in 399 BC.

Answer 2

Socrates believed that self-interest and virtue are interconnected, as acting virtuously leads to true happiness and well-being. He advocated for prioritizing the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom over material gain, arguing that true fulfillment comes from living a virtuous life guided by reason and self-reflection.