Ionian view of the psyche as "the breath of life," which is given up when the man "himself," his body, has perished. It also conflicts with the view prevalent in circles influenced by Orphic-type religions, according to which the soul is a sort of stranger loosely inhabiting the body, which "sleeps while the body is active, but wakes when the body sleeps" On the contrary, Socrates believed in being conscious of and cultivating our souls.
             A man's happiness or well-being, in Socrates' view, depends directly on the goodness or badness of his soul. No one ever wishes for anything but true good--i.e., true happiness. But men miss their happiness because they do not know what it is. For real good they mistake things that are not really good (e.g., unlimited wealth or power). In this sense, "all wrong-doing is involuntary." Men need to know true good and not confuse it with anything else, so as to keep from using strength, health, wealth, or opportunity wrongly. If a man has this knowledge, he will always act on it, since to do otherwise would be to prefer known misery to known happiness. If a man really knew, for instance, that to commit a crime is worse than to suffer loss or pain or death, no fear of these things would lead him to commit the crime. To the professional Sophist, "goodness" is a neutral "accomplishment" that can always be put to either of two uses, a good one or a bad one. To Socrates, in contrast, knowledge of good is the one knowledge of which it is impossible to make an ill use; the possession of it is a guarantee that it will always be used properly. Thus, Socrates became the founder of the doctrine of an absolute morality that applies to all humanity.
             He inspired people to ask themselves, who are you? What are you good for? What do you know? What is the use of your knowledge? He possessed an ardent, passionate soul balanced with a cool sense of reason and logic. He preferred philosophy to the sciences. He believed- ...