--- title: "Socrates (?470-399 BC) - IVU - International Vegetarian Union" description: "Socrates (?470-399 BC): Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. He taught that virtue was based on knowledge, which was attained by a dialectical process that took into account many aspects of a stated hypothesis." url: "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/2542-history-greece-rome-socrates.html" date: "2026-11-06T00:25:49+00:00" language: "en-GB" --- # Socrates (?470-399 BC) ![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc57/souvenir/socrates.jpg)Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. He taught that virtue was based on knowledge, which was attained by a dialectical process that took into account many aspects of a stated hypothesis. He was indicted for impiety and corruption of youth (399) and was condemned to death. He refused to flee and died by drinking hemlock. **Remember Socrates: Don't Eat Animals** Somehwat adapted by John C. Champagne from Book II of *The Republic \[see pp. 50-51 below\]*. Why is it so hard, seemingly impossible, for our "responsible" press to convey the kinds of concerns that Socrates raised as portrayed in Plato's *Republic*: *Socrates*: Would this habit of eating animals not require that we slaughter animals that we knew as individuals, and in whose eyes we could gaze and see ourselves reflected, only a few hours before our meal? *Glaucon*: This habit would require that of us. *Socrates*: Wouldn't this \[knowledge of our role in turning a being into a thing\] hinder us in achieving happiness? *Glaucon*: It could so hinder us in our quest for happiness. *Socrates*: And, if we pursue this way of living, will we not have need to visit the doctor more often? *Glaucon*: We would have such need. *Socrates*: If we pursue our habit of eating animals, and if our neighbor follows a similar path, will we not have need to go to war against our neighbor to secure greater pasturage, because ours will not be enough to sustain us, and our neighbor will have a similar need to wage war on us for the same reason? *Glaucon*: We would be so compelled. *Socrates*: Would not these facts prevent us from achieving happiness, and therefore the conditions necessary to the building of a just society, if we pursue a desire to eat animals? *Glaucon*: Yes, they would so prevent us. Today, the resources that are required to sustain this wasteful way of living ("diet" is Greek for "way of living") include large amounts of energy (read "oil") for fertilizer, pesticides, antibiotics, refrigeration, water pumping, etc. So today we go to war to maintain our access to oil supplies, but the point Socrates made 2500 years ago is still relevant today. We do not hear about these concerns he raised so many years ago. Why not? - [**The Republic of Plato**](http://www.archive.org/details/republicplato00barkgoog) *(link to archive.org)* trans. Thomas Taylor c.1800. This edition: London, c.1894. In Books II & III Plato (428-347 BC) develops the dietary ideas of Pythagoras. - **[Plato's Republic](http://www.archive.org/details/platosrepublic00campuoft)** *(link to archive.org)* commentary by Lewis Campbell M.A., Ll.D., London, 1902. *See also Socrates' pupils:* - [**Antisthenes**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/2524-history-greece-rome-antisthenes.html) - [**Plato**](https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/2535-history-greece-rome-plato.html) A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly. Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value. - Hits: 1697 ## Schema ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-vegetarianism-and-veganism/vegetarian-history-timelines/hv-timelines-eras-history-timeline-ancient.html?view=article&id=2542:history-greece-rome-socrates&catid=63","url":"https://ivu.org/history-of-vegetarianism-and-veganism/vegetarian-history-timelines/hv-timelines-eras-history-timeline-ancient.html?view=article&id=2542:history-greece-rome-socrates&catid=63","name":"Socrates (?470-399 BC)","inLanguage":"en","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-ivu.html#archive"},{"@id":"https://ivu.org/history-of-vegetarianism-and-veganism/vegetarian-history-timelines/hv-timelines-eras-history-timeline-ancient.html"}],"publisher":{"@id":"https://ivu.org/#organization"},"description":"Athenian philosopher, whose beliefs are known only through the writings of his pupils Plato and Xenophon. 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