what is the contribution of socrates in philosophy

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. He is famous for his contributions to the development of ancient Greek philosophy, which provided the foundation for all Western philosophy. Socrates greatest contribution to philosophy was to move intellectual pursuits away from the focus on physical science and into the abstract realm of ethics and morality. He emphasized morality as the foundational tenet of philosophy, and his influence was felt immediately in the actions of his disciples as they formed their own interpretations of his life, teachings, and death, and set about forming their own philosophical schools and writing about their experiences with their teacher. Socrates' contribution to philosophical exchanges typically consisted of a series of probing questions that cumulatively revealed his interlocutor’s complete ignorance of the subject under discussion; such cross-examination used as a pedagogical technique has been called the “Socratic method” . Socrates was a moral philosopher who was concerned with the quality of his soul and that of others. His philosophy examines how we should live, which led him to discussions on various virtues, such as wisdom, justice, courage, piety, and others.