Virtue, what is virtue? Is it something that we all want to have in our possession? Is it something that is part of our sole, our mind, or our bodies? Perhaps it's a type of lifestyle were we must act a certain way and treat everyone like an equal without prejudice to social or economical status. Maybe it's more complex, like some kind of belief or religion with it own set of rules and regulations. Where one must confess their sins before they can be pure and have virtue. I am not sure that Socrates would agree with either of these two theories. However he would agree that by way of virtue one would find the path that will lead you on the endless journey to reaching the perfect good. I believe that Socrates was a firm believer in virtue and in the perfect good. Not only did he believe in it, but he also lived his life by it. So much that he was even able to find the ultimate good in death. It is with this kind of belief that we can answer the question of justifying the virtue of our actions. In the dialogues Meno and Apology, Socrates makes many references as to how the Athenians should change their lives for the better. He emphasizes that Athenians should concern them selves with virtuous things like wisdom, knowledge and justice instead of pursuing things like wealth, power, and social standards. Socrates would have preferred them to be more like him, a poor man who did not bother with things of that nature, but rich in the mind with the freedom to pursue things that were of more importance. Socrates believed he was given a mission from the god, to live the life of a philosopher. To ask questions to dose thought to be wise, and to the ones who held offices in their cities. His purpose was not to show them that they were not wise, and he was wiser, for Socrates claimed to be a man who was not wise. He only said he possessed a certain kind of wisdom "human wisdom", and it's with this wisdom that he was able to show that he was wiser not for what he knew but for not thinking he knew that which he really did not know.
