The Life and Works of Soacrates

Most of the details about Socrates' life are found to come from mainly three sources, the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of Aristophanes. For more on their works go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plato, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophon and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristophanes.
There is little if any evidence that supports any true profession or form of income by Socrates. He is said to have devoted his life to the discussion of philosophy. He regards this as the most important art.

What is Philosophy?

The word philosophy is derived from the Greek word Philosiphia. This is a compound word composed of two parts, Philo meaning love and Sophia meaning wisdom. To be a Philosopher is to love wisdom. The most influential Philosophers took this idea and applied it to many aspects of everyday life and thinking. The Greeks believed that wisdom itself did not come naturally to all humans. They believed that wisdom was the view of thing just being as opposed the way they appeared, or in other words, the world believed to "be" was only an illusion in contrast to what could be argued through common sense. They thrived on the idea of achieving a knowledge of "Being", in its simplest form. Western Philosophy as we know it is rooted in these ideas.