SOURCE: "The Socratic Problem," in The Socratic Presence, Garland Publishing, Inc., 1993, pp. 1-19.

In the following essay, Navia offers an overview of the Socratic problem and suggests ways in which the apparent discrepancies between the various Socratic sources may be reconciled.

There are two facts about Socrates that can be affirmed without hesitation: that his influence on the development of Western culture in general and philosophy in particular has been extraordinary, and that his historical presence remains a baffling phenomenon. The first of these two facts does not need to be particularly emphasized, for it is widely acknowledged, even by those who are superficially acquainted with the history of ideas, that Socrates constitutes a major turning point in our civilization, and that he represents a new point of departure in the mind's quest for understanding and knowledge. With him, philosophy assumed a new direction, and all subsequent endeavors...