First, the core content of Socrates' view of virtue: "Virtue is knowledge"

Socrates (469- 399 BC), a famous ancient Greek philosopher, was the first moral philosopher. He used practice to represent his moral philosophy of life until he drank poisonous violet juice. "Virtue is knowledge" is the core proposition of Socrates' view of virtue, and the specific contents are as follows:

First, in arete, "virtue" originally refers to the characteristics, character and function of something, that is, a thing becomes its nature. "Virtue" refers not only to people's good character, but also to the good characteristics of animals and other things, so it can also be called virtue. There are various concrete manifestations of human virtue, and knowledge is their common essence. The main goal of Socrates' moral education is to cultivate people's virtue, that is, to increase people's knowledge and promote people's pursuit of truth.

Second, Socrates' "knowledge" refers to something with certain universality and generality. Socrates' pursuit of universal knowledge is the knowledge of real world concept, good knowledge and "self" knowledge, and it is a rational grasp of "virtue". The understanding of "self" is not only truth, but also morality. In this sense, knowledge and morality are unified, achieving the unity of truth, goodness and beauty.

Thirdly, Socrates regards virtue as knowledge, which is a groundbreaking view. Socrates said that "some people have knowledge", which means that this person will also practice under the guidance of rational knowledge and realize virtue. In Socrates' philosophy, he has been studying moral philosophy all his life, and its core lies in knowing himself, learning knowledge, being a virtuous person and doing good deeds. In this way, the pursuit of true knowledge has reached the ultimate goodness and the unity of knowledge and action.

Second, Socrates' moral education method: cross-examination.

Firstly, the method of cross-examination is proposed. Socrates took the wise man's atmosphere formed in Athens at that time as the background. As a "gadfly" in Athens, that is, a citizen, he thinks it is necessary to awaken people's inner moral laws instead of studying nature from the sky like a natural philosopher. So how can we awaken people's knowledge and moral laws? Socrates arouses people's "goodness" by asking questions, and makes people know a new god, that is, the god of reason. This is the real source of moral goodness and wisdom, and this kind of supreme goodness only exists in people's inner nature. Socrates' view of virtue is based on the concept of "virtue" and always pursues "perfection". Knowledge means virtue.

Secondly, Socrates' cross-examination is a kind of spiritual midwifery, which conveys the universal knowledge and truth of human beings. Socrates didn't tell people knowledge directly, but kept asking questions to each other, which made them contradict their previous views and then reflected on the experience world. Socrates guides them step by step, so that the other party can increase their knowledge, that is, to increase their understanding of virtue, to know themselves, to awaken their knowledge and moral laws, and to achieve a perfect combination of true knowledge. Socrates' moral education method is still of great significance to contemporary moral education.

Thirdly, the enlightenment of Socrates' view of virtue to contemporary moral education.

Usually, our moral education is to directly implant the "knowledge" of virtue and kindness into the brain, but the most important thing is whether we can do good in social practice and truly implement the concept of doing good from reality. When moral education is divorced from social life, it becomes a purely theoretical thing and loses its true meaning. This requires us to return to Socrates' view of virtue and get some enlightenment from it:

First, in terms of content, we should increase our knowledge and internalize moral concepts in our hearts. Strengthening moral education should first enrich knowledge, including scientific knowledge, social knowledge, especially ethical knowledge. By actively learning knowledge, truly understanding it, internalizing it in one's own heart, grasping its universal law, and seeking some universal knowledge, we can return to Socrates' moral education purpose, pursue truth, and achieve the unity of truth, goodness and beauty. Knowledge and morality are improved at the same time, so as to achieve unity, lead to "supreme goodness" and realize the true meaning of moral education.

In addition, we should strengthen practice and externalize moral concepts into behaviors. Socrates' virtue has certain practicality, and social practice is the source of moral concepts. The analysis of today's moral problems should return to social life, change the current situation that people's moral education is out of touch with real social life, and attach importance to moral practice on the basis of learning knowledge and increasing knowledge. Through continuous practice, people transform their internal moral concepts into external moral behaviors, and at the same time improve their understanding of themselves, pursue the truth, and achieve the unity of knowing and doing. Only by realizing the unity of virtue in practice can people truly understand the enlightenment of virtue.

Secondly, in terms of methods, contemporary moral education should learn from Socrates' questioning and adopt heuristic teaching and equal dialogue to change the traditional moral education methods. Socrates' cross-examination method tells us that we should communicate with the educated equally and seek answers in constant dialogue. Take teachers and students as examples. Teachers communicate with students on an equal footing, students express their opinions freely, and then conflicts arise in step-by-step questioning. Teachers guide and students reflect. Interrogation makes people turn passive into active, actively pursue true knowledge, and makes people's inner knowledge and moral laws easily awakened.

At the same time, the true knowledge we have will also need us to practice. When our knowledge is accumulated to a certain extent and we reach a regular understanding, it will also promote our moral practice. Cross-examination is an important link between knowledge and practice. Therefore, in heuristic education and teaching, we should pay attention to both the cultivation of moral knowledge and the practice of moral behavior. Only by combining the two, through internal reflection and external practice, can we improve our understanding of true knowledge and truly be knowledgeable and virtuous, can we reduce the occurrence of immoral behavior and truly improve moral education.

Four. conclusion

Socrates "not only carried forward the moral character of" self-knowledge "and" insurmountable "in ethics, but also further philosophized this maxim and became a philosophical principle and line". He taught people to learn "virtue" through "virtue is knowledge". Socrates pursued true knowledge all his life. Starting from the concrete things and practices in life, he gave people heuristic moral education by asking questions, so as to increase their knowledge and make them moral people.

In today's social background of moral pluralism, going back to Socrates to examine the original "virtue" is conducive to correcting one's moral values, perfecting one's rational understanding, pursuing truth, doing more good deeds in action, and making "knowledge" and "practice" and "morality" develop together. I believe this can further improve the level of social moral education and promote the construction of a harmonious society.