Socrates believed that knowledge is a matter of understanding eternal truths, and that the best life is one lived in accordance with those truths.
The first thing to know about Socrates is that he did not believe in an afterlife. He believed that when you die, you cease to exist.
He formed his philosophy on two main principles: first, that man is rational; second, that virtue is knowledge. He argued that the only things we can be sure of are our senses: they are reliable enough to know what they tell us; they are trustworthy enough to be trusted; and they are reliable enough to give us true beliefs.
The only way we can be sure of anything else is by indirect inference – by reasoning from other known things to something else which we have no direct experience of. This makes it clear why Socrates was opposed to all forms of empiricism and against any claims that sense experience alone could provide knowledge of truth or falsehood: if all our beliefs about reality depend on sense data then there can be no such thing as absolute truth about anything at all.
Socrates held that human nature was inherently good and could become good if we were allowed to choose our own actions and develop our own character. However, he believed that this was impossible unless people were given a chance to develop their character through education.
