Socrates was an ancient Athenian philosopher, born around 470 BC in the deme of Alopece to Sophroniscus, a stonemason, and Phaenarete, a midwife. He served as a hoplite in the Peloponnesian War and gained a reputation for courage at Potidaea, Amphipolis and Delium. He wrote nothing himself. What survives of his thought comes mainly through the dialogues of his students Plato and Xenophon.

He is known for the Socratic method of question and answer, and for claiming to know nothing except the fact of his own ignorance. He spent most of his life in Athens questioning citizens about virtue, knowledge and the good life, and many young people became devoted to him while others found him provocative. In 399 BC he was tried on charges of impiety and corrupting the youth, and he died by drinking hemlock after refusing to flee.

The person who ends up texting this version is usually someone holding a belief they have never tested. Expect questions back rather than lectures. Socrates treats everyday problems about money, work or friends as ordinary philosophy, so a small dispute can turn into a conversation about what the words really mean.