The concept of irony in Socrates

The aim of this thesis is to examine the concept of irony, as a way in which Socrates puts within his philosophical discourse. The philosophical discourse of every thinker is related to that thinker's perspective and personality. In the history of philosophy; Socrates, who started discussions on "human" which is different from the subjects that were considered and discussed before him, has started a new period in the history of thought by separating "before and after Socrates". In this thesis, we'll try to examine and explain why Socrates needs irony and in which way he uses itin his philosophical discourse. There are difficulties in addressing the philosophy of Socrates: The lack of any written work of him constitutes a major problem in terms of reaching primary sources. Therefore, we examine the knowledge and ironic attitude of Socrates by using the dialogues of Plato. Apology and Symposion are considered the main dialogues which contain the most common uses of Socrates' ironic attitude. As we can see in these dialogues for Socrates, irony is a way of life, a way of speaking. Socrates tells what he wants to say via speech, not in written language. He refers to the irony because he thinks that he is not at the same level as his interlocutors while talking about what he wants to tell his interlocutor. His aim is not to mock, to belittle or to deceive. His most well-known ironic attitude is to use of irony in the form of "acting like don't know anything by pretending not to know anything". In this context, it is seen that Socratic irony has an important role for someone to know him/herself and to realize his/her knowledge. Key words: Socrates, philosophical discourse, the concept of irony, dialogue, method, ironic attitude, self-knowledge.