Honorific-prefix	His Excellency
Name	José Sócrates
Honorific-suffix	GCIH
Office	Prime Minister of Portugal
President	Jorge SampaioAníbal Cavaco Silva
Deputy	Luís Amado
Term start	12 March 2005
Term end	21 June 2011
Predecessor	Pedro Santana Lopes
Successor	Pedro Passos Coelho
Office3	President of the European Council
Term start3	1 July 2007
Term end3	1 January 2008
Predecessor3	Angela Merkel
Successor3	Janez Janša
Office4	Minister of the Environment
Primeminister4	António Guterres
Term start4	25 October 1999
Term end4	6 April 2002
Predecessor4	Elisa Ferreira
Successor4	Arlindo Cunha
Office5	Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal
Primeminister5	António Guterres
Term start5	25 November 1997
Term end5	25 October 1999
Predecessor5	Position established
Successor5	António José Seguro
Office6	Member of Parliament
Term start6	13 August 1987
Term end6	20 June 2011
Constituency6	Castelo Branco
Birth date	September 06, 1957
Birth place	Alijó, Portugal
Party	Socialist Party (1981–present)
Otherparty	Social Democratic Party (Before 1981)
Spouse	Sofia Costa Pinto Fava (Divorced)
Children	José MiguelEduardo
Alma mater	Upper Institute of Engineering of CoimbraLusíada UniversityUpper Institute of Engineering of LisbonIndependente UniversityLisbon University Institute
Religion	Agnosticism
Signature	Jose Socrates signature.svg }}

José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (born 6 September 1957), commonly known by José Sócrates (), is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011.

For the second half of 2007, he acted as the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union. In addition to these posts, José Sócrates was Portugal's Minister for Youth and Sports and one of the organisers of the UEFA Euro 2004 football championship in Portugal, as well as being a former Environment Minister in the governments of António Guterres.

On 23 March 2011, he submitted his resignation to the president after parliament rejected his government's austerity measures in a vote, leading to the Portuguese legislative election of 2011. After losing the election, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party.

Biography

Early years

José Sócrates was born in Porto on 6 September 1957, and was registered as a newborn in Vilar de Maçada, Alijó municipality in northeastern Portugal, since the locality was his family ancestral homeland. However, the young José Sócrates lived throughout his childhood and teen years with his father, a divorced building designer, in the city of Covilhã, Cova da Beira subregion in central inland Portugal, in the Centro region. His parents are Fernando Pinto de Sousa (b. Vilar de Maçada, Alijó, 15 November 1926) and wife and remote relative Maria Adelaide de Carvalho Monteiro (b. Vilar de Maçada, Alijó, 8 October 1931). He has two younger siblings, António Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, born circa 1962, and Ana Maria Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, died in 1988. He is a descendant of the illegitimate daughter of António José Girão Teixeira Lobo Barbosa (Porto, Sé, 9 January 1715 - Alijó, Vilar de Maçada), Fidalgo of the Royal Household and Knight of the Order of Christ, thrice distant relative of Diogo Cão.

Education

José Sócrates studied in Covilhã's basic and secondary schools, until the age of 18. Then, in 1975, he went to Coimbra in order to attend a higher education institution. He earned in 1979 his 4-year ''bacharelato'' degree as a civil technical engineer from the ''Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra'' (established in 1974 and later incorporated into the ''Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra'' in 1988). From 1987 to 1993, he attended ''Universidade Lusíada'', a private university in Lisbon, enrolling in law, but dropped out. In 1994/95, already a well-known politician, he briefly attended the ''Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa'' where he completed some academic disciplines in order to get a CESE diploma (a complementary diploma to his ''bacharelato'' degree because until 1999 the polytechnic institutions did not offer ''licenciatura'' degrees), but instead, under circumstances which would provoke a controversy in 2007, he earned in 1996 the ''licenciatura'' (licentiate degree) in civil engineering from the ''Universidade Independente'', a private university in Lisbon which was shut down by Portuguese authorities in 2007/2008. He also has an MBA degree awarded in 2005 by ISCTE, a public university institute in Lisbon, that he obtained after had attended successfully the first year of a 2-year masters' degree program of ISCTE that he did not complete.

Political career

José Sócrates was one of the founders of JSD (the youth branch of PSD - Portuguese Social Democratic Party) before changing his political affiliation and applying for membership in the PS - Portuguese Socialist Party. He has been a member of the Socialist Party since 1981. José Sócrates served as a technical engineer for the Covilhã City Council, and has been elected a member of the Portuguese Parliament since 1987, representing the Castelo Branco electoral district. While serving as the chairperson of the Castelo Branco Federation of the Socialist Party (1983–1996), he was elected to the Party's National Secretariat in 1991. José Sócrates was ousted by the Board of the Guarda Municipality in 1990 and 1991, after being warned several times because of poor quality of construction projects and lack of monitoring of the construction works. Sócrates was threatened with disciplinary action for wrongdoings in the technical direction of particular works of whose projects he was the author, but despite being ousted from this capacity, he was never penalized. In addition, as a Member of the Parliament, Sócrates was not allowed by law to work as a technical engineer between 1987 and 1991. From 1989 to 1996, he served as a member of the Covilhã Municipal Assembly. He served as spokesperson on environmental affairs for the Socialist Party from 1991 to 1995. In 1995, he entered government as secretary of state for Environment in the first government of António Guterres. Two years later, Sócrates became Minister for Youth and Sports and was one of the organizers of the EURO 2004 cup in Portugal. He became Minister for Environment in Guterres' second government in 1999. Following the elections of 2002 (won by José Manuel Durão Barroso), Sócrates became a member of the opposition in the Portuguese Parliament. Meanwhile he also had a program of political analysis, hosted jointly with Pedro Santana Lopes on RTP. After the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues as party leader in 2004, he won a bid for the post of secretary-general against Manuel Alegre and João Soares, winning the vote of nearly 80% of party members on 24 September 2004. After the victory of his party in the 2005 Portuguese election, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government - the 17^th Constitutional Government (after 1976). After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal. He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State as the Prime-Minister.

Personal life

Family and residence

Sócrates is divorced from Sofia Costa Pinto Fava, an engineer, by whom he has two sons, José Miguel Fava Pinto de Sousa (b. 1993) and Eduardo Fava Pinto de Sousa (b. 1995). She is a daughter of an architect, José Manuel Carvalho Fava, and Clotilde Mesquita (daughter of Armando Mesquita and Palmira da Costa Pinto), engineer and sister of Alexandre Mesquita Carvalho Fava and Mara Mesquita Carvalho Fava. Sócrates lives in Lisbon, although he used to be a registered elector of the municipality of Covilhã, the place where he voted until the law was changed (since after the mid-2000s every person votes in one's residential area).

Health and well-being

José Sócrates had photos of himself taken during his morning jog at places like the Red Square in Moscow, Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana, Luanda, and Lisbon. In January 2008 a smoking ban entered force in Portugal's public buildings and public transport, but Sócrates was reported to have been smoking in May during a private state flight to Venezuela where he met Hugo Chávez. He has since admitted it was a mistake, apologized and promised to quit smoking. In addition, he claimed he was not aware he was breaking the law when he did so.

Prime Minister of Portugal

After the Portuguese legislative election of 2005, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government. Sócrates and his first government (''XVII Governo Constitucional'') took office on 12 March 2005.

After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal. The new government was sworn into office on 26 October 2009.

On 5 June 2011, after the Portuguese legislative election of 2011, the victory of Social Democratic Party () led by Pedro Passos Coelho, forced his resignation as Secretary-General of the Socialist Party.

Sócrates government

Sócrates headed the government beginning on 12 March 2005, comprising the XVII and XVIII ''Governos Constitucionais'' (17th and 18th Constitutional Governments).

Membership

Ministry	Incumbent	Term
	António Costa	13 March 2005 – 17 May 2007
Rui Pereira	17 May 2007 –
	Diogo Freitas do Amaral	13 March 2005 – 3 July 2006
Luís Amado	3 July 2006 –
	Luís Campos e Cunha	13 March 2005 – 21 July 2005
Fernando Teixeira dos Santos	21 July 2005 –
Presidency	Pedro Silva Pereira	13 March 2005 –
	Luís Amado	13 March 2005 – 3 July 2006
Nuno Severiano Teixeira	3 July 2006 – 26 October 2009
Augusto Santos Silva	2 October 2009 –
	Alberto Costa	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
Alberto Martins	26 October 2009 –
	Francisco Nunes Correia	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
Dulce Álvaro Pássaro	26 October 2009 –
	Manuel Pinho	13 March 2005 – 2 July 2009
Fernando Teixeira dos Santos	2 July 2009 – 26 October 2009
José Vieira da Silva	26 October 2009 –
		13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
António Soares Serrano	26 October 2009 –
	Mário Lino	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
António Augusto Mendonça	26 October 2009 –
	José Vieira da Silva	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
Maria Helena André	26 October 2009 –
	António Correia de Campos	13 March 2005 – 30 January 2008
Ana Jorge	30 January 2008 –
	Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
Isabel Alçada	26 October 2009 –
Science, Technology and High Education	Mariano Gago	13 March 2005 –
	Isabel Pires de Lima	13 March 2005 – 30 January 2008
José António Pinto Ribeiro	30 January 2008 – 26 October 2009
Maria Gabriela Canavilhas	26 October 2009 –
	Augusto Santos Silva	13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009
Jorge Lacão	26 October 2009 –

Major policies

Administrative reforms

The XVII ''Governo Constitucional'' government, headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, tried to create new rules and implement reforms aiming at better efficiency and rationalized resource allocation in the public sector, fighting civil servant overcapacity (''excedentários'') and reducing bureaucracy for both citizens and companies (e.g.: ''empresa na hora'', ''PRACE - Programa de Reestruturação da Administração Central do Estado'', and SIMPLEX - Programa de Simplificação Administrativa e Legislativa), among others. Since the XVII ''Governo Constitucional'' government (with José Sócrates as Prime Minister and Teixeira dos Santos as Minister of Finance) Portugal's fiscal policy improved with a steady increase of the number of taxpayers and the growth of the receipt amount from State taxation. However these policies had little effect, and the country's public debt and deficit were both out of control by 2010, along with a record high unemployment rate. João Bilhim directed in 2005 the committee responsible for the Programme for Restructuring the State's Central Administration (PRACE) but was said to be disappointed with the results. Several reforms and measures implemented in 2006/2007 by the government (XVII ''Governo Constitucional'' - headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates), resulted in improved welfare system financial sustainability but reduced income expectations of future pensioners up to 40%. In addition, economically active people must work for more years before retirement than formerly. A sustainability factor was also introduced, giving employees the option of working longer or receiving slightly lower pensions, as life expectancy forecasts increase. After the Portuguese regionalization referendum of 1998 where the "No" to regionalization of the country into seven regions was victorious, the XVII ''Governo Constitucional'' government announced in January 2009 its firm intention of starting again a regionalization process for Portugal. According to this governmental project, mainland Portugal was to be regionalized ''de jure'' into five regions with a wide range of administrative autonomy, using the already established NUTS 2 system: Alentejo, Algarve, Centro, Lisbon, and Norte. The transformation of the Portuguese public administration from a traditional one to a information technology-based multiplatform service, was praised by the European Commission through its European Union benchmark for the sector, that consecutively placed Portugal in the first position of the ranking in 2009 and 2010.

Technological plan

One of the government's main policies was the ''Plano Tecnológico'' (Technological Plan), aimed at increasing Portugal's competitivity through the modernization of its economy. The plan consisted of three key areas: knowledge, technology and innovation. A low-cost Intel-based netbook for use by children announced by Sócrates's government cabinet, named ''Magalhães'' (after Fernão de Magalhães) and packaged and assembled for the Portuguese school-age children and the low-to-middle income economy export market by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, headquartered in Matosinhos, Norte region, was among the government's innovations under the Technological Plan. Governmental efforts in the technological domain also included state-support of a Portuguese factory that was owned by the German-based semiconductor company, Qimonda AG, in Vila do Conde, Norte region, when the parent company filed a bankruptcy petition with the local court in Munich, Germany, in early 2009. Qimonda Portugal was at the time one of the top Portuguese net exporters of technology.

The European Innovation Scoreboard of 2010 placed Portugal-based innovation in 15th position, as a result of an impressive increase in innovation expenditure and output.

Educational reforms

The government allocated more resources for education policy and reorganised the sector aiming more choice and better quality in vocational technical education. Enhanced and improved vocational technical education programs where implemented in 2007 in an effort to revitalize this sector which had been almost discontinued after the Carnation Revolution of 1974. Other education reforms included more financial support for students (in all educational levels), systematic teaching and school evaluation, the compulsory closing of some problematic and unreliable private higher education institutions (like the Independente University and Moderna University) by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago, and a will to rank and benchmark the higher education institutions through a newly created state-run agency (the ''Agência de Acreditação e Avaliação do Ensino Superior''). During the XVII ''Governo Constitucional'', the pan-European Bologna Process was fully implemented in Portugal.

On the other hand, the government created a policy of certification and equivalence of qualifications for adult people with low levels of formal education who want a 4th, 6th, 9th or 12th grade equivalence without returning to school (for example, through this process, called ''Novas Oportunidades'', adults (18 years old and older) with the 9th grade might be granted an equivalence to the 12th grade after a process ranging from a part-time 3-month programme or a 1 day per week 8-month programme; those who have less than 9th grade have a similar programme to get the 9th grade certification and can then apply to the 12th grade programme). The curricula do not include any classical high school discipline or a traditional examination process. These diplomas are awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some critics alleged this policy was an effort to make up the poor national statistical indicators on education, with little impact on the quality of the work force's qualification of Portugal in the European Union context.

According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the average Portuguese 15-years old student was for many years underrated and underachieving in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge in the OECD, nearly tied with the Italian and just above those from countries like Greece, Turkey and Mexico. However, since 2010, PISA results for Portuguese students improved dramatically. The PISA 2009 report states that the average Portuguese 15-years old student, when rated in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge, is placed at the same level as those students from the United States, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, France, Danmark, United Kingdom, Hungary and Taipei, with 489 points (493 is the average). However, a couple of weeks later, the Portuguese Ministry of Education announced a 2010 report published by its office for educational evaluation GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) which criticized the results of PISA 2009 report and claimed that the average Portuguese teenage student had profund handicaps in terms of expression, communication and logic, as well as a low performance when asked to solve problems.

Transportation developments

Prime Minister José Sócrates and his government team supported the decision of building new transportation infranstructure such as a new airport for Lisbon and a TGV network. For months the government of Prime Minister José Sócrates insisted the country's only option for a new airport was in the Ota region north of Lisbon. But a powerful lobby, headed by local business honchos and given the imprimatur of the Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva, forced Sócrates's Government into reversal, by bringing an alternative site for the new airport – the Portuguese Air Force's shooting range in Alcochete east of Lisbon. A study commissioned by a group of businesspeople said the Alcochete site would save taxpayers as much as €3bn in construction costs, and would have less of an environmental impact. The government argued that Ota was a key piece of its overall transport strategy, which included highspeed rail lines to Spain, but even so recognized that the project wasn't finalized and that a debate on the pros and cons of both sites would be worthwhile. Then the government commissioned a technical study to the state-run civil engineering laboratory (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil) comparing both locations one to each other. Following the conclusions of that study, on the 10 January 2008 the Prime Minister José Sócrates announced the option Alcochete as the most rational choice for a new airport for Lisbon.

Other

In 2007, the XVII ''Governo Constitucional'', headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, legalised abortion in Portugal after a referendum. Voters were being asked to decide whether to make abortion legal in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, if carried out at the woman's request in a registered clinic. Despite the turnout for a referendum being too low (40%; 50% needed) to be legally binding, José Sócrates said: "Our interest is to fight clandestine abortion and we have to produce a law that respects the result of the referendum." This socialist government cabinet also announced its intention to legalize same-sex marriage at some point during its mandate. Same-sex marriage in Portugal was legalized on 17 May 2010.

Also, in 2009, through the Decree-Law 91/2009, the rights of fathers and mothers were equalled under the law (see also Fathers' rights).

After a sharp increase of the violent crime rate in Portugal during the XVII ''Governo Constitucional'' government (2005–2009), the Minister of Internal Administration Rui Pereira announced in February 2009 the expansion of the police force through the recruitment of 2,000 new police officers, 7,000 new state-of-the-art police weapons, 1,000 bulletproof vests, among other measures.

Until 2010, for stock held for more than twelve months the capital gain was exempt. The capital gain of stock held for shorter periods of time was taxable on 10%. From 2010 onwards, for residents, all capital gain of stock and other assets above €500 is taxable on 20%. Investment funds, banks and corporations are in general exempted of capital gain tax over stock.

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

José Sócrates, as Prime Minister of Portugal, presided over the rotative Presidency of the Council of the European Union for the period July–December 2007. In this post, Sócrates and his team focused on the EU-Brazil (1st EU-Brazil summit) and EU-African Union (2007 Africa-EU Summit) relations, as well as in the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon. The Portuguese Parliament voted to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon on 23 April 2008. After the Irish referendum on 12 June 2008, Prime Minister José Sócrates said he saw the Irish "No" to the treaty as a "personal defeat" after it was signed by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital. A second referendum was held in Ireland in 2009, and the outcome was the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by all EU member states, including Ireland.

Economic crisis

From 2005 to 2010, José Sócrates' cabinet faced increasing challenges due to economic and financial downturn. Europe's sovereign debt crisis and the lagging Portuguese economy led to huge deficits and rampant unemployment in Portugal. International financial markets compelled the Portuguese Government, like other European governments, to make radical changes in economic policy. Thus on September 2010, the Portuguese Government announced a fresh austerity package following other Eurozone partners, aiming to halve its budget deficit by 2011 with a series of tax hikes and salary cuts for public servants. In 2009, the deficit had been 9.4%, one of the highest in the Eurozone and way above the European Union's Stability and Growth Pact 3% limit. The Portuguese Government earlier targeted a 2011 shortfall of 5.1% but a growing crisis sparked by chronic budget expenditure, massive debt and deficit problems, forced Portugal to take even more difficult measures. In September, pressure from the IMF, Ecofin, OECD and the main opposition party, forced Sócrates' cabinet to adopt successive packages of radical austerity measures, contrary to what had been promised during the previous electoral campaigns. A report published in January 2011 by the Diário de Notícias, a leading Portuguese newspaper, demonstrated that in the period between the Carnation Revolution in 1974 and 2010, the democratic Portuguese Republic governments have encouraged over expenditure and investment bubbles through unclear public-private partnerships. This has funded numerous ineffective and unnecessary external consultancy and advising committees and firms, allowed considerable slippage in state-managed public works, inflated top management and head officers' bonuses and wages, causing a persistent and lasting recruitment policy that has boosted the number of redundant public servants. The economy has also been damaged by risky credit, public debt creation and mismanaged European structural and cohesion funds for almost four decades. Apparently, the Prime Minister Sócrates's cabinet was not able to forecast or prevent any of this when symptoms first appeared in 2005, and later was incapable of doing anything to ameliorate the situation when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2011.

On April 6, 2011, having already resigned as Prime Minister, Sócrates went on television to announce that Portugal, facing bankruptcy, would request financial assistance from the IMF (at the time managed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn) and the European Financial Stability Facility, as Greece and the Republic of Ireland had already done. The announcement was made 48 hours after Sócrates had categorically denied the move would be needed.

Fall of government

On 23 March 2011, Sócrates resigned following passage of a no confidence motion sponsored by all five opposition parties in parliament over spending cuts and tax increases. Before the vote, Sócrates had stated that he would resign if the vote for further austerity measures didn't pass. As a result, a general election was held in 5 June 2011.

The Portuguese government fell a day before an EU summit was due to take place to finalise the EU's response to countries requiring a bailout in the future.

After losing the Portuguese legislative election of 2011, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party.

Controversies

Sócrates–Independente affair

In March 2007, ''Universidade Independente'' (UnI), a private university in Lisbon, was placed under investigation for alleged irregularities on several matters.

In that same month, Sócrates' ''licenciatura'' degree in civil engineering by ''Universidade Independente'' was put under enormous public scrutiny. Journalists found that qualifications awarded did not follow procedure and that four of the five academic disciplines were given in the private university by the same professor, António José Moraes, a socialist government appointee. A fifth academic discipline, "technical English" was given by the Independente's rector. A strong case was built up related to possible false declarations by José Sócrates regarding his university degree, and the way he was awarded this degree in civil engineering. Among other issues, the Independente degree in civil engineering was not an accredited degree, a civil engineering department was not yet established at that university, one examination was sent by fax and Sócrates' diploma was issued on a Sunday, a day on which the university was always closed.

Some Portuguese news media professionals stated that Sócrates or members of his staff, through phone calls, threatened court action against journalists and tried to stop the reportings on his ''licenciatura'' degree awarded by UnI. On 9 April 2007, ''Universidade Independente'' was closed by government officials after an investigation reported several serious irregularities in the running of this private university.

Under heavy pressure, Sócrates provided his version of the facts on Wednesday 11 April 2007 in a live broadcast interview for the RTP 1 TV channel and RDP radio. The Prime Minister stated he was not favoured by the ''Universidade Independente'' to obtain the degree, declared he had been the target of "catty accusations", and defended the authenticity of the degree, though admitting he is not a fully chartered civil engineer. In his official biography at the Portuguese Government's official website Mr Sócrates claimed to have already obtained the coveted qualification of engineer. He later admitted that this was a "lapse", and the government website altered his CV, downgrading "civil engineer" to "diploma in civil engineering". In the interest of accuracy, he should have used "''licenciado em engenharia civil''" instead of "''engenheiro''". Before he had been granted the degree, he presented himself as an "engineer" when he was solely a "technical engineer". Portuguese Parliament documents with official information on Sócrates personal data were found proving such inconsistencies. Sócrates and his staff replied to this by stating that it was probably a misunderstanding in the parliamentary services. After having the ''licenciatura'' diploma he used the title "engineer" in several official documents, despite the fact that his unaccredited degree in civil engineering from ''Universidade Independente'' was not legally recognized to allow for the use of the title "engineer"; a profession which is regulated in Portugal by the ''Ordem dos Engenheiros''.

José Sócrates was fiercely criticised by members of Portugal's democratic opposition in the Parliament regarding both proved and unproven issues related with this controversy. Nicolau Santos, a television journalist and a director of Expresso newspaper, criticised the controversial series of fait-divers published in Público and claimed that despite the extensive coverage of details, Público's investigation lead to "no definitive conclusion" and might be connected with other issues. In the same tone, several other media personalities, like SIC Notícias' journalist Ricardo Costa, also suggested controversially that SONAE corporation, the parent company of Público newspaper, was behind the beginning of the controversy due to a failed takeover bid of SONAE's telecommunications operator over the largest Portuguese telecom - Portugal Telecom. The complexity of the takeover bid involving the largest Portuguese telecom, prompted State intervention by the ''Autoridade da Concorrência'' (The Portuguese Competition Authority).

It was found that a close friend of Sócrates, Armando Vara, was also awarded a diploma by the ''Universidade Independente'' days before he was appointed to a high ranking banking administration position in the state-run Caixa Geral de Depósitos, which in turn was strictly opened to candidates holding at last one academic degree in any subject.

Investigation

State authorities investigated the affair and archived the file on the grounds that the suspicions of falsification and irregularities allegedly attributed to José Sócrates turned out to be formally impossible to prove. On the other hand, the ''Universidade Independente'' was investigated by education state authorities in 2007, which resulted in the compulsory closing of that private university due to lack of academic rigour and teaching quality, along with generalized managerial and financial chaos in the institution.

Wikipedia

On 17 August 2007, a new controversy arose after the discovery that a government computer had been used to remove all the references to the Sócrates-Independente affair from the English Wikipedia. The specific government computer is only one among several dozen included in the IP range of the computer services of the state.

''Magalhães'' computer

A low-cost Intel Classmate PC-based netbook for use by children, announced and sponsored by Sócrates' cabinet, named ''Magalhães'' (after Fernão de Magalhães), assembled by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, was at the centre of a controversy on 7 October 2008, when the company was suspected of €5 million worth of tax evasion. J.P. Sá Couto dismissed all the accusations regarding alleged fiscal fraud within the company. Other major controversy regarding ''Magalhães'' computer were the legal issues about public contracting procedure in the agreement involving the Government and the company J.P. Sá Couto. The case led to an investigation that raised other similar issues involving other governmental agreements and public contracts.

Use of foreign languages

Sócrates was criticised for his low proficiency in both Spanish and English. An article published in ''Expresso'' accused him of blending Portuguese and Spanish expressions with a Spanish accent in an official meeting in Madrid, instead of speaking his mother tongue, or at least trying to learn and use proper Spanish.

Freeport outlet controversy

Since 2005, and, especially again in 2009, it was suggested by some Portuguese and British media that José Sócrates allegedly waived environmental restrictions, following intervention by one of his uncles and a cousin, to grant the British company Freeport a licence to build the Alcochete mall, a gigantic emporium near the Tagus river, developed in part on protected land outside Lisbon in 2002, when he was Minister for Environment of the PM António Guterres cabinet. Portuguese authorities have meanwhile insisted José Sócrates was not under investigation, nor was he a suspect, while UK's Serious Fraud Office refused to confirm the veracity of reports emanating in Portugal. José Sócrates also stated the Freeport project was in due compliance with all legal requirements at the time. Júlio Eduardo Coelho Monteiro, a businessman who is an uncle of José Sócrates, told the Portuguese newspaper Sol how he established contact between his nephew and Freeport's representatives.

In a DVD held by the British police and released in March 2009 by the Portuguese media, Charles Smith, a consultant hired to handle the licensing of the Freeport of Alcochete, clearly stated that José Sócrates "was corrupt" and that he received, through a cousin, money to give the green light to the project for the "outlet". The recording revealed by TVI is only part of a conversation of 20 minutes that alongside Charles Smith also included John Cabral, an official of the consultant, and Alan Perkins, director of Freeport. It was the latter who, without knowledge of the other two, has recorded the event, where Smith and Cabral were questioned about the money that left the company to be used for the payment of "gloves" to the current Prime Minister. Charles Smith is one of two defendants in the case Freeport, commercial space on the process of Freeport Alcochete, related to alleged suspicions of corruption in the amendment to the Special Protection Area of the Tagus estuary (ZPET) decided three days before the elections of 2002, through a decree-law, when José Sócrates was Minister of Environment.

The conversation now revealed took place in 2006 with the aim of explaining the large outgoing amounts of money from the company's headquarters in London at the time of approval of the project. According to some sources contacted in London by TVI, José Sócrates remains the main suspect of British police. The British police are now set to send to the Portuguese authorities the 25 volumes of all research done in this process in England. The Serious Fraud Office, which investigates major financial fraud in Britain, has seen its activity limited due to the lack cooperation of the Portuguese authorities in investigating the case. The first official meeting took place only on 17 November 2008 in The Hague, the headquarters of Eurojust, a body which is designed to facilitate judicial cooperation in the EU. The judge Cândida Almeida, director of DCIAP (Central Department for investigation and prosecution), which coordinates the department's prosecutor who investigates the case, refused a joint research proposal by the English. Then have taken note of the DVD. The prosecutor dropped the evidence, arguing that it was not in Portuguese law.

The Eurojust tried to distance itself from the scandal involving its head, José da Mota, Portuguese, who allegedly put pressure on prosecutors in order to stop a corruption probe involving Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates. Two magistrates dealing with the so-called Freeport affair accused José Mota of having tried to persuade them to side-line the investigation at the request of the Portuguese premier and the minister of justice. The premier and Mr Mota's relationship goes back to the late nineties, when they worked in the same government as state secretaries for environment and justice respectively. In 2002, when the new EU body was formed (Eurojust), Mr Mota was transferred to Hague as Portugal's representative to Eurojust. He was elected head of the judicial co-operation body in 2007, at a time when the so-called Freeport case had already started in Portugal.

Face Oculta scandal

Another corruption case involving Sócrates is the Face Oculta scandal. On 28 October 2009 the police began investigating a business group headquartered in Ovar. Armando Vara, one of the suspects, is reported to have had "talks" with Sócrates. He denies any involvement, claiming he was only talking to a friend.

In February 2011 the company TMN, that belongs to Portugal Telecom claimed that, because of an informatics-related problem, all the information and data about the case and related to Armando Vara (ex-vice-president of BCP), Rui Pedro Soares (ex-manager of PT), Mário Lino (ex-minister) and Paulo Penedos (ex-assistant of PT) had disappeared. David Dinis, editor in the Journal "Diário de Notícias" quit his job because of the pressure of the director, João Marcelino, to stop this information being spread by the press.

References and notes

External links

Portuguese government website - Official web site Portuguese government website - Official web site

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Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Government ministers of Portugal Category:Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Category:Portuguese agnostics Category:Portuguese engineers Category:Prime Ministers of Portugal Category:Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Category:Résumé frauds and controversies Category:Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians Category:Socialist Party (Portugal) politicians

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Region	Western Philosophy
Era	Ancient philosophy
Color	#B0C4DE
Name	Socrates ()
Birth date	c. 469 / 470 BC
Birth place	Deme Alopece, Athens
Death date	399 BC (age approx. 71)
Death place	Athens
School tradition	Classical Greek
Main interests	Epistemology, ethics
Influenced by	Parmenides
Influenced	Most subsequent Western philosophy; more specifically, Plato, Aristotle, Aristippus, Antisthenes
Notable ideas	Socratic method, Socratic irony }}

Socrates (Greek: , , ''Sōkrátēs''; c. 469 BC–399 BC, in English) was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Many would claim that Plato's dialogues are the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from antiquity.

Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or ''elenchus''. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. It is Plato's Socrates that also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas and approach remains strong in providing a foundation for much western philosophy that followed.

As one recent commentator has put it, Plato, the idealist, offers "an idol, a master figure, for philosophy. A Saint, a prophet of the 'Sun-God', a teacher condemned for his teachings as a heretic."

Biography

The Socratic problem

An accurate picture of the historical Socrates and his philosophical viewpoints is problematic: an issue known as the Socratic problem.

As Socrates did not write philosophical texts, the knowledge of the man, his life, and his philosophy is entirely based on writings by his students and contemporaries. Foremost among them is Plato; however, works by Xenophon, Aristotle, and Aristophanes also provide important insights. The difficulty of finding the “real” Socrates arises because these works are often philosophical or dramatic texts rather than straightforward histories. Aside from Thucydides (who makes no mention of Socrates or philosophers in general) and Xenophon, there are in fact no straightforward histories contemporary with Socrates that dealt with his own time and place. A corollary of this is that sources that do mention Socrates do not necessarily claim to be historically accurate, and are often partisan (those who prosecuted and convicted Socrates have left no testament). Historians therefore face the challenge of reconciling the various texts that come from these men to create an accurate and consistent account of Socrates' life and work. The result of such an effort is not necessarily realistic, merely consistent.

Plato is frequently viewed as the most informative source about Socrates' life and philosophy. At the same time, however, many scholars believe that in some works Plato, being a literary artist, pushed his avowedly brightened-up version of "Socrates" far beyond anything the historical Socrates was likely to have done or said; and that Xenophon, being an historian, is a more reliable witness to the historical Socrates. It is a matter of much debate which Socrates Plato is describing at any given point—the historical figure, or Plato's fictionalization.

It is also clear from other writings and historical artifacts, however, that Socrates was not simply a character, or an invention, of Plato. The testimony of Xenophon and Aristotle, alongside some of Aristophanes' work (especially ''The Clouds''), is useful in fleshing out a perception of Socrates beyond Plato's work.

Life

Details about Socrates can be derived from three contemporary sources: the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon (both devotees of Socrates), and the plays of Aristophanes. He has been depicted by some scholars, including Eric Havelock and Walter Ong, as a champion of oral modes of communication, standing up at the dawn of writing against its haphazard diffusion.

Aristophanes' play ''The Clouds'' portrays Socrates as a clown who teaches his students how to bamboozle their way out of debt. Most of Aristophanes' works, however, function as parodies. Thus, it is presumed this characterization was also not literal.

According to Plato, Socrates' father was Sophroniscus and his mother Phaenarete, a midwife. Though characterized as unattractive in appearance and short in stature, Socrates married Xanthippe, who was much younger than him. She bore for him three sons, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. His friend Crito of Alopece criticized him for abandoning his sons when he refused to try to escape before his execution.

It is unclear how Socrates earned a living. Ancient texts seem to indicate that Socrates did not work. In Xenophon's ''Symposium'', Socrates is reported as saying he devotes himself only to what he regards as the most important art or occupation: discussing philosophy. In ''The Clouds'' Aristophanes portrays Socrates as accepting payment for teaching and running a sophist school with Chaerephon, while in Plato's ''Apology'' and ''Symposium'' and in Xenophon's accounts, Socrates explicitly denies accepting payment for teaching. More specifically, in the ''Apology'' Socrates cites his poverty as proof he is not a teacher. According to Timon of Phlius and later sources, Socrates took over the profession of stonemasonry from his father. There was a tradition in antiquity, not credited by modern scholarship, that Socrates crafted the statues of the Three Graces, which stood near the Acropolis until the 2nd century AD.

Several of Plato's dialogues refer to Socrates' military service. Socrates says he served in the Athenian army during three campaigns: at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium. In the ''Symposium'' Alcibiades describes Socrates' valour in the battles of Potidaea and Delium, recounting how Socrates saved his life in the former battle (219e-221b). Socrates' exceptional service at Delium is also mentioned in the ''Laches'' by the General after whom the dialogue is named (181b). In the ''Apology,'' Socrates compares his military service to his courtroom troubles, and says anyone on the jury who thinks he ought to retreat from philosophy must also think soldiers should retreat when it looks like they will be killed in battle.

In 406 he was a member of the Boule, and his tribe the Antiochis held the Prytany on the day the Generals of the Battle of Arginusae, who abandoned the slain and the survivors of foundered ships to pursue the defeated Spartan navy, were discussed. Socrates was the Epistates and resisted the unconstitutional demand for a collective trial to establish the guilt of all eight Generals, proposed by Callixeinus. Eventually, Socrates refused to be cowed by threats of impeachment and imprisonment and blocked the vote until his Prytany ended the next day, whereupon the six Generals who had returned to Athens were condemned to death.

In 404 the Thirty Tyrants sought to ensure the loyalty of those opposed to them by making them complicit in their activities. Socrates and four others were ordered to bring a certain Leon of Salamis from his home for unjust execution. Socrates quietly refused, his death averted only by the overthrow of the Tyrants soon afterwards.

Trial and death

Socrates lived during the time of the transition from the height of the Athenian hegemony to its decline with the defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. At a time when Athens sought to stabilize and recover from its humiliating defeat, the Athenian public may have been entertaining doubts about democracy as an efficient form of government. Socrates appears to have been a critic of democracy, and some scholars interpret his trial as an expression of political infighting.

Claiming loyalty to his city, Socrates clashed with the current course of Athenian politics and society. He praises Sparta, archrival to Athens, directly and indirectly in various dialogues. But perhaps the most historically accurate of Socrates' offenses to the city was his position as a social and moral critic. Rather than upholding a status quo and accepting the development of what he perceived as immorality within his region, Socrates questioned the collective notion of "might makes right" that he felt was common in Greece during this period. Plato refers to Socrates as the "gadfly" of the state (as the gadfly stings the horse into action, so Socrates stung various Athenians), insofar as he irritated some people with considerations of justice and the pursuit of goodness. His attempts to improve the Athenians' sense of justice may have been the source of his execution.

According to Plato's ''Apology'', Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded that none was wiser. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a paradox, because he believed he possessed no wisdom whatsoever. He proceeded to test the riddle by approaching men considered wise by the people of Athens—statesmen, poets, and artisans—in order to refute the Oracle's pronouncement. Questioning them, however, Socrates concluded that, while each man thought he knew a great deal and was wise, in fact they knew very little and were not wise at all. Socrates realized that the Oracle was correct, in that while so-called wise men thought themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not wise at all, which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his own ignorance. Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggests a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spends as Athens' benefactor. He was, nevertheless, found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of "not believing in the gods of the state", and subsequently sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock.

right|thumb|150px|Bust of Socrates in the Vatican Museum.According to Xenophon's story, Socrates purposefully gave a defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead". Xenophon goes on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and how Socrates would be glad to circumvent them by being sentenced to death. It is also understood that Socrates also wished to die because he "actually believed the right time had come for him to die."

Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards. He chose to stay for several reasons: #He believed such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has. #If he fled Athens his teaching would fare no better in another country as he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their displeasure. #Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harm the state, an act contrary to Socratic principle.

The full reasoning behind his refusal to flee is the main subject of the ''Crito''.

Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's ''Phaedo''. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb. After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt." Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body. Additionally, in ''Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths'', Robin Waterfield adds another interpretation of Socrates' last words. He suggests that Socrates was a voluntary scapegoat; his death was the purifying remedy for Athens’ misfortunes. In this view, the token of appreciation for Asclepius would represent a cure for the ailments of Athens.

Philosophy

Socratic method

Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method or method of "elenchus", which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the ''Socratic Dialogues''. To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek. The influence of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the scientific method, in which hypothesis is the first stage. The development and practice of this method is one of Socrates' most enduring contributions, and is a key factor in earning his mantle as the father of political philosophy, ethics or moral philosophy, and as a figurehead of all the central themes in Western philosophy.

To illustrate the use of the Socratic method; a series of questions are posed to help a person or group to determine their underlying beliefs and the extent of their knowledge. The Socratic method is a ''negative'' method of hypothesis elimination, in that better hypotheses are found by steadily identifying and eliminating those that lead to contradictions. It was designed to force one to examine one's own beliefs and the validity of such beliefs. In fact, Socrates once said, "I know you won't believe me, but the highest form of Human Excellence is to question oneself and others."

An alternative interpretation of the dialectic is that is a method for direct perception of the Form of the Good. Philosopher Karl Popper describes the dialectic as "the art of intellectual intuition, of visualising the divine originals, the Forms or Ideas, of unveiling the Great Mystery behind the common man's everyday world of appearances." In a similar vein French philosopher Pierre Hadot suggests that the dialogues are a type of spiritual exercise. "Furthermore," writes Hadot, "in Plato's view, every dialectical exercise, precisely because it is an exercise of pure thought, subject to the demands of the Logos, turns the soul away from the sensible world, and allows it to convert itself towards the Good."

Philosophical beliefs

The beliefs of Socrates, as distinct from those of Plato, are difficult to discern. Little in the way of concrete evidence exists to demarcate the two. The lengthy theories given in most of the dialogues are those of Plato, and some scholars think Plato so adapted the Socratic style as to make the literary character and the philosopher himself impossible to distinguish. Others argue that he did have his own theories and beliefs, but there is much controversy over what these might have been, owing to the difficulty of separating Socrates from Plato and the difficulty of interpreting even the dramatic writings concerning Socrates. Consequently, distinguishing the philosophical beliefs of Socrates from those of Plato and Xenophon is not easy and it must be remembered that what is attributed to Socrates might more closely reflect the specific concerns of these thinkers.

The matter is complicated because the historical Socrates seems to have been notorious for asking questions but not answering, claiming to lack wisdom concerning the subjects about which he questioned others.

If anything in general can be said about the philosophical beliefs of Socrates, it is that he was morally, intellectually, and politically at odds with his fellow Athenians. When he is on trial for heresy and corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens, he uses his method of ''elenchos'' to demonstrate to the jurors that their moral values are wrong-headed. He tells them they are concerned with their families, careers, and political responsibilities when they ought to be worried about the "welfare of their souls". Socrates' belief in the immortality of the soul, and his conviction that the gods had singled him out as a divine emissary seemed to provoke, if not ridicule, at least annoyance. Socrates also questioned the Sophistic doctrine that arete (virtue) can be taught. He liked to observe that successful fathers (such as the prominent military general Pericles) did not produce sons of their own quality. Socrates argued that moral excellence was more a matter of divine bequest than parental nurture. This belief may have contributed to his lack of anxiety about the future of his own sons.

Socrates frequently says his ideas are not his own, but his teachers'. He mentions several influences: Prodicus the rhetor and Anaxagoras the scientist. Perhaps surprisingly, Socrates claims to have been deeply influenced by two women besides his mother: he says that Diotima, a witch and priestess from Mantinea, taught him all he knows about ''eros'', or love; and that Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles, taught him the art of rhetoric. John Burnet argued that his principal teacher was the Anaxagorean Archelaus but his ideas were as Plato described them; Eric A. Havelock, on the other hand, considered Socrates' association with the Anaxagoreans to be evidence of Plato's philosophical separation from Socrates.

Socratic paradoxes

Many of the beliefs traditionally attributed to the historical Socrates have been characterized as "paradoxal" because they seem to conflict with common sense. The following are among the so-called Socratic Paradoxes:

No one desires evil.

No one errs or does wrong willingly or knowingly.

Virtue—all virtue—is knowledge.

Virtue is sufficient for happiness.

The phrase Socratic paradox can also refer to a self-referential paradox, originating in Socrates' phrase, "I know that I know nothing noble and good".

Knowledge

One of the best known sayings of Socrates is "I only know that I know nothing". The conventional interpretation of this remark is that Socrates' wisdom was limited to an awareness of his own ignorance. Socrates believed wrongdoing was a consequence of ignorance and those who did wrong knew no better. The one thing Socrates consistently claimed to have knowledge of was "the art of love", which he connected with the concept of "the love of wisdom", i.e., philosophy. He never actually claimed to be wise, only to understand the path a lover of wisdom must take in pursuing it. It is debatable whether Socrates believed humans (as opposed to gods like Apollo) could actually become wise. On the one hand, he drew a clear line between human ignorance and ideal knowledge; on the other, Plato's ''Symposium'' (Diotima's Speech) and ''Republic'' (Allegory of the Cave) describe a method for ascending to wisdom.

In Plato's ''Theaetetus'' (150a), Socrates compares himself to a true matchmaker (προμνηστικός ''promnestikós''), as distinguished from a panderer (προᾰγωγός ''proagogos''). This distinction is echoed in Xenophon's ''Symposium'' (3.20), when Socrates jokes about his certainty of being able to make a fortune, if he chose to practice the art of pandering. For his part as a philosophical interlocutor, he leads his respondent to a clearer conception of wisdom, although he claims he is not himself a teacher (''Apology''). His role, he claims, is more properly to be understood as analogous to a ''midwife'' (μαῖα ''maia''). Socrates explains that he is himself barren of theories, but knows how to bring the theories of others to birth and determine whether they are worthy or mere "wind eggs" (ἀνεμιαῖον ''anemiaion''). Perhaps significantly, he points out that midwives are barren due to age, and women who have never given birth are unable to become midwives; they would have no experience or knowledge of birth and would be unable to separate the worthy infants from those that should be left on the hillside to be exposed. To judge this, the midwife must have experience and knowledge of what she is judging.

Virtue

Socrates believed the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. He always invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace. His actions lived up to this: in the end, Socrates accepted his death sentence when most thought he would simply leave Athens, as he felt he could not run away from or go against the will of his community; as mentioned above, his reputation for valor on the battlefield was without reproach.

The idea that humans possessed certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates' teachings. These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person to have, foremost of which were the philosophical or intellectual virtues. Socrates stressed that "virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know."

Politics

It is often argued that Socrates believed "ideals belong in a world only the wise man can understand", making the philosopher the only type of person suitable to govern others. In Plato's dialogue the ''Republic'', Socrates was in no way subtle about his particular beliefs on government. He openly objected to the democracy that ran Athens during his adult life. It was not only Athenian democracy: Socrates objected to any form of government that did not conform to his ideal of a perfect republic led by philosophers, and Athenian government was far from that. It is, however, possible that the Socrates of Plato's ''Republic'' is colored by Plato's own views. During the last years of Socrates' life, Athens was in continual flux due to political upheaval. Democracy was at last overthrown by a junta known as the Thirty Tyrants, led by Plato's relative, Critias, who had been a student of Socrates. The Tyrants ruled for about a year before the Athenian democracy was reinstated, at which point it declared an amnesty for all recent events.

Socrates' opposition to democracy is often denied, and the question is one of the biggest philosophical debates when trying to determine exactly what Socrates believed. The strongest argument of those who claim Socrates did not actually believe in the idea of philosopher kings is that the view is expressed no earlier than Plato's ''Republic'', which is widely considered one of Plato's "Middle" dialogues and not representative of the historical Socrates' views. Furthermore, according to Plato's ''Apology of Socrates'', an "early" dialogue, Socrates refused to pursue conventional politics; he often stated he could not look into other's matters or tell people how to live their lives when he did not yet understand how to live his own. He believed he was a philosopher engaged in the pursuit of Truth, and did not claim to know it fully. Socrates' acceptance of his death sentence, after his conviction by the ''Boule'' (Senate), can also be seen to support this view. It is often claimed much of the anti-democratic leanings are from Plato, who was never able to overcome his disgust at what was done to his teacher. In any case, it is clear Socrates thought the rule of the Thirty Tyrants was at least as objectionable as Democracy; when called before them to assist in the arrest of a fellow Athenian, Socrates refused and narrowly escaped death before the Tyrants were overthrown. He did however fulfill his duty to serve as ''Prytanis'' when a trial of a group of Generals who presided over a disastrous naval campaign were judged; even then he maintained an uncompromising attitude, being one of those who refused to proceed in a manner not supported by the laws, despite intense pressure. Judging by his actions, he considered the rule of the Thirty Tyrants less legitimate than the Democratic Senate that sentenced him to death.

Mysticism

In the Dialogues of Plato, Socrates often seems to support a mystical side, discussing reincarnation and the mystery religions; however, this is generally attributed to Plato. Regardless, this cannot be dismissed out of hand, as we cannot be sure of the differences between the views of Plato and Socrates; in addition, there seem to be some corollaries in the works of Xenophon. In the culmination of the philosophic path as discussed in Plato's ''Symposium'' and ''Republic'', one comes to the Sea of Beauty or to the sight of the form of the Good in an experience akin to mystical revelation; only then can one become wise. (In the ''Symposium'', Socrates credits his speech on the philosophic path to his teacher, the priestess Diotima, who is not even sure if Socrates is capable of reaching the highest mysteries.) In the ''Meno'', he refers to the Eleusinian Mysteries, telling Meno he would understand Socrates' answers better if only he could stay for the initiations next week. Further confusions result from the nature of these sources, insofar as the Platonic Dialogues are arguably the work of an artist-philosopher, whose meaning does not volunteer itself to the passive reader nor again the lifelong scholar. Plato himself was a playwright before taking up the study of philosophy. His works are, indeed, dialogues; Plato's choice of this, the medium of Sophocles, Euripides, and the fictions of theatre, may reflect the interpretable nature of his writings. What is more, the first word of nearly all Plato's works is a, or the, significant term for that respective study, and is used with the commonly approved definition in mind. Finally, the ''Phaedrus'' and the ''Symposium'' each allude to Socrates' coy delivery of philosophic truths in conversation; the Socrates of the ''Phaedrus'' goes so far as to demand such dissembling and mystery in all writing. The mysticism we often find in Plato, appearing here and there and couched in some enigmatic tract of symbol and irony, is often at odds with the mysticism Plato's Socrates expounds in some other dialogue. These mystical resolutions to hitherto rigorous inquiries and analyses fail to satisfy caring readers, without fail. Whether they would fail to satisfy readers who understood them is another question, and will not, in all probability, ever be resolved.

Perhaps the most interesting facet of this is Socrates' reliance on what the Greeks called his "daemonic sign", an averting (ἀποτρεπτικός ''apotreptikos'') inner voice Socrates heard only when he was about to make a mistake. It was this ''sign'' that prevented Socrates from entering into politics. In the ''Phaedrus'', we are told Socrates considered this to be a form of "divine madness", the sort of insanity that is a gift from the gods and gives us poetry, mysticism, love, and even philosophy itself. Alternately, the ''sign'' is often taken to be what we would call "intuition"; however, Socrates' characterization of the phenomenon as "daemonic" suggests its origin is divine, mysterious, and independent of his own thoughts.

Satirical playwrights

He was prominently lampooned in Aristophanes' comedy ''The Clouds'', produced when Socrates was in his mid-forties; he said at his trial (according to Plato) that the laughter of the theater was a harder task to answer than the arguments of his accusers. Søren Kierkegaard believed this play was a more accurate representation of Socrates than those of his students. In the play, Socrates is ridiculed for his dirtiness, which is associated with the Laconizing fad; also in plays by Callias, Eupolis, and Telecleides. Other comic poets who lampooned Socrates include Mnesimachus and Ameipsias. In all of these, Socrates and the Sophists were criticised for "the moral dangers inherent in contemporary thought and literature".

Prose sources

Plato, Xenophon, and Aristotle are the main sources for the historical Socrates; however, Xenophon and Plato were direct disciples of Socrates, and presumably, they idealize him; however, they wrote the only continuous descriptions of Socrates that have come down to us. Aristotle refers frequently, but in passing, to Socrates in his writings. Almost all of Plato's works center around Socrates. However, Plato's later works appear to be more his own philosophy put into the mouth of his mentor.

The Socratic dialogues

The ''Socratic Dialogues'' are a series of dialogues written by Plato and Xenophon in the form of discussions between Socrates and other persons of his time, or as discussions between Socrates' followers over his concepts. Plato's ''Phaedo'' is an example of this latter category. Although his ''Apology'' is a monologue delivered by Socrates, it is usually grouped with the Dialogues.

The ''Apology'' professes to be a record of the actual speech Socrates delivered in his own defense at the trial. In the Athenian jury system, an "apology" is composed of three parts: a speech, followed by a counter-assessment, then some final words. "Apology" is a transliteration, not a translation, of the Greek ''apologia'', meaning "defense"; in this sense it is not apologetic according to our contemporary use of the term.

Plato generally does not place his own ideas in the mouth of a specific speaker; he lets ideas emerge via the Socratic Method, under the guidance of Socrates. Most of the dialogues present Socrates applying this method to some extent, but nowhere as completely as in the ''Euthyphro''. In this dialogue, Socrates and Euthyphro go through several iterations of refining the answer to Socrates' question, "...What is the pious, and what the impious?"

In Plato's Dialogues, learning appears as a process of remembering. The soul, before its incarnation in the body, was in the realm of Ideas (very similar to the Platonic "Forms"). There, it saw things the way they truly are, rather than the pale shadows or copies we experience on earth. By a process of questioning, the soul can be brought to remember the ideas in their pure form, thus bringing wisdom.

Especially for Plato's writings referring to Socrates, it is not always clear which ideas brought forward by Socrates (or his friends) actually belonged to Socrates and which of these may have been new additions or elaborations by Plato – this is known as the Socratic Problem. Generally, the early works of Plato are considered to be close to the spirit of Socrates, whereas the later works – including ''Phaedo'' and the ''Republic'' – are considered to be possibly products of Plato's elaborations.

Legacy

Immediate influence

Immediately, the students of Socrates set to work both on exercising their perceptions of his teachings in politics and also on developing many new philosophical schools of thought. Some of Athens' controversial and anti-democratic tyrants were contemporary or posthumous students of Socrates including Alcibiades and Critias. Critias' cousin, Plato would go on to found the Academy in 385 BC, which gained so much notoriety that 'Academy' became the base word for educational institutions in later European languages such as English, French, and Italian. Plato's protege, another important figure of the Classical era, Aristotle went on to tutor Alexander the Great and also to found his own school in 335 BC- the Lyceum, whose name also now means an educational institution.

While Socrates was shown to demote the importance of institutional knowledge like mathematics or science in relation to the human condition in his Dialogues, Plato would emphasize it with metaphysical overtones mirroring that of Pythagoras – the former who would dominate Western thought well into the Renaissance. Aristotle himself was as much of a philosopher as he was a scientist with rudimentary work in the fields of biology and physics.

Socratic thought along the lines of challenging conventions, especially in stressing a simplistic way of living, became divorced from Plato's more detached and philosophical pursuits but was inherited heavily by one of Socrates' older and diehard students, Antisthenes who became another originator of a philosophy in the years after Socrates' death – Cynicism. Antisthenes attacked Plato and Alcibiades over what he deemed as their betrayal of Socrates' tenets in his writings.

The idea of asceticism being hand in hand with an ethical life or one with piety, ignored by Plato and Aristotle and somewhat dealt with by the Cynics, formed the core of another philosophy in 281 BC – Stoicism when Zeno of Citium would discover Socrates' works and then learn from Crates, a Cynic philosopher. None of the schools however, would inherit his tendency to openly associate with and respect women or the regular citizen.

Later historical effects

While some of the later contributions of Socrates to Hellenistic Era culture and philosophy as well as the Roman Era have been lost to time, his teachings began a resurgence in both medieval Europe and the Islamic Middle East alongside those of Aristotle and Stoicism. Socrates is mentioned in the dialogue Kuzari by Jewish philosopher and rabbi Yehuda Halevi in which a Jew instructs the Khazar king about Judaism. al-Kindi, a well-known Arabic philosopher, introduced and tried to reconcile Socrates and Hellenistic philosophy to an Islamic audience.

Socrates' stature in Western philosophy returned in full force with the Renaissance and the Age of Reason in Europe when political theory began to resurface under those like Locke and Hobbes. Voltaire even went so far as to write a satirical play about the Trial of Socrates. There were a number of paintings about his life including ''Socrates Tears Alcibiades from the Embrace of Sensual Pleasure'' by Jean-Baptiste Regnault and ''The Death of Socrates'' by Jacques-Louis David in the later 18th century.

To this day, the Socratic Method is still used in classroom and law school discourse to expose underlying issues in both subject and the speaker. He has been rewarded with accolades ranging from numerous mentions in pop culture such as the movie ''Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'' and a Greek rock band to numerous busts in academic institutions in recognition of his contribution to education.

Criticism

Evaluation and reaction to Socrates has been undertaken with both historical and philosophical inquiry from the time of his death to the present day with a multitude of conclusions and perspectives. One of the initial criticisms levied against the philosopher was presented at his trial – that he was not the proponent of a philosophy but an individual with a method of undermining the fabric of Athenian society, a charge carried by the 500-man jury of Athenians that sentenced him to death. Although he was not directly prosecuted for his connection to Critias, leader of the Spartan-backed Thirty Tyrants, he was seen as a controversial figure, who mentored oligarchs who became abusive tyrants, and undermined Athenian democracy. The Sophist establishment he railed at in life survived him, but by the 3rd century BC, was rapidly overtaken by the many philosophical schools of thought that Socrates influenced.

Socrates' death is considered iconic and his status as a martyr of philosophy overshadowed most contemporary and posthumous criticism at the time. However, Xenophon attempts to explain that Socrates purposely welcomed the hemlock due to his old age using the arguably self-destructive testimony to the jury as evidence. Direct criticism of Socrates almost disappears at this point, but there is a noticeable preference for Plato or Aristotle over the elements of Socratic philosophy distinct from those of his students, even into the Middle Ages.

Modern scholarship holds that, with so much of the philosopher obscured and possibly altered by Plato, it is impossible to gain a clear picture of Socrates amidst all the seeming contradictions. That both Cynicism and Stoicism, which carried heavy influence from Socratic thought, were unlike or even contrary to Platonism further illustrates this. The ambiguity and lack of reliability serves as the modern basis of criticism – that it is near impossible to know the real Socrates. Some controversy also exists about claims of Socrates exempting himself from the homosexual customs of ancient Greece and not believing in the Olympian gods to the point of being monotheistic or if this was an attempt by later Medieval scholars to reconcile him with the morals of the era. However, it is still commonly taught and held with little exception that Socrates is the founder of modern Western philosophy, to the point that philosophers before him are referred to as pre-Socratic.

Ahmadiyya viewpoint

Mirza Tahir Ahmad (the fourth Caliph of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community) argued in his book ''Revelation, Rationality, Knowledge & Truth'' that Socrates was a prophet of the ancient Greeks. The apparent prophetic qualities of Socrates are indeed a subject for debate. His constant reference to the oracle and how it performs the active function of a moral compass by preventing him from unseemly acts could easily be taken as a reference to – or substitute for revelation. Similarly, Socrates often refers to God in the singular as opposed to the plural and actively rejected the Greek pantheon of Gods and Goddesses unless citing them as examples of their falseness.

See also

I know that I know nothing

Plato

Codex Vaticanus Graecus 64

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

Greek Philosophy: Socrates

Original Fresque of Socrates in Archaeological Museum of Ephesus

Socrates Narrates Plato's The Republic

Apology of Socrates, by Plato.

Project Gutenberg e-texts on Socrates, amongst others:

*The Dialogues of Plato (see also Wikipedia articles on Dialogues by Plato)

*The writings of Xenophon, such as the ''Memorablia'' and ''Hellenica''.

*The satirical plays by Aristophanes

*Aristotle's writings

*Voltaire's ''Socrates''

A free audiobook of the Socratic dialogue ''Euthyphro'' at LibriVox

Socratic Method Research Portal

Video on Socratic method

Category:Ancient Greek philosophers Category:Ancient Athenian philosophers Category:5th-century BC philosophers Category:Classical humanists Category:Irony theorists Category:Religious skeptics Category:Epistemologists Category:People executed by poison Category:Ancient Greeks who were executed Category:Forced suicides Category:Executed philosophers Category:Ancient Greeks executed for atheism or sacrilege Category:4th-century BC executions Category:470 BC births Category:399 BC deaths

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name	Paulo Portas
office1	Minister of Foreign Affairs
primeminister1	Pedro Passos Coelho
predecessor1	Luís Amado
term start1	21 June 2011
office2	Minister of National Defence
primeminister2	José Durão Barroso Pedro Santana Lopes
predecessor2	Rui Pena
successor2	Luís Amado
term start2	6 April 2002
term end2	12 March 2005
office3	Member of Parliament
term start3	27 October 1995
term end3	21 June 2011
constituency3	Aveiro
party	People's Party
religion	Roman Catholicism
birth date	September 12, 1962
birth place	Lisbon, Portugal }}

Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962 in Lisbon), commonly known just by Paulo Portas (), is a Portuguese politician, party leader of the Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party (CDS-PP), a member of the Portuguese Parliament and former Portuguese minister of State, National Defense and Sea Affairs.

In 2011, after he led his party to its best result in 30 years, Portas became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and State of Portugal in a coalition government between the PSD and the CDS-PP.

Early life

Born in Lisbon, in a family with roots in Vila Viçosa on the paternal side and agricultural aristocracy of the side of his mother, Portas grew up in a political family. His father, Nuno Portas (b. September 23, 1934 in Vila Viçosa), an architect, was a progressive, left-wing Roman Catholic. His mother, Helena Sacadura Cabral (b. December 7, 1934 in Lisbon), an economist, a jewel designer and journalist, was a conservative. Ms. Sacadura Cabral seemed to have greater influence on young Paulo. When his parents separated, Paulo stayed with his mother, while his brother Miguel Portas (a member of Bloco de Esquerda – Left Bloc) grew up with his father. By his mother side, Paulo is a great-nephew of Artur de Sacadura Cabral, an aviation commander who made the first ever trip from Portugal to Brazil in seaplane, with another commander, Carlos Viegas Gago Coutinho.

He was a militant member of the Democratic Popular Party (PPD, which is today's Social Democratic Party). He was a staunch follower of Francisco Sá Carneiro.

He became relatively known at a very early age for an article he wrote called "Três Traições" ("Three Treasons"), which attacked three prominent politicians: António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, and Mário Soares. In the article, written while a teenager, but published in a weekly newspaper, he criticised the policy of decolonisation after the fall of Estado Novo in 1974. Portas studied law in the Portuguese Catholic University.

Career

Before becoming a politician, Portas was a journalist. In the late 1980s, he co-founded, with Miguel Esteves Cardoso, the weekly newspaper O Independente, which became famous for denouncing political scandals during the governments of Aníbal Cavaco Silva (1985–1995). This position earned him the qualification as one of the most hated men in the country. Many social-democrat politicians never forgave him his attitude during this period and never accepted his alliance with José Manuel Durão Barroso in 2002.

In 1995 he first became an MP with the People's Party (CDS-PP), and would eventually break with then-leader, Manuel Monteiro, three years later, to become the party leader himself. In the Parliament (1995-2002), he is known to be found of a very peculiar style of speech, using humour bordering paternalism, right-wing populist, demagoguery and unashamed self-infatuation, which he crystallised as his trademark, to contradict the views of the Portuguese Government, then led by the socialist António Guterres.

In 1998 Portas became the leader of the CDS-PP, which was in two coalition governments with the Social Democratic Party, from April 2002 to March 2005.

In the 2002 legislative elections, the People's Party won 14 of 230 seats in the Portuguese Parliament, with 8.8 percent of the vote. Portas was appointed Minister of State and National Defence in the first coalition government.

In 2004, while Defence minister, he sent war ships to prevent the entrance in Portuguese waters of a Dutch ship owned by the pro-choice organization Women on Waves. This ship was intended to pick up women and take them to international waters to be informed on how to perform abortions. Under Portuguese law, abortion was only allowed under very strict circumstances. One of the main critics of this decision was his own brother, Miguel Portas, a MP of the European Parliament. His decision was praised by both the Catholic Church and the pro-life groups in Portugal.

In June 2004, Prime Minister Durão Barroso resigned to became President of the European Commission, and was replaced by Pedro Santana Lopes, Portas becoming Minister of State, National Defence and Sea Affairs. It is not clear how Portas viewed the self-austing of Barroso and the rise of the unelected new Prime Minister, Santana Lopes.

Santana Lopes' and Paulo Portas' joint government had a short existence from the very start, and after the dissolution of Parliament by president Jorge Sampaio, the coalition suffered a crushing defeat in the early elections that followed in early 2005, with the PP losing 60,000 votes and two of its fourteen seats in Parliament; Portas announced on election night that he would resign from the party's leadership. His young right-wing supports cried in front of TV cameras before a leader still able to arouse the emotions of his zealot supporters. This exit from the stage would reveal temporary at best, as it is widely acknowledged that he never did stop interfering with the new leader through the destabilising conduct of his personal allies in the party. However he became leader of the Party again in 2007. In the 2009 legislative election Portas won 9 seats in the parliament and his party came to rouse as the third political force in Portugal.

Portas intervened weekly in a night talk show, called "''O estado da Arte''" (The state of the Art), where he analyses and elaborates on current mediatic issues. He also served as the chosen supporter of John II of Portugal in the Portuguese version of BBC's 100 greatest Britons: ''Grandes Portugueses''.

In 2011, after he led his party to its best result in 30 years, Portas became the Minister of Foreign Affairs and State of Portugal in a coalition government between the PSD and the CDS-PP, in which his party got 3 ministries, the PSD got 4 and independents had 4.

References

Paulo Portas. In Infopédia [Em linha]. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003-2008. [Consult. 2008-12-18]. .

|-

Category:1962 births Category:Living people Category:People from Lisbon Category:Portuguese foreign ministers Category:Portuguese Roman Catholics Category:Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party politicians Category:Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians Category:Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Category:Government ministers of Portugal

de:Paulo Portas es:Paulo Portas fr:Paulo Portas pl:Paulo Portas pt:Paulo Portas sv:Paulo Portas

name	Paulo Futre
fullname	Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre
birth date	February 28, 1966
birth place	Montijo, Portugal
height
position	Winger
youthyears1	1974–1975
youthyears2	1975–1983
youthclubs1	Montijo
youthclubs2	Sporting CP
years1	1983–1984
years2	1984–1987
years3	1987–1993
years4	1993
years5	1993
years6	1993–1995
years7	1995–1996
years8	1996–1997
years9	1997–1998
years10	1998
clubs1	Sporting CP | caps1 21 | goals1 3
clubs2	Porto | caps2 81 | goals2 25
clubs3	Atlético Madrid | caps3 163 | goals3 38
clubs4	Benfica | caps4 11 | goals4 3
clubs5	Marseille | caps5 8 | goals5 2
clubs6	Reggiana | caps6 13 | goals6 5
clubs7	Milan | caps7 1 | goals7 0
clubs8	West Ham | caps8 9 | goals8 0
clubs9	Atlético Madrid | caps9 10 | goals9 0
clubs10	Yokohama Flügels | caps10 13 | goals10 3
totalcaps	320 | totalgoals 79
nationalyears1	1983–1995
nationalteam1	Portugal | nationalcaps1 41 | nationalgoals1 6 }}

Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre (; born 28 February 1966) is a retired Portuguese professional footballer who played mostly as a left winger.

After exploding at Sporting Clube de Portugal well before his 20th birthday, he soon moved to Futebol Clube do Porto, after which he embarked in an extensive career - until 1998 - having represented clubs in Spain, France, Italy and Japan, most notably Atlético Madrid.

A Portuguese international since the age of 17, Futre gained more than 40 caps for his country, representing it at the 1986 World Cup.

Club career

Born in Montijo, Futre first appeared professionally in 1983–84, as a 17-year old for Sporting Clube de Portugal, whose youth system he had joined at the age of nine. When he requested a pay raise from president João Rocha, he was turned down and left for F.C. Porto after just one season, as veterans Jaime Pacheco and António Sousa moved in the opposite direction as part of the deal. In the following years, Futre collected two Portuguese Championships, also helping the northerners to the 1986–87 European Cup, putting on a ''Man of the match'' performance in the final against FC Bayern Munich.

After that continental win, Futre was traded to Atlético de Madrid. Once there, he quickly rose to fan favourite status. However, his physical weakness left him with several knee injuries which tormented his career in the 1990s. In his fifth season, he provided countless assists for striker Manolo who netted 27 times for the Pichichi Trophy, with Futre himself scoring in the season's domestic cup, a 2–0 win over neighbours Real Madrid.

In January 1993, he moved to Porto and Sporting rivals S.L. Benfica, winning a Portuguese Cup in his short stay, as his injury woes persisted. After Benfica, he signed one-season contracts with Olympique de Marseille, A.C. Reggiana 1919, A.C. Milan and West Ham United. Finally, he returned to Atlético Madrid (10 La Liga games in 1997–98), effectively ending his career with J. League Division 1 side Yokohama Flügels.

Futre worked as director of football at Atlético Madrid from 2000–03, subsequently becoming a real-estate developer in his hometown. In May 2011, he was part of Dias Ferreira's team in an unsuccessful run for Sporting's presidency.

International career

Futre was capped 41 times for Portugal in a 12-year span, scoring six goals, his debut coming at 17 against Finland, for the UEFA Euro 1984 qualifiers, on 27 April 1983.

He was a member of the Portuguese national team that competed in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, playing 90 minutes in the 1–3 loss against Morocco, in an eventual group stage exit. At that time the Portuguese national team players were not the capabilities of it.

{{Ig match | n=1 | d1=30 January 1985 | st=Estádio José Alvalade (1956)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Romania | sc=1–0 | fr=2–3 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=2 | d1=20 September 1989 | st=Stade de la Maladière| ci=Neuchâtel| co=Switzerland | o=Switzerland | sc=1–1 | fr=1–2 | comp=1990 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=3 | d1=23 January 1991 | st=Olympic Stadium (Athens)| ci=Athens| co=Greece | o=Greece | sc=1–2 | fr=3–2 | comp=Euro 1992 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=4 | d1=9 February 1991 | st=Ta' Qali National Stadium| ci=Ta' Qali| co=Malta | o=Malta | sc=0–1 | fr=0–1 | comp=Euro 1992 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=5 | d1=28 April 1993 | st=Estádio da Luz (1954)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Scotland | sc=3–0 | fr=5–0 | comp=1994 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=6 | d1=10 November 1993 | st=Estádio da Luz (1954)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Estonia | sc=1–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=1994 World Cup qualification}}

Statistics

Club

|- |1983–84||Sporting||Portuguese League||21||3|||||||||||||||| |- |1984–85||rowspan="3"|Porto||rowspan="3"|Portuguese League||30||6|||||||||||||||| |- |1985–86||26||7|||||||||||||||| |- |1986–87||25||12|||||||||||||||| |- |1987–88||rowspan="6"|Atlético Madrid||rowspan="6"|Spanish League||35||8|||||||||||||||| |- |1987–88||28||5|||||||||||||||| |- |1988–89||26||10|||||||||||||||| |- |1989–90||26||3|||||||||||||||| |- |1990–91||31||6|||||||||||||||| |- |1991–92||16||5|||||||||||||||| |- |1992–93||Benfica||Portuguese League||11||3|||||||||||||||| |- |1993–94||Marseille||French League||8||2|||||||||||||||| |- |1993–94||rowspan="2"|Reggiana||rowspan="2"|Italian League||1||1|||||||||||||||| |- |1994–95||12||4|||||||||||||||| |- |1995–96||Milan||Italian League||1||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1996–97||West Ham||Premier League||9||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1997–98||Atlético Madrid||Spanish League||10||0|||||||||||||||| |- |1998||Yokohama Flügels||J. League||13||3||0||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||16||3 123||31|||||||||||||||| 173||37|||||||||||||||| 8||2|||||||||||||||| 14||5|||||||||||||||| 9||0|||||||||||||||| 13||3||0||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||16||3 340||78|||||||||||||||| |}

International

|- |1983||1||0 |- |1984||4||0 |- |1985||4||1 |- |1986||4||0 |- |1987||2||0 |- |1988||1||0 |- |1989||4||1 |- |1990||1||0 |- |1991||8||2 |- |1992||3||0 |- |1993||8||2 |- |1994||0||0 |- |1995||1||0 |- !Total||41||6 |}

Honours

Team

Porto:

*Portuguese League: 1984–85, 1985–86

*European Cup: 1986–87

Atlético Madrid:

*Spanish Cup: 1990–91, 1991–92

Benfica:

*Portuguese Cup: 1992–93

Milan:

*Italian League: 1995–96

Individual

European Silver Ball: 1987

Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 1986, 1987

Personal

Futre's older son, Paulo, has a rock band, "Fr1day". Younger son Fábio played for Atlético Madrid youths and was called-up for Portugal's under-17 national side.

His nephew, Artur Futre (born 1983), played professionally for F.C. Alverca, F.C. Maia and C.D. Aves, without much impact.

References

External links

Official Personal Website

Stats and profile at Zerozero

Stats at ForaDeJogo Stats at Liga de Fútbol Profesional

BDFutbol profile

Category:1966 births Category:Living people Category:Portuguese footballers Category:Association football wingers Category:Primeira Liga players Category:Sporting Clube de Portugal footballers Category:F.C. Porto players Category:S.L. Benfica footballers Category:La Liga footballers Category:Atlético Madrid footballers Category:Ligue 1 players Category:Olympique de Marseille players Category:Serie A footballers Category:A.C. Reggiana 1919 players Category:A.C. Milan players Category:Premier League players Category:West Ham United F.C. players Category:J. League players Category:Yokohama Flugels players Category:Portugal international footballers Category:1986 FIFA World Cup players Category:Portuguese expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Expatriate footballers in France Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:Portuguese expatriates in Italy Category:Expatriate footballers in Japan Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain

ca:Paulo Jorge dos Santos Futre da:Paulo Futre de:Paulo Futre es:Paulo Futre fr:Paulo Futre it:Paulo Futre la:Paulus Futre nl:Paulo Futre ja:パウロ・フットレ pl:Paulo Futre pt:Paulo Futre ro:Paulo Futre simple:Paulo Futre sv:Paulo Futre

Name	Pedro Passos Coelho
Office	Prime Minister of Portugal
President	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Term start	21 June 2011
Predecessor	José Sócrates
Office2	Member of Parliament
Term start3	20 June 2011
Constituency3	Vila Real
Term start4	4 November 1991
Term end4	23 October 1999
Constituency4	Lisbon
Birth date	July 24, 1964
Birth place	Coimbra, Portugal
Party	Social Democratic Party
Spouse	Fátima Padinha (Divorced)Laura Ferreira
Children	JoanaCatarinaJúlia
Alma mater	University of LisbonLusíada University
Profession	Economist
Religion	Agnosticism
Website	Official website }}

Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (), (born in Coimbra, on July 24, 1964) is a Portuguese manager, politician, president of the Social Democratic Party and the current Prime Minister of Portugal.

Passos Coelho leads the XIX Governo Constitucional (19th Constitutional Government of Portugal), as Prime Minister of Portugal, since June 21, 2011.

Biography

Early years

Pedro Passos Coelho was born in the parish of Sé Nova in Coimbra, Portugal, in 24 July 1964. He is the younger son of a medical doctor, António Passos Coelho (born Vale de Nogueiras, Vila Real, Douro, 31 May 1926) and the woman he married in 1955, a nurse, Maria Rodrigues Santos Mamede (born Santana da Serra, Ourique, Baixo Alentejo, c. 1930). He has an older sister, Maria Teresa Mamede Passos Coelho, a medical doctor, and a older brother, Miguel Mamede Passos Coelho, who was born with cerebral palsy.

He spent his childhood in Angola—one of Portugal's overseas possessions by then—where his father practised medicine. After the Carnation Revolution of 1974 and the independence of the territory as the People's Republic of Angola, he returned with his family to Europe and settled in Vila Real, Northern Portugal.

He started very early in politics, as a 14 years old boy, and had a long and prominent career in the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the JSD, where he was a member of the National Council (1980–1982). As a young student, his academic interests, vocations and ambitions where directed towards a future career in medicine, in order to follow his father and older sister steps, or instead mathematics. However his largest ambition and vocation revolved around politics.

Education

Passos Coelho went to Africa at 5 years old, and studied in basic schools of the cities of Silva Porto and later Luanda, in the Portuguese territory of Angola, until the age of 10. His parents went to the Portuguese African territory of Angola to work there among the native rural populations who where plagued by diseases such as tuberculosis. Firstly, Pedro studied in a nun-run Catholic school, then in the public school, and again in another Catholic school run by the Maristas. Then, after the Carnation Revolution in 1974, and the dismantling of the Portuguese Overseas Empire in Africa, he returned to Europe, settling in the city of Vila Real, Norte Region, Portugal, in order to attend a secondary education institution, the ''Liceu Nacional Camilo Castelo-Branco'' (Camilo Castelo-Branco National High School). His father only rejoined the familily in 1975, the year that Angola became an independent territory known as the People's Republic of Angola. At the age of 19, Passos Coelho went to Lisbon in order to study mathematics at the University of Lisbon. This course was his second option after medicine at the same university, however he did not reach by a fraction the extremely high marks needed to be admitted in the Lisbon Medical School. Meanwhile he had taught mathemathics at the Escola Secundária de Vila Pouca de Aguiar high school for a year (1982/1983). In Lisbon, he made a living by working as a part-time private mathematics tutor, and continued to develop his political career as a promising figure of the PSD youth branch (JSD). He was elected vice-president of JSD in 1987, and president in 1991. However, Pedro did not graduate in mathematics by the University of Lisbon. He had his first child when he was 24 years old (1988), just before he was married for the first time to Fátima Padinha, former member of girl band Doce. After dropping out the University of Lisbon he would enroll in 1999 for the Lusíada University from where he would be awarded a degree in Economics in 2001, when he was 37 years old, and had already been member of the parliament between 1991–1999, among other attributions (he worked in a public relations capacity during the late 1980s in Qimibro, a metals broker and trading firm founded by José Manuel Bento dos Santos and Eduardo Catroga, after invitation by a cousin who worked there).

Political career

Starting very early in politics, he had a long career in the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the JSD, where he was a member of the National Council (1980–1982) and Chairman of the Political Committee (1990–1995). He was a Lisbon deputy to the Assembly of the Republic in the VI and VII Legislatures (1991–1999); he also joined the Parliamentary Assembly of NATO (1991–1995) and was vice chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the PSD (1996–1999). In 1997, he ran for mayor of Amadora without success, but was elected municipal councillor (1997–2001). After has been member of the parliament from 1991 to 1999, Passos Coelho became eligible by law to a life pension, however, he declined the offer.

He was awarded a degree in economics by Lusíada University (Lisbon) when he was 37 (2001). He became a consultant with Tecnoformas (2000–2004), consultant of consultants LDN (2001–2004), Director of the Training Department and coordinator of the Program of Seminars URBE – Núcleos Urbanos de Pesquisa e Intervenção (2003–2004). He joined the company Fomentinvest as a CFO (2004–2006) working with Ângelo Correia, chairman of Fomentinvest and also a noted member of the PSD. Correia, an experienced member of PSD, is a close friend of Passos Coelho, both inside their party and corporate governance careers, and is considered Passos Coelho's political mentor. Passos Coelho became a member of the Executive (in 2007), accumulating the functions of chairman of the Board of the HLCTejo (2007–2009).

He was vice-president of the PSD during the leadership of Luis Marques Mendes (2005–2006), and has also been president of the Municipal Assembly of Vila Real Municipality since 2005; he was a presidential candidate for the PSD in May, 2008, where he proposed for the first time a programmatic review of the party's orientation. Defeated by Manuela Ferreira Leite, he founded, with a group of his supporters, the think-tank Construir Ideias (Building Ideas). On 21 January 2010, his book ''Mudar'' ("To Change") was published, and he was again candidate for the leadership of the PSD for the direct elections in March 2010; he was elected president of the PSD on 26 March 2010.

By 2010, in a context of sovereign default, he tried to persuade the Socialist government under the leadership of José Sócrates to adopt austerity measures in order to maintain economic stability, but the government failed to do so, leading to a vote of no confidence that removed the government on 23 March 2011, and the general election of 5 June 2011.

Personal life

Passos Coelho lives in Massamá, Greater Lisbon. He was married to Fátima Padinha, a former singer with the girl band Doce, by whom he has two daughters, Joana Padinha Passos Coelho (born 1988) and Catarina Padinha Passos Coelho (born 1993), and he is now married to Laura Ferreira, a physiotherapy technician, born in Bissau, Portuguese Guinea, by whom he has one daughter, Júlia Ferreira Passos Coelho (born 2007). His older daughter, Joana Padinha Passos Coelho suffered a life threatening accident at young age, with sequels. Apart from his native language, he is fluent in English.

Prime Minister of Portugal

On June 5, 2011, after the Portuguese legislative election, 2011, Passos Coelho was elected Prime Minister of Portugal. He achieved a historical win for his political party, the PSD, defeating José Sócrates of the Socialists. Through a coalition with CDS-PP, Passos Coelho and the PSD were in position to form a right-wing majority in the Portuguese Parliament. Immediately after the election, he started conversations with Christian-Democratic President Paulo Portas to form the coalition.

Overview

Passos Coelho political program was considered the most neoliberal ever adopted by the PSD, and included a firm intention to accomplish the European Union/IMF-led rescue plan for Portugal's sovereign debt crisis. The rescue plan included reforms aimed at better efficiency and rationalized resource allocation in the public sector, in order to reduce the number of unnecessary civil servants and chronic public sector's overcapacity. They also included the privatization of at least one channel of the public radio and television RTP network, the Caixa Geral de Depósitos' insurance operations, and some parts of the National Service of Health. His coalition partner Paulo Portas of CDS-PP, expressed publicly his disapproval for some of Passos Coelho's proposals. Passos Coelho entered office as a renowned social conservative, who opposes abortion, except for extreme cases, euthanasia and same-sex marriage, supporting civil unions instead. It was not certain if he would try to overrule the previous José Sócrates-led Socialist government laws that allowed abortion until 10 weeks and same-sex marriage in Portugal. During the campaign, he admitted the reavaluation of the current abortion law, approved in 2007, after a referendum, that allowed it under any circumstance until 10 weeks of pregnancy. The referendum was deemed "unconstitutional" by 6 of the 13 members of the Portuguese Constitutional Court. Other creations of the previous cabinets led by former Prime Minister José Sócrates were criticized by Passos Coelho, including the state-sponsored ''Novas Oportunidades'' educational qualification program for unschooled adults, which was dubbed a fraud due to its low standards of intellectual rigor and academic integrity.

Passos Coelho government

Since June 21, 2011, Passos Coelho leads the XIX ''Governo Constitucional'' (19th Constitutional Government).

Membership

Ministry	Incumbent	Term
	Vítor Gaspar	June 21, 2011 -
	Paulo Portas	June 21, 2011 -
	José Pedro Aguiar Branco	June 21, 2011 -
	Miguel Macedo	June 21, 2011 -
	Paula Teixeira da Cruz	June 21, 2011 -
	Miguel Relvas	June 21, 2011 -
	Álvaro Santos Pereira	June 21, 2011 -
	Assunção Cristas	June 21, 2011 -
	Paulo Macedo	June 21, 2011 -
	Nuno Crato	June 21, 2011 -
	Pedro Mota Soares	June 21, 2011 -

Major policies

In order to accomplish the European Union/IMF-led rescue plan for Portugal's sovereign debt crisis, in July and August 2011, his government announced it was going to cut on state spending and increase austerity measures, including additional tax increases, but it will also have a social emergency package to help the poorest citizens.

Electoral history

PSD leadership election, 31 May 2008

|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|% |- |bgcolor=orange| | Manuela Ferreira Leite | 17,224 | 37.9 |- |bgcolor=orange| | Pedro Passos Coelho | 14,134 | 31.1 |- |bgcolor=orange| | Pedro Santana Lopes | 13,427 | 29.4 |- |bgcolor=orange| | Patinha Antão | 308 | 0.7 |- |bgcolor=white| | Blank Ballots | 254 | 0.6 |- |bgcolor=white| | Invalid Ballots | 97 | 0.2 |- |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | colspan=2| Total | 45,444 | 100.0 |}

Turnout: 58.95%

(Source: Official results)

PSD leadership election, 26 March 2010

|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|% |- |bgcolor=orange| | Pedro Passos Coelho | 31,671 | 61.2 |- |bgcolor=orange| | Paulo Rangel | 17,821 | 34.4 |- |bgcolor=orange| | José Pedro Aguiar Branco | 1,769 | 3.4 |- |bgcolor=orange| | Castanheira Barros | 138 | 0.3 |- |bgcolor=white| | Blank Ballots | 241 | 0.5 |- |bgcolor=white| | Invalid Ballots | 108 | 0.2 |- |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | colspan=2| Total | 51,748 | 100.0 |}

Turnout: 66.26%

(Source: Official results)

Assembly of the Republic Elections in Portugal, 2011

|- ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left|Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|±pp swing ! colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center"|MPs |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center"|2009 ! align="center"|2011 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=right|MPs %/votes % |- |2,145,452||38.63||9.5||78||105||27||45.65||13.4 |- |1,557,864||28.05||8.5||96||73||23||31.74||10.4 |- |652,194||11.74||1.3||21||24||3||10.43||1.3 |- |440,850||7.94||0.0||15||16||1||6.96||0.4 |- |288,076||5.19||4.6||16||8||8||3.48||3.5 |- |62,491||1.13||0.2||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |57,634||1.04||—||—||0||—||0.00||— |- |22,494||0.41||0.3||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |21,748||0.39||0.1||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |17,620||0.32||0.1||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |16,722||0.30||0.2||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |14,978||0.27||0.0||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |11,671||0.21||0.2||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |8,210||0.15||0.0||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |4,601||0.08||0.0||0||0||0||0.00||0.0 |- |4,531||0.08||—||—||0||—||0.00||— |- |3,528||0.06||—||—||0||—||0.00||— |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|5,330,664 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|95.98 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.9 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|230 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|226* |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.0 |- |colspan=2|Blank ballots |148,058||2.67||0.9||colspan=5 rowspan=3| |- |colspan=2|Invalid ballots |75,280||1.36||0.0 |- |colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 58.90%) |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|5,554,002 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|0.8 |- | colspan=10 align=left |*4 seats to represent Overseas Portuguese are not yet known. |- | colspan=10 align=left | Source: STAPE Election results |}

References

External links

www.passoscoelho-mudar.com – Official web site of the book ''Mudar''

www.passoscoelho2010.com – Official web site of his candidacy for president of the PSD

Complete Biography on PSD website retrieved June 7, 2011 (Portuguese)

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Category:1964 births Category:Current national leaders Category:Government ministers of Portugal Category:Living people Category:Members of the Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) Category:Portuguese economists Category:Portuguese politicians Category:Portuguese Roman Catholics Category:Prime Ministers of Portugal Category:Social Democratic Party (Portugal) politicians

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