Socrates Acceptance Of Death In Plato's Apology

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” Martin Luther King said these words urging the importance of living with a cause. Socrates was a man who strictly lived his life with a purpose, and according to Plato’s Apology, died for the right to practice philosophy. What perhaps is most interesting about Socrates’s view is his outlook on death. Death, to many, is a frightful end; something to be avoided for as long as one possibly can. Socrates disagrees, as seen most clearly in his very last speech prior to the conviction of his death. But was this acceptance of death with open arms Socrates’s view throughout the Apology? I believe yes, and it can be seen clearly first in Socrates’s defense speech, then the response to the question
The alternate punishment Socrates offers, full of sarcasm and pure ridicule towards the jurors, is a free dinner. Socrates sees his will to philosophize as betterment to the city and its people, so therefore a reward, rather than a punishment, seems appropriate. “I set myself to do you …what I hold to be the greatest possible service: I tried to persuade each one of you not to think more of practical advantages than of his mental and moral being” (p.65). His actions, Socrates believes, are free of wrongdoing and only benefit the jurors be attempting to convince them of caring for a morally just life. His clear derision of the jurors does anything but help Socrates’s case, and as wise man, though he does continue to refute that fact, he understands this. Any other man convicted of a serious crime, and endangered by the possibility of the death penalty would never dream of ridiculing the jurors in the manner in which Socrates continues to do so. As Socrates believes he has done nothing wrong, he also mentions in an almost apathetic way that he has already done as much as he can to convince the jurors of his just innocence. He then goes to mention that as he believes in his innocence, that proposing an alternate penalty proves to be unnecessary. Socrates also states that as he has no knowledge of death, whether it is to be feared or
He mentions that he is so far along in life as it is, death seems timely, and claims that the jurors would have escaped the irksome task of a hearing had they had a little patience and let Socrates die of natural causes. After hearing that one is to be put to death, most would try whatever is left in his or her power to save themselves. Socrates, however, staying true to his beliefs of truth and justice refuses to “weep and wail” because he feels that doing so would not only dishonor himself, but result him in acting unjustly. “I would much rather die as the result of this defense...in a court of law, just as in warfare, neither I nor any other ought to use his wits to escape death by any means” (p.67). Socrates feels that attempting to run from death would result in admitting himself to evil, which he also suggests the jurors are condemning themselves to by prosecuting an innocent man. Socrates believes to die as a just man, rather than live his life any other way, and attempting to escape the finalized verdict would not only be catering to injustice, but would be seen as an insult to everything Socrates has practiced in his life thus. Therefore, Socrates accepts death as a blessing, and also characterizes it as two possible things; a dreamless sleep, or a migration to another place. For the first, Socrates welcomes this possibility, calling it a “marvelous gain”, considering it calming. If death