In the Apology, Socrates
In the Apology, Socrates
He had faithful followers of his teachings but was charged with being a traitor and influencing the youth to believe in the truth. Socrates believed in integrity, justice and courage. He fought for what he believed in and even though he was afforded the opportunity to escape for breaking the laws of his time he believed in the justice that resulted in his…
Socrates’ attitude about philosophy, was that every person, choses to do good. Even though it may be a bad or evil decision, to them it is a good decision for them. He believed no person had intentions of evil or wrong doing and if they had knowledge of wrong doing, they would choose to do good instead.…
This assertion implies that virtue cannot be innate because in order for something to be virtuous, it must be accompanied by wisdom, so it is a type of knowledge. However, in order to come to this conclusion, Socrates makes generalizations about all types of virtues, explaining that “all the qualities of the soul are in themselves neither beneficial or harmful, but accompanied by wisdom or folly they become harmful or beneficial” (78). I can easily disprove this assertion by considering memory. Memory is used to inform future actions, and wisdom helps determine the extent of the impact of these future actions; however, wisdom can be used to employ memory for the works of evil, so, consequently, the future can be negatively impacted. This is why wisdom is not a prerequisite of…
He must do this regardless of the opinion of the majority or possible consequences for himself; he must act only in accordance to the opinion of the few wise, knowledgeable men who understand what is justice, and the laws of the State. Unfortunately, in all of the dialogues the author of this essay has read5, Socrates never clearly explains what ‘the laws’ really are — they remain a sort of abstraction, a divine essence of justice. However, this does not invalidate our definition of a champion of…
The Apology is one of the numerous recorded writings about Socrates. It talks about the trail of Socrates who is arrested on the charges corrupting the youth, not believing in the gods of the lord, and for being a Sophist. Socrates is not believed to have written any books; the apology was written by his student Plato who was at his trial. In this paper, I will discuss I will be talking about the charges laid against Socrates and how he defends himself.…
In Plato’s Trial and Death of Socrates, the value of piety and justice is emphasized repeatedly. To Socrates, it is never valid to knowingly commit an unjust action, as it does more harm than good. In other words, the most important thing in life is a good life that maintains the health of the body and psyche. Therefore, after failing to be acquitted from his trial, he must now determine whether it is just or unjust to escape without the approval of fellow Athenians. In his examination of possible liberation, Socrates rationalizes with Crito as to why he believes escaping does no justice for his psyche, or the city. He eventually personifies the law of Athens, talking in the voice of the law, to reason with Crito, and with himself, as to why…
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…
The life and death of Socrates is a topic that can spark great debates. Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who was put on trial for two specific reasons. In the Apology, we learn that the people of Athens claimed that Socrates did not believe in the gods of their city, but in other spiritual things. This was thought to be impious. They also believed that Socrates was corrupting the youth. Socrates did his best at trial to prove his innocence, but in the end was found guilty by the jury, and ultimately sentenced to death. Although many of his friends and supporters sought out to help Socrates escape, he accepted his sentence.…
Socrates who was he? “Socrates was a Greek philosopher. Socrates was born c. 470/469 B.C., in Athens”. (Wiki) In Phaedo, I understand that Socrates he has arguments that demonstrate that the soul is immortal. “If we live on after bodily death, there is no reason to fear it.” (Phaedo) However, these ideas are attributed to Socrates in Phaedo. Of course we have no way of knowing if he feared death or not. He appeared not to fear death but who knows. You hear people say all the time, "I have no fear of death"--I've even thought that to myself-- but there's no way they or myself can know that until the last few minutes of life. I think that virtually everyone will fear death at…
What did Socrates believe so firmly that eventually caused him to be sentenced to death? Why must the Oracle of Delphi have proclaimed Socrates the wisest man of all? In Socrates’ eyes, there were a few qualities every human being is capable of possessing which make up the common good. He ardently believed that in order to achieve this, one must be humble, selfless, and open-minded. More importantly, Socrates seemed to stress that a person must stand up for his belief in the common good and never conform to anything different because of pressure or fear.…
Socrates later states in the Phaedo, “So long as we keep to the body and our soul is contaminated with this imperfection, there is no chance of our ever attaining satisfactorily to our object, which we assert to be Truth” (66b Phaedo). This is a condition of bodily detachment between our body and our soul. Socrates believes that when the soul is not pure, we will not be able to reach the truth. The soul may not be pure because of the body. Socrates claims that the body fills us with desires, fears, and loves. These distract and interrupt us from getting to the truth. The body is also to blame for our…
• 1. In the Apology, Socrates recounts how he disobeyed the unjust order of the Thirty Tyrants to arrest a fellow citizen; he also claims that he will never stop philosophizing, regardless of what the legally constituted political authority commands. Yet, in the Crito, Socrates provides numerous arguments for obeying the decision of the legally constituted political authority, even though the decision (to put Socrates to death) was unjust. Critically assess whether Socrates’s view about political obligation in the two texts is consistent.…
Socrates believed that his purpose, as a moral individual, was to achieve true wisdom of virtue and justice. With this considered, one may ask, "Then why did he accept punishment for crimes he didn't commit?" Socrates didn't care for fate, because he was only concerned for whether or not he and others were doing the right thing. This belief is shown to be evident when Socrates says, "You are sadly mistaken, fellow, if you suppose that a man with even a grain of self-respect should reckon up the risks of living or dying, rather than simply consider, whenever he does something, whether his actions are just or unjust, the deeds of a good man or a bad one." (Defence of Socrates, 28a).…
This includes happiness and the pursuit of wisdom and virtue. However, because Socrates' views are broken up throughout these dialogues, it is sometimes difficult to see how his remarks fit together into a logical scheme. An appreciation of his values and worldviews can help us understand both his lifestyle and his behavior in the Apology, Republic, Phaedo and Crito. There are important differences between how the ancient Greeks viewed ethics and how most people view it today. The Greek word ethos, from which we derive our word ethics,' means habit.' Consequently, the central ethical question for ancient Greeks such as Socrates was not "What is the right action to perform in this particular situation?" but rather "What kind of person?" or, equivalently, "What kinds of habits…
In this essay, I explicate connections between Socrates’ descriptions of himself and his role as a citizen and educator in his home city, Athens, as portrayed in Plato’s Apology. The Apology depicts the trial of Socrates, and its entirety is narrated from the point of view of Socrates. Therefore, in the account of this trial, we have a lens through which we can view Socrates’ ideologies and convictions. Additionally, because Socrates is speaking directly to a jury of five hundred and one Athenians, from this dialogue we can interpret how Socrates saw his life and purpose in relation to Athens and her people through his direct interaction with them.…