“It’s clear to me that to die now and escape my troubles was a better thing for me” (Apology 41d). Socrates was a very wise man who gave deep and intellectual ideas regarding a human’s purpose in life and afterlife. He was arguing with the Men of Athens (the jury) because he was accused for disturbing the peace. Socrates was a mentor to Plato (who writes Phaedo, Symposium, Apology, and Republic about Socrates’ philosophical views) and was essential to the development of philosophy in classical Greece. Plato writes these books about Socrates’ life to dive deep into his thoughts, truth, and worldview. He is from Athens and helped to develop Athenian art and philosophy during the golden age of Athens around 400 BC. Socrates believes that once, the soul separates from the body, it can obtain true wisdom and understanding of love in the afterlife. Socrates’ worldview was of deep thinking and consisted of rational in his views of gaining true wisdom in afterlife, humility on his journey in obtaining wisdom, peaceful thought patterns, and his wise views to view love for the true beauty of the soul through obtaining a deeper connection. Before Socrates’ trial before the men of Athens, he is with the Oracle (a middle man between man and the gods who sought prophecy) and the Oracle tells him that he is the wisest human on the planet. Socrates responds with humility and says that “the people I mentioned just now may, perhaps, be wise because they possess superhuman wisdom. I don’t
With the Apology, and the Crito, Socrates comes to delve into his many teachings and finds himself put to death with the words of wisdom that have been passed down generation after generation. Socrates for many in this present day is a man of many words and great teachings, but anyone but Socrates thought differently, in Athens people thought of him as an annoyance rather than an integral part of society. As Socrates stood in front of the counsel of judges, he stood for what he thought was right and never changed opinion of himself or of his words. That’s why Socrates is still talked about in classrooms everywhere today.
In Plato's Gorgias, it is apparent that Socrates has no desire to be a good statesman as it is defined in the eyes of the Athenians. His calculation is that Athenian rhetoricians place no reliance on facts or truth, nor are these their aim. Instead, they rely on the illusion of knowledge, and this morally weakens both themselves and their audiences. It is clear however, that if he wishes, Socrates is able to match most or all of the other statesmen in Athens, as is clearly indicated by his very eloquent speech which ends the dialogue. Additionally, under his own definition of a good statesman, it is evident that Socrates is more than qualified.
Socrates & Snowden Socrates was a true believer that true pleasure only comes when individuals live a moral life. He believed that an individual’s inner life, or the soul, is the most important part of life. Each person must keep his or her soul healthy, by seeking truth, self-knowledge, justice, and goodness. Socrates believed that any soul in search of fame, wealth, and power becomes ignorant, sickly, and weak (Claudia, 270). He was concerned with strengthening his inner self by examining and criticizing it.
Socrates is quoted as stating, “An unexamined life is a life not worth living” (38 a). Socrates was a founding figure of western philosophy, and a stable for many ideas. He lived in Athens, Greece teaching his students, like Plato, questioning politics, ethical choices, and many other things in Greek society. In the Trial and death of Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato, it explores the abstract questioning Socrates had towards many of the normal social properties, which led to his trial, resulting in his death. The most important aspects discussed in the dialogues is the questioning of what is pious and impious, what it means to be wise, and good life.
In Apology, Socrates faces possible execution as he stands trial in front of his fellow Athenian men. This jury of men must decide whether Socrates has acted impiously against the gods and if he has corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates claims in his defense that he wants to live a private life, away from public affairs and teachings in Athens. He instead wants to focus on self-examination and learning truths from those in Athens through inquiry. Socrates argues that "a [man] who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if [he] is to survive for even a short time" (32a).
The Phaedo proposes thought provoking questions that one should ask themselves. There are four questions posed, either explicitly or implicitly, throughout the book: what happens when you die? What constitutes a good life? What does philosophical inquiry look like? And lastly, “Was Socrates’ life worth living?”
(20c) Socrates mentions that it was human wisdom and nothing more that has allowed himself to know what he knows. (20d) Socrates even mentions
No matter which path death is, death is a gain. One will either be a peaceful sleep, or a journey to another world filled with intelligent people and knowledge. He had support to his theory, but only talked about conversing with people from the past. The apology is repetitive in the last two paragraphs because Socrates desired to talk to all these different people. He did not clarify as to why living on Earth was cruel and that death was the only answer.
Socrates was a greek philosopher who found himself in trouble with his fellow citizens and court for standing his grounds on his new found beliefs from his studies about philosophical virtue, justice, and truth. In “Apology” written by Plato, Socrates defended himself in trial, not with the goal of escaping the death sentence, but with the goal of doing the right thing and standing for his beliefs. With this mindset, Socrates had no intention of kissing up to the Athenians to save his life. Many will argue that Socrates’ speech was not very effective because he did not fight for his life, he just accepted the death sentence that he was punished with. In his speech he said, “But now it’s time to leave, time for me to die and for you to live.”
In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is put into trial because he is accused of corrupting the youth with his teachings that deviate from the established beliefs of the Greek society. Although he justifies that he is only doing what he believes is his duty, he reasons that even if he is given a death penalty, death is nothing to be feared. He raises multiple strong and effective arguments that explain to his audience that it is illogical to fear death. All of these arguments revolves around the central idea that death is not evil and that “no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death” (Apology, 41c). The first argument that Socrates presents during his trial is the idea that death is not the most important thing to worry about in
“Plato Apology” relates the trial of Socrates (469-399) B.C.E known as the father of Western Philosophy. Socrates, a son of sculpture and the midwife had a queer with most Athenians due to his point of view on values and beliefs. Charged with impiety and corrupting the Youth, Socrates’ defends himself by persuading the jury of his innocence with tangible reasons which made his arguments effective.
Making enemies and becoming the topic of conversation, the Athenians began to view Socrates as a threat to their beliefs and way of life and sought to end it. In order to end this, Socrates was accused of blasphemy (Mod1SlideC7). Socrates’s accusers took him to court and after Socrates did not play their game by asking to be sent into exile, and in the end, he was sentenced to death. After reading the textbook and Plato’s writing influenced by Socrates, I realized that in the period of his life Socrates was indeed truly a threat to the Athens society, because he looked for answers that no one else bothered to find which challenged their culture.
Socrates’ speech within the Symposium falls short of being a truly convincing account of Erôs, mainly due to the fact that it does not deliver an explanation of what Erôs is but only where it comes from and its purpose in a spiritual sense, but is can still be considered successful in its own right. Socrates speech is less convincing due partly to the fact that it is not of his own creation, instead being a retelling of a conversation he had with Diotima. Socrates thus comes across as largely uninterested in sex and sexual desire, and instead puts forward an account of Erôs which revolves around Love as a collaborative striving for Goodness, similar to Eryximachus’ appeal to unity and wellness. Socrates speech comes from what he learned from Diotima of Mantinea, who was a priestess who believed that Love is a progressive force which moves one from considering merely the physical to the contemplation of pure and abstract beauty. Diotima explained that Erôs is neither God nor mortal, but a spiritual force which exists between
Plato was born to an aristocratic family in 427 BCE Aegina, a town near Athens. (73 Navia). He had two older brothers Laucon and Adiemantus who had a good relationship with Socrates and were involved in the “socratic circle”. Some say that Plato’s depiction of Socrates is the only valid one. Also it has been said that if it was not for Plato’s writings of Socrates that he would have not have had such a popular effect on society.
Socrates, one of history 's wisest men, would face a grotesque and horrifying death due to his actions against the state of Athens. His pupils (Plato and Aristotle most notably) would describe his actions that lead up to his death as bold and memorable. Even after being sentenced to death, Socrates showed the courage to continue voicing his opinions to his students and political onlookers. The trial would go down as one of the most notable events in later Greek history. The execution of Socrates was a result of his negligence to the gods and corrupting the youth of Athens but, not all agree that it was a deserved death.