In Plato’s “The Apology,” Socrates is defending himself before the Athenian government on charges of heresy and corrupting the youth. Socrates’ introspective reflection on pertinent issues, and his own life are ruled controversial to the Athenian State’s accepted beliefs. As a result, he faces charges from this decision to pursue a life full of philosophical exploration and enrichment. However, instead of repenting and likely being able to walk away with a nonfatal punishment, he claims, the good life is an examined life, and ultimately, an unexamined life is not worth living. This belief is enrooted in Socrates with such sustenance; it is what ultimately causes him to lose his life, by not willing to give up the examined lifestyle. Socrates …show more content…
One of Socrates’ friends, Chaerephon, asked if there was anyone wiser than Socrates, to which the oracle replied, “no one” (21a, 85). Socrates, knowing he was not very wise, sought to investigate the claim (21b, 85). Already, the reader can begin to understand how an examined life, is a good life. Socrates is unwilling to accept something as truth, just because it is said by a person in a position of power and respect. He chooses to investigate the claim, to find an understanding of how it can be that someone believes he is the wisest person. While this may seem not worthwhile, because it is a claim of praise, imagine if a detestable claim had been made about Socrates’ character. By being willing to go and explore the question further, and seek out evidence, Socrates would be able to prove against a negative remark on his character, and save his reputation, showing how an examined life is a good and worthwhile …show more content…
Socrates proposes that he “is not arguing in [his] own defense at all… but rather in [the Athenians’ defense] in order you may not make a mistake about the gift of god to you by condemning me.” (30d-e, 92). He believes the god has commanded him to engage in philosophy, and he should not abandon his mission, much like how a soldier should not abandon his post even when in danger (28e, 91). Although he faces the danger of being found guilty, his philosophical examinations are what the god has planned for him to pursue. Should the Athenians condemn Socrates, they would also be hurting themselves. This is based on the premise that Socrates and the Athenians believe in the same god, and if the examined life is a pursuit encouraged by the god, and the god has the good of the people in mind, then an examined life must be good. Therefore, if the god told Socrates to live an examined life, yet the Athenians prevent him from doing so, they are removing the chance of the god’s “gift,” of whatever knowledge Socrates may uncover by living an examined life, from also benefiting their community as
By showing people who thought they were wise but actually they are not, this proves that Socrates is following god
In the Greek literary work Apology written by Plato, Socrates was convicted for refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state, introducing new divinities and corrupting the youth. It is believed by many critics that Socrates knew he was going to be sentenced to death so, he was able to use his defense as an opportunity to clear his reputation, confront his accusers, but most significantly instruct the Athenians. He wanted them to look into themselves and seek virtue and wisdom before looking into personal interests. We notice throughout Socrates’ defense that there is a continued theme of wisdom and teaching towards the Athenians.
He starts his interrogation with those that are believed to have the greatest reputation and wisdom and visits with the politicians, poets, and craftsmen. Socrates tells the court that the politicians are not wise, hence he is in a room full of politicians and there supporters He concludes that he is wiser than these politicians even
Through his intellectual project of studying the wisdom of the politician, poet, and craftsman, he found himself the most wise, for though he may not have gifts in their respective trades, he does not claim to know something that he does in fact not know, hence deeming him the wiser in each scenario. Furthermore, in his ordeal with Euthyphro, his poised questioning positioned him as holding the most wisdom, for his claims of knowing the classifications of actions both pious and impious prove that a concrete definition of these terms ceases to exist, and it takes one far more wise than Euthyphro, who believes the words of humans that bear upon the gods, to consider this. Conversely, via The Epic of Gilgamesh, one may conclude that knowing of a human’s mortality brings about wisdom, though Gilgamesh’s quest in gaining this knowledge differed greatly from that of Socrates. Though achieved in different methods, these two tales provide insight to the essential question of what it means to be
Examining one’s life can bring many joys. There are many things that give people the idea that their lives are meaningful. These ideas could be the pursuit of pleasure and happiness, entertainment, sports, power and money, possessions and security, being famous and success, meeting other people, knowledge and every other thing that can give the smallest amount of happiness to the person. In the apology Plato describes Socrates’ venture to question people would were wise and content with their wisdom, but when they asked a series of questions to test their wisdom they were revealed not to be wise and were now upset. The flaw in that was that these people did not examine what had happened to them and did not learn from it.
Socrates spent the entirety of his life practicing philosophy. He questions everyone who claims to have wisdom and eventually comes to either aggravate those he made to look foolish or inspired those who kept an open mind. At one point Socrates claims that his life has been no less heroic than the heroes who fought at Troy. Considering how vital heroism is to Athenian culture, this claim can be unfavorable. Most Athenians when prompted about what is a hero, will picture Achilles, or one of Homer’s other heroes, not a man who “Corrupts the youth”, or “Is an Atheist”.
Socrates compared himself to a Gadfly because he stings the lazy horse in other words the “Athens”. Socrates believed as he states that “God has commanded me – as I am persuaded that he had done
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 answers to the charges being brought by his prosecutors. The charges being brought against him are “corrupting the minds of the young, and of believing in deities of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the state” (Plato, Apology, 3). How does he oppose this? What support does Socrates give the courts of Athens? These questions will be answered in this paper for justice on behalf of his execution, or will it?
Therefore, since Athens has a part to play in corrupting Socrates’s life as well as his mistaken visual of the truth, Socrates must understand that by obeying the state, he has done injustice to his soul for it will not be in true harmony. Furthermore he will be doing an injustice to the state because Plato would have established that, objectively, Athens laws are unjust and even if Socrates thinks that they are just, it is only because Socrates has been corrupted by
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).
Socrates knew that the jury would find it an outrageous anecdote that someone as old, ugly, and physically weak as him would even dare to compare himself to one of Greece’s most famous demigods. However, Socrates designed his comparison to Achilles to have a far impactful meaning. The primary message that Socrates tried to relay in his comparison to Achilles is that he was alike Achilles in that he will not admit defeat to the threat of death for refusing to listen to the advice of others when he believed what he was pursuing was just. As Achilles disregarded his foretold death sentence in his choice to avenge the death of Patroclus, so too Socrates decided not to consider the threat of death by the jury to stop his mission from the gods (particularly Apollo) to “live philosophizing and examining myself in others”
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.”
Socrates started his life as an average Athen citizen. His parents worked, making an honest living. But as Socrates grew up, he began to realize that his mind questioned things and wondered how come no one else questioned the same things or at least think about the answers to the questions that were not answered. So, as his mind kept wandering, he began to acknowledge the questions that were not answered and sought for those answers. He ended up believing and teaching things to other people, whether it went against the way the Athen government or not, he still continued his work.