Deciphering Socrates: A Journey through Plato's Works

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Over the years of my highschool and college education, I have read the “Apology of Socrates” and “The Republic of Plato” four times. Every time I read these two texts, I come out of the experience with something new. There is just so much information in these two books that you are never able to catch all the little details and hidden meanings. I imagine that even if I read these books hundreds of times, I still wouldn’t have grasped all that I was intended to. I think the reason behind this is because Socrates’ personality is so complex, and you never fully understand exactly what he’s trying to say. Nothing about Socrates is concrete, and that is because he never says what is on his mind. Instead he just asks questions, and perhaps hints at what he is thinking about but never says it himself. This always leaves me in such a confused state, trying to guess if his hints are genuine or if they are part of some type of reverse psychology, or even if he just wants us to think that they are part of reverse psychology. Trying to decipher the language of Socrates is a difficult task for the most part. As I mentioned earlier, Socrates’ personality is extremely complex, more than our brains can imagine. The most important characteristic he owns would probably be his ability to steer a conversation as he pleases. I never see Socrates in a speechless state where
We don’t really get to see Socrates in action in the “Apology of Socrates”, but we do in “The Republic of Plato”. After reading these two books a few times I have come to the conclusion that Socrates is innocent. Usually people think Socrates is innocent based on the fact that they believe his accusations are not necessarily bad. Although I also believe that they aren’t bad, I have based my conclusion of Socrates’ innocence only on his actions in “The Republic of

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