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The philosophy of socrates
Socrates philosophy essay
Socrates philosophy essay
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Socrates is known to have been one of the most intuitive and insightful philosophers of his time, exemplifying self confidence and the discouragement of unrighteousness. Socrates believed in a specific method of questioning, more commonly known as the Socratic Method. This method of questioning is solely based on the choice of dialogue, as the unique dialogue style would allow the surveyor to test the validity of each unique response. The key element that allowed this method of questioning possible is the wide variety of people that are asked the same question. Socrates would use his famous method of questioning in his daily life, He was notorious for humiliating the arrogant high ranking officials of Athens in the view of the public, deeming
He considered that thinking logically about life is a path to freedom of unrighteousness, explaining to the court, “The difficulty my friends is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness” (pg. 8) Even though Socrates was sentenced to death, he was not afraid, he did not care whether his accusers thought his beliefs were correct or incorrect, but rather wished to discuss his matter, and prove his ideas right. This represents his hatred and opposition towards unjustness, as he only wished to prove his accusers wrong. To prove his accuser’s accusations fraudulent, Socrates remarks, “My accusers keen and quick, and the faster runner, who is unrighteousness has over taken them” (pg. 8). Socrates explains that his accusers, who are unrighteous and unjust, are trying to prove him guilty in the court of law, his metaphor exemplifies that unrighteousness has taken his accusers over, and all they wish is to prove Socrates guilty, no matter how fraudulent the accusation is. Essentially, Socrates strongly opposed unrighteousness, and discouraged whom who makes use of it. Socrates argues that one should maintain their morals and fight unrighteousness. His claim is very influential as it urges one to fight for their morals and beliefs. Morals are crucials to daily life as they help one make decisions that can impact their life in positive and negative ways. Socrates’ claim is relevant to modern life as it clearly exemplifies self confidence and opposition towards unrighteousness, It has the potential to inspire others and may allow one to stand up for their individual rights. Above all, Socrates opposed unrighteousness and urges people to maintain their morals in daily
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own but rather aimed at bringing out the worst in his interlocutors.
In “The Apology,” Socrates represents himself in his own trial. He boldly questions the morality of the people of court. In this report, I will be analyzing portions of “The Apology” in order to reveal the intellectuality of this text within this time frame. I will only discuss bits of “The Apology“ on account that it is a lengthy piece. However, before discussing the speech it is important to set the scene. Socrates was born in 469 B.C.E. and lived to 399 B.C.E. (Nails, 2014). What we do know about him is second-hand knowledge, or recounts from his former students, Plato and Xenophon (“Plato and Socrates”). Nevertheless, his legacy has influenced philosophy and continues to do so.
Many people have gone through their lives conforming their beliefs and practices for the sake of fitting in or for the happiness of others, but Socrates was not one of these people. In “The Apology” Plato shows Socrates unwillingness to conform through a speech given by Socrates while on trial for supposedly corrupting the youth of Athens and believing in false gods. Although the title of the dialogue was labeled “The Apology,” Socrates’ speech was anything but that, it was a defense of himself and his content along his philosophical journey. At no time during the trial was Socrates willing to change his ways in order to avoid punishment, two reasons being his loyalty to his God and his philosophical way of life.
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
The writer however, feels that it was a wise decision for Socrates to simply condemn the jury and accept his fate. In a statement the writer states, “Socrates had agreed to abide by whatever Athens required of him in return.” Analyzing Socrates commitment and obligation to Athens is vital. However, his decision not to escape and flee are reasonable, but his acceptance of his unjustly sentencing is not. Therefore, Socrates’ decision to not act on an illegitimate sentencing was foolish and as a citizen he should have appealed his
There is an ethical theory that we covered this quarter that I strongly agree with which is the theory of justice. There is a specific thinker that surprised me at and made me think about moral issues in a new way. That thinker was Socrates who surprised me and made me think about moral issues in a new way. I feel that socrates is someone who challenged what you thought or believed about ethics before taking this class. Those dialog investigates two vital inquiries. Those 1st inquiry may be “what will be justice?” socrates addresses this address both As far as political groups and As far as those unique man alternately souk. He does this to address those second Furthermore driving inquiry of the dialogue: “is those simply persnickety happier
...t Socrates came up with a system. This system was called the Socratic Method, in which Socrates would ask a question, propose an idea, and then ask more questions. His ultimate goal in doing this was to prove the Oracle was wrong.
In the retelling of his trial by his associate, Plato, entitled “The Apology”; Socrates claims in his defense that he only wishes to do good for the polis. I believe that Socrates was innocent of the accusations that were made against him, but he possessed contempt for the court and displayed that in his conceitedness and these actions led to his death.
“Are we to say that we are never intentionally to do wrong, or that in one way we ought not to do wrong, or is doing wrong always evil and dishonorable, as I was just now saying, and as has been already acknowledged by us? (Dover p.49)” Socrates’ standard is that he refuses to see justice as an eye for an eye. He believes that logical arguments and persuasion should be the defense of the accused. Socrates believes that since he cannot convince the people who ruled against him that there is no other option then to pay the sentence that he was
Socrates states that whatever wisdom he possesses comes from knowing that he knows nothing. He also says he won’t use sophisticated language but will speak using the common idiom of Greek language. Despite claiming ignorance, he speaks amazingly correcting the orators and showing them what they should’ve done. He’d spoken the truth persuasively with wisdom. Even though he was offered the opportunity to appease the jury with minimal concession to his accusations of corruption and impiety, he doesn’t yield his integrity to avoid the death penalty; and the jury sentences him to death.
He applies this logic to mean that he must go around Athens and show others that they are not actually wise, so that they can become intelligent like him. As a result, he feels he is helping the society of Athens as a whole. By a small number, Socrates is found guilty and the jury comes to a decision to put Socrates to death. To further his display of haughty behavior Socrates’ response is to say in a mostly joking manner that the city should be giving him a medal of honor. He continues on to reject exile and prison time, suggesting that he pay a fine. Socrates’ reaction is unlike what is to be expected. He believes that it is ridiculous to fear the after-life because it does not make sense to fear things he does not know (29c). When given a chance to defend himself Socrates doesn’t cry, beg, or bring family matters into the courtroom, thinking it better to die after an honorable defense than live on against his own
“To stand up for what you believe in is more important than to be scared of imprisonment or death.” – Socrates The Apology
(37) The problem is that many of the citizens of Athens who wanted Socrates dead, lacked that emotional intelligence and thought highly of themselves. So of course they become defensive when Socrates sheds light on the idea that they may be wrong. As someone who cared most about the improvement of the soul, Socrates would have made a constructive role model to the criminals of Athens, as he would go on saying, “virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…”(35) Socrates was able to benefit everyone alike as he had human wisdom- something that all the Athenians could relate
Some of the best sources of information about Socrates' philosophical views are the early dialogues of his student Plato, who tried to provide a faithful picture of the methods and teachings of the great master. The Apology is one of the many-recorded dialogues about Socrates. It is about how Socrates was arrested and charged with corrupting the youth, believing in no god(s) (Atheism) and for being a Sophist. He attended his trial and put up a good argument. I believe that Socrates was wrongfully accused and should not have been sentenced to death. Within the duration of this document, I will be discussing the charges laid against Socrates and how he attempted to refute the charges.
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who lived from 469-399 B.C.E. Socrates believed that Philosophy was primarily a social activity, which in fact he made use of quite often. He would find himself roaming the streets of Athens questioning the youth or just anyone who would give him the chance to talk to them. Furthermore, Socrates questions drove people absolutely insane, until the point of absolute consternation if you will. He tried proving a point which is quoted “Look, here we are, two ignorant men, yet two, men who desire to know. I am willing to pursue the question seriously if you are” (Palmer, 31).Ultimately, this meant that the person Socrates was questioning actually didn’t know anything at all, just as well as Socrates himself, so which for the both of them would remain in search of the truth.