History is ripe with stories of great men. Hundreds of politicians, philosophers, performers, and writers have left a unique stamp on humanity. But only a select few can be said to have "changed history." The legendary Athenian, Socrates, was one such figure. Socrates ushered in an era of philosophical inquiry that still lingers to this day. In Book Seven of Plato's The Republic, Socrates outlines his perfect regime. According to Socrates, an enlightened "Philosopher-King" must rule such a regime. Now suppose this Republic actually came into being, and Socrates was asked to rule it as a Philosopher King. Would he? Answering this begs three important questions: Is Socrates a true philosopher? Does he have the appropriate virtues? Finally, and most importantly, if Socrates has the capacity to rule, why is he silent about it?
One way to decipher whether Socrates would have accepted the position of Philosopher-King is to examine whether he has the appropriate virtues. These virtues are expounded in Book VI of The Republic. In passage 487a, Socrates says that the Philosopher will be moderate, courageous, and just.1 Although all people possess these qualities, they are perfected in the body of the philosopher. Socrates' life was an embodiment of these virtues. He was courageous because he lived in constant pre-occupation with the eternal; thus, he was oblivious to the luxuries of life. Plato, Aristophanes, and Ameipsias all show him to be a humble man whose only worldly pleasure was the pursuit of knowledge.2 This pursuit was not easy. Socrates was constantly ridiculed by the Athenians and was ostracized for his views. But he continued his pursuit. He never gave in to the social prejudices against p...
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
Notes
1 Bloom, Allan [trans]. The Republic of Plato. P. 167
2 "Socrates". Encyclopedia Brittanica Online: Accessed on April 17, 2000.
http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/0/0,5716,117549+2+109554,00.html
3 Wests, Thomas G and Grace Starr. Plato's Apology of Socrates. Taken from Texts on Socrates. P. 81
4 Bloom, Allan [trans]. The Republic of Plato. P. 359
5 Ibid. P. 13
6 Hebert, Joe. Tutorial notes. March 21, 2000
7 Extrapolated from 25c from Wests, Thomas G and Grace Starr. Plato's Apology of Socrates. Taken from
Texts on Socrates. P. 75
8 Bloom, Allan [trans]. The Republic of Plato. P. 499
9 Ibid. P. 407
10 Wests, Thomas G and Grace Starr. Plato's Apology of Socrates. Taken from Texts on Socrates. P. 83
Plato, Phaedo, In: The Collected Dialogues Of Plato Including The Letters, Editors: E. Hamilton and H. Cairns, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1961.
In conclusion, Xenophon’s Apology successfully vindicates the Socrates’ defense of his piety in so far as it shows that Socrates holds a belief in that is no different than the one
“In my investigation in the service of the god I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable.” (Socrates, Apology) “Either I do not corrupt the young or, if I do, it is unwillingly,” (Socrates, Apology) “Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall obey God rather than you…” (Socrates, Apology) “I am that gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long…arousing and persuading and reproaching…you will not easily find another like me.” (Plato, Apology) “To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know.” (Socrates, Apology) “I go to die, you go to live. Which is better God only knows.” (Socrates,
It takes one person to begin expanding a thought, eventually dilating over a city, gaining power through perceived power. This is why Socrates would be able to eventually benefit everyone, those indifferent to philosophy, criminals, and even those who do not like him. Socrates, through his knowledge of self, was able to understand others. He was emotionally intelligent, and this enabled him to live as a “gadfly,” speaking out of curiosity and asking honest questions. For someone who possesses this emotional intelligence, a conversation with Socrates should not have been an issue-people such as Crito, Nicostratus, and Plato who he calls out during his speech. (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
Plato, . The Trial and Death of Socrates, "The Apology". Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Third ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000. 34. Print.
(9) Plato, The Apology, in: The Works of Plato, The Nottingham Society, New York, vol. III, p. 91. (the year of publication unknown).
Plato. "Apology." Ancient Philosophy. 3rd Ed. Philosophic Classics, vols. 1. Baird, Forrest E., and Walter Kaufman. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2000. 82-100.
According to Pierre Hadot, “Thus philosophy was a way of life, both in its exercise and effort to achieve wisdom, and its goal, wisdom itself. For real wisdom does not merely cause us to know: it makes us “be” in a different way” ( Pierre 265) This explanation of a philosophical way of life is in all ways the definition of Socrates’ life. Socrates made his way through his entire life living in this way, seeking out wisdom, seeking out answers and never once got in trouble with the court until the age of seventy years old. He believed that by telling people about ignorance and wisdom, that he was only doing so for the good of the people. Socrates even goes as far as saying, “I am that Gadfly which God has attached to the state, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you”(Plato 9). Socrates believes that he was sent from God to show people a different way of life, a life of questioning and reason to which he should teach to all people. When asked if he was ashamed of a course of life of which would likely bring him to an untimely end Socrates says, “you are mistaken: a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong” (Plato 7).
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.
What is civil war? Many people have this question. Some are wrong, and some are right. Civil war is caused through one countries internal issue (Civil War Causes Fact Monster). Examples could be: political issue social issues, or even issues of equality between races in one country. Some of these events are the causes of the American civil war. Let’s start with some of the effects of the war.The American civil war was the most costly war ever fought on American soil. It took a long time for the American society to become stable after to the war. Along with that,out of the 2.4 million solders’ that fought in the war, 620,000 of them were killed during the war.Millions were injured (The History Channel Website). Millions of families were affected after this catastrophic event. Millions upon millions of families lost the man of the house to earn money for the family to survive. At this time period, most families depended on the men to provide for the family.
Plato's The Apology is an account of the speech. Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, inventing new gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens. For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very plain, conversational manner. He explains that he has no experience with the law courts and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed with honesty and directness. Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily responsible for bringing Socrates before the jury. He strongly attacks Meletus for wasting the court¡¦s time on such absurd charges. He then argues that if he corrupted the young he did so unknowingly since Socrates believes that one never deliberately acts wrongly. If Socrates neither did not corrupt the young nor did so unknowingly, then in both cases he should not be brought to trial. The other charge is the charge of impiety. This is when Socrates finds an inconsistency in Meletus¡¦ belief that Socrates is impious. If he didn¡¦t believe in any gods then it would be inconsistent to say that he believed in spiritual things, as gods are a form of a spiritual thing. He continues to argue against the charges, often asking and answering his own questions as if he were speaking in a conversation with one of his friends. He says that once a man has found his passion in life it would be wrong of him to take into account the risk of life or death that such a passion might involve.
About the year of 470 B.C, a man was born in Athens and his name was Socrates. He was a son of a working sculptor and a midwife. Socrates lived in the greatest and most exciting period of his country's history, when Athens developed from a mere city-state to be the head of an empire. He studied problems of Physics, Biology, and other sciences, and learned the art of making the worse argument appear the better. He could easily be involved in public decisions but he did not enjoy politics so he stuck to his interests and life that consisted the qualities of a thinker. He would constantly be thinking about the "ordinary man" and the interests of an "ordinary man". He had many companions, men of all ages and from all parts of the Greek world. This already tells us that he is very pre-occupied with how other people's minds worked and if he could figure out how to teach them rational thinking. Easily most of his ideas would come from talking to other people
In my opinion Socrates is giving as a good model of a vocation of a philosopher. When I think of a philosopher I think of some that gets people to ask questions and think. This is exactly what Socrates does for the people of Athens. He is accused of doing wrong when he is just trying to help advance society. Another thing that makes him a great philosopher is the fact that he sticks to his moral throughout. He has the ability to escape prison but he knows that would go against all of his teachings. So he accepts death.
Plato, Phaedrus, trans. R. Hackforth, in Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, eds. The Collected Dialogues of Plato (New York: Pantheon, 1966).
Plato. "Apology." The Longman Anthology of World Literature. Ed. David Damrosch and David L. Pike. Compact ed. New York: Pearson, 2008. 559-75. Print.