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socrates passage from the apology
platos apology conclusions
socrates passage from the apology
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The Defence of Socrates chronicles Socrates’ trial, which the elite members of Athenian society
conducted in order to determine whether or not Socrates was guilty of the charges against him. Those
charges included: 1) refusing to believe in the gods of the City; 2) corrupting the youth; and 3)
introducing gods of his own in place of the Athenian deities. Although Socrates believed, along with his
loved ones, Plato, and his students, that he was wrongly accused and was served an injustice by the City
of Athens, he is forced to defend himself and his actions at trial. During the course of his “apology,” it is
evident that Socrates’ pride leads him to advocate more for his philosophy and his goal of prevention of
ignorance than for
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In fact, when the jury asks Socrates what he believes his
punishment should be, he imprudently replies, “What counter-assessment should I propose to you,
gentlemen of the jury? …Nothing is more suitable, gentlemen, than for such man to be fed in the
Prytaneum much more suitable for him than for any one of you who has won a victory at Olympia with a
pair or a team of horses” (Defence of Socrates 18). Socrates does not take the jury’s question seriously
and responds with sarcasm and humor. This response only provides greater incentive for the jury to
sentence him to death. Additionally, if he had appealed to their emotions in his defense and mentioned the
hurt that his friends and soon-to-be orphan children would endure if he was sentenced to death, the jury
would have been more sympathetic and forgiving in his sentencing. Instead, Socrates deliberately
There are several main argument in The Apology by Greek Philosopher Plato, such as Socrates were that he argues the physical over metaphysical, he argued the weaker claim over the stronger claim, he went against the gods, and he was corrupting the youth. These are the allegations brought against Socrates amid his trail. But Socrates dependability presents drearily ordered number of cases to give legitimate and sound contentions to demonstrate that he is guiltless of the energizes conveyed against him to the court.
Socrates asks the questions he does during his court case because he feels that it is his calling from the gods; questioning the world around him is his focus. However, this idea of following and obeying the gods contradicts Plato’s thoughts in The Republic. To Plato, the justice system in Greece was built upon the ability to not only willingly follow the gods, but also to act in complete reflection with the gods and their unchanging
Socrates enters into his trial acknowledging the fact that he is going up against a jury of men, many of whom already have a biased, negative view towards him. He explains that many of them, though not knowing him personally, feel as though they do based solely on word of mouth, weakening the validity of the trial against him. As Socrates states in the account of his defence;
Socrates reaches a conclusion that defies a common-sense understanding of justice. Nothing about his death sentence “seems” just, but after further consideration, we find that his escape would be as fruitless as his death, and that in some sense, Socrates owes his obedience to whatever orders Athens gives him since he has benefited from his citizenship.
Plato was the author of the Apology of Socrates, which was one of the four major works of ancient Greek literature. Though the title was the Apology of Socrates, the text referred to the defense speeches of Socrates against the Athenian council. At the end, Socrates was found to be guilty and was sentenced to death. However, the Athenian council was not acting justly because Socrates did nothing wrong as he had successfully developed a reasonable logic against the charges. I will address this notion through the analysis of the arguments and the logic that Socrates used to conduct his defense.
The first approach that Socrates uses to prove his innocence’s is he uses a practical comparison between horses and all living and artifical things “Take the case of horses; do you believe that those who improve them make up the whole of the mankind and that there is only one person who has a bad effect on them? Or is the truth just the opposite that the ability to improve them belongs to one person or to very few persons, who are horse-trainers, whereas most people, if they have to do with horses and make use of them, do them harm.” 2
Though Socrates has been unjustly incarcerated, he refuses to escape due to his implied agreement with the Athenian legal system. This paper serves to argue that Socrates’ line of reasoning to Crito does not properly address actions committed under an unjust legal system.
...t was commanded by the gods. Socrates says that he devoted everything to this quest. He completely ignored his personal affairs to the point where he was completely broke. If he does not believe in the gods that the state believes in, namely, the ancient Greek gods such as Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Hermes, Athena, Ares, Hades, Aphrodite, Poseidon, and many others, then why did he go on a quest appointed by gods that he does not believe in? The only answer possible is that Socrates does believe in the gods of the state and that the accusation is false.
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).
But let us say he was not. Let us for a moment say he was not. What justice would there be to take this life? Justice, gentlemen? Why, I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this."
Plato’s "Apology" gives the substance of the defense made by Socrates to the Athenians at his trial. Meletus, Anytus and Lyncon brought Socrates to court on charges of corrupting the morals of the youth, leading the youth away from the principals of democracy, neglecting the Gods of the State and introducing new divinities.
Socrates says that it is also impossible for everyone to know that is right for the youth. He goes on to give an example of a horse. Socrates explains that only one person would be able to train horses correctly, a horse trainer. A horse trainer has been instructed in how to raise horses. A person walking on the road would not be able to train horses properly, because the would have no previous knowledge or experience ...
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen and Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society, will help to position Plato's Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.
During this essay the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical.
The charges against Socrates were brought upon him by a man names Meletus. Meletus was a young man that Socrates did not know very well. These charges brought on by Meletus caused the indictment of Socrates. One of the charges in the affidavit written by Meletus against Socrates is that he is "corrupting the youth." Another charge that is brought upon Socrates is that of he is making up new Gods and disregarding the old Gods the Athenians believe in. These were the charges brought on Socrates.