Analysis: The Last Days Of Socrates
analytical Essay
1652 words
The thought that has tortured creators forever is that “nothing is original.” Ideas build upon ideas and nothing is ever original. In 470-399 BC, Socrates had a lot to say about many ideas. Although, one of the most controversial ones was his view on life and death. It is still a controversial matter today. Socrates’ views have shaped Western culture in the direction of shaming suicide, accepting that the body and soul are two different things, and the body and soul separate at death. Due to the views of Socrates, it is hard for many Westerners to accept the idea of assisted suicide, brain death, and comatose states. Socrates’ views have fostered medical ethics, religious views, disciplinary action, and entertainment in Western society today. …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that socrates' views on life and death have shaped western culture in the direction of shaming suicide, accepting that the body and soul are two different things.
- Explains that socrates was born around 470 b.c. in athens, greece, to sophroniscus and phaenarete. he received a regular greek education of music, literature, gymnastics, mathematics, physics, and astronomy
- Analyzes how plato's the last days of socrates exhibits the true character of the greek philosopher.
- Opines that their accusers have said little or nothing that is true, but from them you will hear the whole truth.
- Explains socrates' belief in instruction and reproof is starting to take effect in the western society. the judiciary commitee has passed the youth promise act.
- Analyzes how socrates' application of ethos was heavily used in his argument to defend his innocence upon the accusations brought upon him.
- Explains that socrates' views of death have shaped cultures across the world. black muslims believe that their soul goes away and implants itself into another world, while confucian believers believe in the annihilation effect.
- Analyzes how crito's dialogue highlights socrates' deepest opinions about life. he tries to get him to escape prison and go to the land of thessaly.
- Opines that people who don't know them will think that they let them down, saying they could have saved them if they'd spent more money.
- Analyzes how socrates eradicates criticism with ethical and logical rhetoric. crito exhibits his beliefs on justice, experts, and death in relation to the body and the soul.
- Analyzes how socrates believes that people's decisions should be based on the opinions of an expert, which shapes the opinion of western society.
The Last Days of Socrates opened up with The Apology which features the downfall of Socrates. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth, studying things in heavens and below the earth, not believing in the gods of the city, and making the worst argument into the best argument through the use of rhetoric (Plato 39-46). Socrates defended himself upon the charges that were brought upon him in Athenian court (Plato 39). His swift thinking, cunning articulation, and confident attitude led him to base his defense upon ethos and logos. Meletus had previously told the court that Socrates would mislead the jury with charm and heightened diction. Socrates used rhetoric to attempt and persuade the jury to not completely write him off and listen to his …show more content…
In the Black Muslim culture ㄧ that I have become accustomed to in the last two years due to my father ㄧ they believe that the body experiences the migration type of death described by Socrates in The Apology. Black Muslims believe that when a person goes to sleep that their soul goes away and implants itself into another world. If their soul likes the place it goes, then their soul decides to stay, and that is when they truly are dead. Confucian believers believe that the soul is implanted into another person or animal, which is similar to the belief of Socrates. “ … those who have deliberately preferred a life of injustice, suppression, and robbery with violence become wolves and hawks and kites” (Plato 151). Due to a friend in the Jewish religion, I have noticed that the Jewish belief holds more to the annihilation effect of death. They believe that during death a person dies and they have no consciousness. Then, they figure that when the Messiah comes back they will all rise and join the Messiah. Christianity was also influenced by Socrates, due to my religious knowledge and preference about Christianity, we believe that when people die their souls go up into heaven to join all of the people that have died before them. Then, one day the Messiah will come back and everyone will be able to rejoice with him in heaven. Socrates has shaped the religious views that are a big part of Western society.
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- Phaedo by Socratesanalytical essayIn Plato’s dialogue, Phaedo, Echecrades asks Phaedo the details of Socrates’ last day alive. Phaedo first describes his own countenance as well as the rest of Socrates’ companions as “an unaccustomed mixture of pleasure and pain” because they all know that Socrates’ death is imminent, however they see that Socrates appears happy and without fear (58, e). The conversation with Socrates turns to why a philosopher should not fear death. Socrates defines death as the separation of the soul from the body (64, c). He states that the body is a constant impediment to a philosopher in their search for the truth. Socrates says that the body “fills us with wants, desires, fears, all sorts of illusions and much nonsense, so that… no thought of any kind ever comes to us from the [it].” (66, c). He claims that philosophy itself is “training for dying” and philosophers purify their souls by detaching it from the body (67, e). Socrates concludes that it would be unreasonable for a philosopher to fear death because they will obtain the truth they sought in life upon the separation of their body and soul, or death (67, c). After successfully proves the soul’s immortality, Socrates goes on to tell his companions a myth. This myth tells o the judgment of the dead and their journey through the underworld (107, d). It explains the shape of the Earth and how it has different surfaces (108, c- 113, d). It also tells of the punishment for the maimed souls and the reward for the pure souls, those of philosophers (113, c – 114, d). After concluding this myth, Socrates seems to emphasize that the exact details of the story are not important and “no sensible man would insist that these things are as I have described them” but it is important to “risk the bel...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how plato's dialogue with phaedo describes socrates' last day as an unaccustomed mixture of pleasure and pain. the conversation turns to why a philosopher should not fear death.
- Analyzes how socrates' myth serves to reinforce his recommendation of philosophy as care for the soul.
- Analyzes how socrates' myth reinforces his recommendation of philosophy as care for the soul by explaining how vices are driven by an over attachment to the body.
- Explains socrates' recommendation of philosophy as care for the soul by explaining what happens to men who indulge in vices and are attached to the body.
- Analyzes how socrates' myth reinforces philosophy as care for the soul by explaining the cycle which continues until it purifies itself through philosophy.
- Analyzes how socrates' myth reinforces his recommendation of philosophy as care for the soul by explaining how the pure souls of philosophers are rewarded.
- Analyzes how socrates' myth reinforces his recommendation of philosophy as care for the soul.
1318 wordsRead More - Analysis Of Socratesanalytical essayIn the last days of Socrates’ life while he awaits his death sentence, he examines and evaluates the facets of life and the morals that come as a part of human nature. He analyzes the concept of being, and what it means to be either living or deceased and through this analysis, Socrates particularly goes in depth with his examination of the human soul. In Phaedo, Plato meets with a follower who had been with Socrates on his last day, on which he talked much about the innermost qualities of being; life and death and how the soul constitutes those two entities. According to Socrates, there are four arguments that prove the existence of the soul: the Argument from Opposites, the Theory of Recollection, the Affinity Argument, and the Theory of Forms.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how socrates questions death as the ultimate goal for one's soul. the body is mortal, while the soul is immortal.
- Explains socrates' view that the soul is hindered by the body and its needs. to reach its highest potential, the mortal body must die to move on and be its purest self.
- Analyzes how aquinas recognizes that form and matter are interconnected and cannot function without one another.
- Explains that the soul and the body are intertwined forces that are crucial to one another in order to thrive as one essence.
- Analyzes socrates' analysis of the human soul in phaedo, where he argues that everything in life holds an opposite to another force. the theory of recollection proposes that humans have innate knowledge and understanding of equality.
- Explains that st. thomas aquinas believes in the existence of a soul in all living entities, but his reasoning for such differs slightly.
1556 wordsRead More - Death In Hamlet Essayanalytical essayAncient Greek and Christianity both have different vision of death. Therefore, the idea of death and the afterlife was contrarily shown in the two texts. Death permeates Hamlet from the beginning of the tragedy through the ghost of king Hamlet. Suicide was desirable way to replace suffering the life but it is forbidden by the Christian religion. Also Hamlet explains how the body return to dust at the end and what happen in the afterlife. However, death in apology by Plato was unknown idea thus Socrates does not fear it. In addition death is an honourable thing for men. For Socrates death is the nonexistence or the transmigration of the soul.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that ancient greek and christianity have different visions of death and the afterlife. death permeates hamlet from the beginning of the tragedy.
- Analyzes how death pervades hamlet from the introductory part of the play. the ghost of hamlet announces the notion of death and it costs.
- Analyzes how the ghost clarifies to hamlet that his soul is left wandering on earth because his murdered has been unpunished yet.
- Analyzes how hamlet's first soliloquy introduces the idea of suicide; he desired that his body dissolves and the self-slaughter not seen as a transgression.
- Analyzes how hamlet's hostility with death starts in his detection of yorick’s skull and his concern with the physicality of death.
- Analyzes how hamlet's soliloquy examines the moral legitimacy of suicide. he compares death to sleep to comprise the opportunity of dreaming, where the dreams in the sleep may be daunting and harmful on the person.
- Analyzes how socrates in apology explains that death is an unknown thing. men should not fear from something they don't know about.
- Explains that death is an honourable duty for socrates. he obstinately claimed that he will not change his action or philosophy, but chose death several times and continued true to his spirit and personality.
- Explains that if there is no consciousness but only a dreamless sleep, death must be marvellous gain. the first explanation of the meaning of death is the non-existent or annihilation.
- Explains that socrates believed that there is only one place where the dead go to but we think logically there might be different places where souls after death.
- Concludes that the idea of death in hamlet was different from that in apology by plato. death for socrates is the nonexistence or the transmigration of the soul to another place.
1315 wordsRead More - The Apology and Critoopinion essayIn today’s society, no man can be sentence to die because he speaks out his mind, everyone is entitle to freedom of speech. If Socrates were alive today, he would have being able to express his mind with out being sentence to die.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how plato's "apology" gives the substance of the defense made by socrates to the athenians at his trial.
- Opines that socrates' defense at his trial was not strong enough to convince the athenians to set him free of all charges.
- Explains that socrates was wise men, who question everything, and was found to be the wise man in athens by the oracle.
- Opines that if socrates were alive today, he would have been able to express his mind without being sentenced to die.
- Analyzes how socrates' friend crito refuses to help him escape when he was sentenced to death. he explains to him that escaping would be running away his whole life.
- Opines that socrates made a wise decision by complying with the sentence order by athenians, and stood up for what he believed in.
345 wordsRead More - Philosophies Relationship to Deathanalytical essay... and an option in life’s trials. In "Phaedo," Socrates deals with the question of what is after death rather than death itself. The soul, he says, continues after the body dies, so in what situation it continues becomes an important question in life. If our souls are to continue after we die, we must be quite concerned with them during life. Life may be, in fact, what distinguishes the situation our souls are put into after death and we may be able to alter the outlook for our souls if we act more wisely. As this possibility exists, it seems only reasonable to do for our souls as much as possible during life. If, in fact, there is no after life for our souls then we have lost nothing in being prepared. Philosophies relationship to death is, as such, in revealing the questions and possibilities of death so as to allow for decisions to be made accordingly during life.
In this essay, the author
- Compares socrates' knowledge of death and belief in a soul in plato's "apology" and "phaedo."
- Analyzes how socrates chose the possibility of good rather than the inevitability of evil in "phaedo."
- Analyzes how socrates argues that death does not destroy the soul, which exists in an incomprehensible form before we are born and remains after we die.
- Analyzes how socrates' ideas in "phaedo" and "apology" help explain philosophies proper relationship to death.
- Analyzes how socrates uses death as an end to life and the step before the unknown. in "phaedo," he deals with the question of what is after death rather than death itself.
974 wordsRead More - Comparing D. Ciraulo's On The Trail And Death Of Socratesanalytical essayD.J Ciraulo, “On the Trail and Death of Socrates” which is chapter one is based on an Apology. Chapter one has a main charter named Plato. The author says, “Plato style of thinking and questioning is not only relevant to the beginning of science and politics, but is foundational to the next two thousand years of theology” (Ciraulo3). Plato explains the logical thought of death and which it stands at, what is human death? How can we determine that it has occurred? In the Introduction it quotes, that death is the defining condition of our humanity and How so? (Ciraulo ix). This chapter from Plato point of view he’s sees things his way. He informs the reader about the sciencefic thoughts but he doesn’t agree with everything. Plato was
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes ciraulo's "on the trail and death of socrates" which is based on an apology. plato explains the logical thought of death and which it stands at.
164 wordsRead More - Four Arguments For The World Of Life In Plato's Phaedoanalytical essayIn the book Plato 's Phaedo, Socrates argues that the soul will continue to exist, and that it will go on to a better place. The argument begins on the day of Socrates execution with the question of whether it is good or bad to die. In other words, he is arguing that the soul is immortal and indestructible. This argument is contrary to Cebes and Simmias beliefs who argue that even the soul is long lasting, it is not immortal and it is destroyed when the body dies. This paper is going to focus on Socrates four arguments for the soul 's immortality. The four arguments are the Opposite argument, the theory of recollection, the affinity argument, and the argument from form of life. As the body is mortal and is subject to physical death, the soul
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes plato's phaedo, where socrates argues that the soul will continue to exist and go on to a better place.
- Explains that the first idea of immortality of the soul can be seen in the argument of souls from opposites.
- Analyzes how plato defines death in phaedo by saying the separation of the soul is from the body.
- Analyzes how dualism maintains a firm distinction between the realms of mind and matter and associated it with material substance, and material pleasures. plato concludes that the body is an obstacle of knowledge.
- Explains that plato's theory of forms is the most important philosophical aspect of the phaedo.
- Explains that when we say an object is equal to another, we mean they are equal in some respect. equality is between objects with the ideas of equality first.
- Explains plato's theory of the recollection, which is when a person upon seeing something becomes conscious of it, but also of something else. we get this knowledge from seeing particular things which are different from forms and absolute qualities.
- Explains that we cannot gain these concepts of perfect objects from any experience, but had to have them before all experiences.
- Explains that the affinity argument is intended to establish only the probability of the soul’s continued existence after the death.
- Analyzes socrates' response to cebes' argument that the body might harm the soul or cause it to be destroyed over time. forms are "ideas" but are also causes of things in the world.
- Concludes that socrates provided the four arguments that opposites come from opposite, life and death depend upon each other, learning is recollection, and knowledge of the forms occurs before sensations. plato believes the body pollutes the soul.
1217 wordsRead More - Philosophy Of Socratesanalytical essayPhilosophers like Socrates had a huge impact on philosophers during that time as well as the philosophers today. During the Periclean Age, he was in Athens teaching philosophy of life to the people on the streets who cared enough to listen. The philosophy of Socrates mainly was the responsibility of people's moral attitudes. The teachings of Socrates were found to be understanding of life, recognizing the truth and speaking of the components that were used to a successful life. The teachings of his philosophy weren't appreciated much by the public in which he was sent to the trial with charges against him for his teachings towards the youth. It is very shocking to learn that the charges against him were the interference with the youth and unbelieving
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes socrates' impact on philosophers during the periclean age and the philosophy of today.
- Explains socrates' philosophy of knowledge, goodness, and virtuous. he believed that actual knowledge came from the whole as one.
- Analyzes how socrates urges people to find the true value of life by examining and investigating the reason of human life, the purpose we hold as a human being.
- Explains that socrates' primary goal is to show his point of view correctly and prove he is not innocent and to disprove the wrongdoing.
- Opines that socrates philosophy gives them a lot of understanding of knowledge and how it can affect our daily lives. they can use his theories in their field by uplifting knowledge as their power to get their higher education and getting their degree in nursing.
- Concludes that knowledge is the most important power anyone can hold as it's the inescapable result of moralistic understandings.
975 wordsRead More - An Analysis Of The Stratagem Of Socratesanalytical essayThe Stratagem of Socrates An Analysis of What Makes Socrates an Intriguing Person What is the definite definition of justice? Cephalus would have argued it is paying what is owed. Polemarchus would have said it’s giving good to the good people and giving evil to your enemies. Thrasymachus would have said it’s nothing else than the interest of the stronger. Although Socrates would have said that justice is what gives you the advantage to be just and what gives you the disadvantage to be unjust.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that socrates' thinking in republic 1 and 2 is an eclectic representation of the ethical demands in ancient athens.
- Analyzes how socrates never has a set mind or knowledge based system. he has had numerous arguments with some of the smartest and most talented men in athens, but he always ends up on the higher bar.
- Analyzes how socrates' background makes him an alluring person. he was a stonemason, sculptor, and philosopher, but his un-wealth was seen only through the eyes of society, not through followers.
- Analyzes how socrates was a very unconventional teacher. he taught his students to question everything in life, and search diligently for the answers.
- Explains that socrates was one of the most influential thinkers in the 5th century. he dedicated himself to careful reasoning, which transformed the entire idea of reasoning.
1026 wordsRead More - Last Days Of Socratesanalytical essayThe Last Days of Socrates Plato. The Last Days of Socrates. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 1993 Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how plato's writings, "euthyphro", "the apology," "crito," and "pheado" helped the general population of athens understand socrates' death.
- Analyzes how plato allows the modern reader a glimpse into athenian culture. family loyalty is considered more important than the laws of the country.
- Analyzes how plato explains why socrates accepted the death penalty from the athenian court. he wanted him to be seen in a positive, glorified light.
- Analyzes how socrates' confusion about the charges of impiety in "euthyphro" shows that holiness is hard to define; therefore, it is difficult to understand what actions can be considered holy or unholy.
- Analyzes how plato's main purpose is served by implying that the jury was dealing with preconceptions when it came to judging socrates fairly.
- Analyzes how socrates refused to escape, even when begged* to do so, because of his firm support for justice and his loyalty to the city of athens.
- Analyzes the relationship between individual and state in plato's last days of socrates, which is a crossover into an idea understood by all cultures.
- Opines that plato's writings did change the athenians' poor view of socrates to one that has made him a well-respected figure in history.
2263 wordsRead More