How Did Socrates Corrupt Youth

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Socrates is known as the “father of Western philosophy”. In his teachings, he encouraged people to question life and not listen to what they were told. He inspired people to search for answers, and reject popular beliefs. Socrates was very inquisitive and had a method to help search for answers while educating his audience. Socrates used this approach when he was brought to trial. Because of his unconventional teachings, the dikasts (male jurors) charged Socrates with corrupting the youth and not believing in the state’s gods.
First, Socrates defended himself against the charge of corrupting the youth in Athens. Socrates explained he would be harming himself if he was intentionally corrupting the youth. Socrates was surrounding himself with …show more content…

Socrates argued against this by saying he is an atheist, but he listened to the oracle. The oracle told him to search for the truth. Therefore, he must believe in a god and not be an atheist. Socrates’s premises all led to the conclusion that he was innocent and the charges against him were false.

Socrates arguments were thought-provoking and had a strong defense. His premises are safe to accept given that Socrates had people question new ideas which gave him a negative reputation. The premises can help us reach a logical conclusion about his charges and if he was guilty or innocent. Although Socrates was a skilled debater, his argument has some weak points.
The major flaw in Socrates’ argument concerning when h. Socrates argued that the oracle was a god, therefore he did believe in a god. This does not fully support Socrates argument, since he was charged with believing in the “wrong gods”. Socrates may have been distracted by proving his innocence that he forgot what the charge was. Socrates tried to justify his position but did not do so …show more content…

This is believable since no one ever plans to be evil. People are born with a conscience to do what is right. I believe if Socrates did intentionally corrupt the youth he would have not argued so strongly about being innocent. Socrates claimed that even he did not know what was real, but that he was giving ideas on what is possible. Socrates also claimed that he couldn’t teach the youth, but instead had them think. Socrates knew that he did not have the answer to every question, but encouraged the youth to think at a higher level. This shows that he was not planning to commit a crime. A valid argument by Socrates was choosing the soul over the body. This means that the youth should not fall under the spell of the materialistic world. Socrates encouraged the youth to be the best they could be. He did not want them to be focused on physical possessions, but instead to have strong virtues. Socrates teachings were unconventional, but not

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