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comparing and contrasting socrates and plato
comparing and contrasting socrates and plato
the philosophy of socrates
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To question what no man has questioned before, that is a credo which we seemingly impose upon Socrates looking back upon his life. The philosopher Socrates is a commonly known inquisitive character, and is mainly known of because of his trial in 399 B.C.E. (2) But was Socrates really everything we know him as today? Or have the lines between the real Socrates and the Socrates of Aristophanes, Plato and Xenophon been so blurred that we do not know who the real man is. When one initially learns of Socrates through Plato one gets an upstanding view of the philosopher, while when viewing Socrates through the writings of Aristophanes one finds him a crude purveyor of the children. Regardless of which view one takes upon the Socratic question – Who's view is most accurate to Socrates, if any or are all of the authors using him simply as a mouthpiece for their own views (1) – it is easy to see why Socrates has been the hero of intellectuals the world over since before his execution. The life and philosophy of a philosopher cannot be pulled from each other, they are intertwined and can be better understood if one understands both halves of the equation.
Socrates was born to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete in 469 B.C.E he was raised in Athens and was given an elementary education. Around 450 B.C.E. He was trained in military arts which eventually got to put to use in the time frame between the years 431 and 424 in battles against Sparta. From then on most of Socrates' life was dedicated to observing the world around him and notably he did not view himself as a teacher, instead he saw himself as one who helps others to reach an enlightened understanding of their lives. He did not believe in teaching in the conventional sense which was to simp...
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...der, Douglas. "The Trial of Socrates." UMKC School of Law. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. .
Discusses the Trial of Socrates. Reliable as it has information that is cross referential with other sources. Significant in its discussion of Accusors and Legitimate in that it is from a site designed for a Law School.
4. Rowe, Christopher. "The Uses and Disadvantages of Socrates." Durham University. Web. 02 Dec. 2009. .
Discusses the relevance of Socrates and his methods. University Professor Lecture Abstract, so yes, it is Legitimate and has Reliable information. Significance, helps question what is important about Socrates.
5. Plato. The Apology. Clearly important, clearly legitimate, and if it isn't reliable I shouldn't be writing a paper about Socrates.
In today’s society, Socrates' way of argument, referred to as the ‘sting ray’ method, is used by...
In this paper, I will argue that Socrates does not typically benefit those that he cross-examines, but that his activity is nonetheless useful and justified. I will argue that Socrates’ cross-examinations are justified and useful because it is a divine mission and because it develops critical thinking skills. I will argue my thesis by first, using The Apology and Euthyphro dialogues to show the usefulness and justification of Socrates’ elenchus. Second, I will suggest objections to the reasons why Socrates’ elenchus is useful and justified. Finally, I will give my rebuttal to the objections against Socrates’ elenchus.
Look into the eyes of the bust of Socrates and you can almost see what he saw in the universe. It looks as though his wisdom is unsurmountable, as he did believe himself to be the most brilliant man in the universe, while also knowing for sure: the only thing he knows is that he doesn’t know anything. Unlike the famous Kouros statues that were all alike and used for a certain purpose of a grave maker, or shrine to the gods, the portrait of Socrates shows depth and importance. During the classical period it became increasingly common for Greek sculptures to depict more realistic forms. The portrait of Socrates details a man who was not afraid to ask hard questions, it also puts across the point that he may have been revered and feared as well by the Greeks. His statue was created twenty years after his death. For a man who was accused of corrupting the youth, and executed for it, one might question why then did someone find this man to be deserving of a statue? Did the Greeks begin to side with his ideas and theories after a low point in their victories? Perhaps the views of the sophists were beginning to surpass the previous views of Greek culture. This sculpture may have been the Apotheosis of Socrates’ career, a way to elevate him to a trailblazer status during a period when the gods were being pushed from explanation of cause in the lives of the Greeks.
(1) www.philosophyprofessor.com/. “Philosophies & Philosophers” October 1, 2008 Path: Library; The Trial and Death of Socrates. 1
As an aside, I would like to note that, though I believe that a further objection could be made to Socrates conclusions in “The Philosopher's Defense”, due to space considerations, I didn't write the fourth section “Failure of the Philosopher's Defense”.
Soccio, Douglas J. "The Trial and Death of Socrates." Archetypes of Wisdom. 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2007. 124. Print.
Recognized as one of the classical Greek Athenian philosophers who founded Western philosophy, Socrates was a mysterious figure known essentially through the accounts of later classical writers, especially from writings of his students Xenophon and the most popular Plato. Through Plato’s dialogues, Socrates has been portrayed and renowned for his involvement in the field of moral principles, and by this the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic Method had come about. With Socrates’ pedagogy, a series of questions can be asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to persuade deep-seated insights into the real issues at hand. His result remains a frequently used tool in a broad series of discussions.
Cairns, Huntington, and Hamilton, Edith. The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Socrates Defense (Apology).Library of Congress Catalogue, Nineteenth printing, May 2010
Plato. The Trial and Death of Socrates. Trans. G.M.A. Grube. Cambridge : Hackett Publishing Company, 1975.
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 act of the mind of Judgment is can be very controversial. The main points under review with this act are was Socrates a corrupter or an improver? And was Socrates an atheist. In my opinion Socrates does a good job of using judgment to rebut his charges. Judgment is very hard to use as valid reasoning. Everyone has there own judgments about everything. How does one know i...
Socrates was a man that was in search of the truth about wisdom. However, it became more than just a simple search, rather it tuned into a complex assignment where the answer of true wisdom leads Socrates to be brought up on charges of corrupting society. As a philosopher Socrates is known to take every angle of an argument and to never put belief into one idea. Therefore Socrates was known to perplex even simple ideas and to frustrate his opponent. People who have experienced this accuse Socrates of making his own truths about the natural and unnatural world when in actuality he his still in search of a better meaning. This becomes a key factor in the "Apology" where Socrates is brought up on charges for corrupting the mind of the youths and the people that attended to his lectures. His best defence comes about when he tells the Athenian jury about his account of a confrontation of his friend Chairephon and the Oracle of Delphi.
Socrates was a very important philosopher. He usually questioned a lot about traditions, religion and government. One of his ideas, now used at school, is the Socratic Method. This is that a person asks questions to the pupil, and while the pupil responds, the answer is becoming clearer. Socrates did not like to write any books. He always preferred staying at the market talking and questioning people, than staying at home writing books. He was very controversial, an...
Socrates was a wise man who realized that life was not something that could be easily understood. He knew that questioning life would lead to a stronger conception of life and reality. When he stated that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato 45), he truly meant that without questioning life, one would not be truly living. Actions would have no understanding of being right or wrong. For Socrates, a man who believed that life should be based on what was right, there would be no greater wrongdoing.
By refusing to flee from his death sentence and drinking the hemlock without hesitation, Socrates displayed values and morals that we can still learn from today (Shivji). Some people even compare the life and death of Socrates to that of Jesus Christ. They both were unpaid teachers in their own way and they both accepted death with grace even though they were not criminals. Socrates not only continues to live on in a way that is influential in our personal lives, but his lessons have been adapted into our everyday life. Socrates’ Socratic method is used in a part of our modern day trials. It is the part of a trial where one side is able to ask the other questions in order to find out the truth, also known as cross-examination. Some psychotherapists also use it in order to determine the leading cause of their patient’s problem (Shivji). Lawyers and therapists, people we tend to go to for help, use this method of questioning exactly as Socrates did, but he was killed for it. Through the virtues, morals, and the Socratic method, Socrates was able to impact the daily lives of humans’ centuries after his