Socrates Teacher Essay

Socrates then gives basis for more argument regarding the paradox, and why he does this will also be examined. The initial argument takes place when Socrates challenges Meno to define virtue. Meno does not realize here what he has started. Meno has before inquired whether virtue is a quality that can be taught or if it is a natural trait, that men are born with. Socrates, in method true to form, twists the question and re-poses it to Meno to see if Meno can answer it all on his own.

This great man valued the law over his life, and so he chose to drank hemlock over leaving. Socrates is best remembered for his courage and strong moral beliefs which manifested themselves in his lifestyle. Although Socrates did not dwell much on the heavenly bodies, his beliefs that searching could bring about understanding of the world and humans in it laid a foundation that is still very much a part of modern science. In the course of Western Civilization, there have been two trials ending in a sentence of death imposed upon two individuals later deemed grossly unfair and unjust by the verdict of history. One trial was that of Jesus Christ, the other that of Socrates it was Jesus' destiny, and It was Socrates' choice.

He may not know he has it even when he gets it.” Seeing how hopeless Meno is, Socrates propose the theory of recollection as a way to obtain virtue. This paper will argue against this theory. Meno is the first dialogue that does not specify the setting where it takes place. It starts out with Meno’s question, “is virtue something acquired by teaching?” After a few discussions,

Throughout this paper, I argued that Socrates is a martyr, because he spent his entire life preparing for death and explained to his friends that there is nothing to fear about death, because, in the end, our souls will live on. Ultimately, Socrates takes the poison earlier than necessary, not to commit suicide, but rather in light of his friends. He did this so that they could understand that dying really means our soul continues on to live. I found Socrates’ martyrdom very inspiring and worthy of praise. For someone to die for the sake of someone else displays true character.

Socrates implies at the beginning of his speech that his fate is doomed because the people who judge him believe in the persuasive falsehoods and won’t be willing to listen to the truth. The death of Socrates also reveals the internal fallacy in Athenian democracy. The consequence of a recalcitrant philosophy stands against the whole city is written, because the gulf between the belief of the society and the philosophy is impassible. Socrates’s way of living seems to be unreasonable for most people, and as the same time is not suitable for the proper operation of society which doesn’t want civilians to question the essence of life. However, Socrates shifts the focus of philosophy from the heaven to the earth.

Some of those can include being the first martyr to die for his philosophical beliefs and having the courage to challenge indoctrinated cultural norms is part of what made Socrates exceptional. His refusal to compromise his intellectual integrity in the face of a death sentence has set an example for the entire world to follow. It is these concepts in combination that contribute to the tragedy in the trail and death of Socrates. Although, the trial and death of Socrates has many components that are thought provoking and important to the tale of Socrates, it is the apology that is my own favorite in capturing Plato’s true character and therefore the impending paper is mainly evaluating the events and occurrences of that particular section of the trial and death of Socrates. Having read and analyzed “the trial and death’ of Socrates, it is apparent that Socrates was an exceptional man with an equally unique and exceptional mind.

Socrates used oral arguing to cross-examine people, asking them to define an idea or concept and through argument, improve their answer to give a better definition and thus gain wisdom; this was called the Socratic Method. Socrates used to argue concepts such as wisdom, justice, virtue and love. Plato supported Socrates ideas but criticized his work. He supported Socrates because he wasn’t biased and didn’t conceal the issues at hand: But, Plato criticized Socrates work because Socrates believed that during the “reincarnation of an eternal soul which contained all knowledge, we lose touch wit... ... middle of paper ... ...13. Web.

E. He wrote none of his thoughts down. The information we have about him today comes from one of his students, his best, Plato. He recorded several of the dialogs he had with Socrates and put them in a book. F. His main... ... middle of paper ... ...le he was in prison. They had actually devised an escape plan, and also a guard "forgot" to lock the door, but Socrates said he wanted to comply with the law and die for his reason, cause, and beliefs.

Socrates continued to ask Protagoras questions, that was until Protagoras could no longer answer the questions, he gave up and realized that in the argument he turned into the answerer. This is probably due to the fact that Socrates wanted the answers, and who else go to for those answers than

(2) Thus, we stumble upon a problem: how should we read these passages on education? Does Plato mean for us to rea... ... middle of paper ... ...l 1988) 214-231. (10) by undesirable, I mean that Socrates wants to prohibit the guardians from even considering something contrary to the ideal for fear that they may be corrupted. (11) Werner Jaeger, Paideia: The Ideals of Greek Culture (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1943), 294. (12) Again, this is just the sort of response we see in Glaucon when Socrates begins the analogy of the cave (515a).