Socrates was a well-known philosopher in Ancient Greek who was named the father of Western philosophy. Yet, the counselors and state jurors did not believe that Socrates was the knowledgeable man that the city of Athens claims that he is. Therefore, the state accused Socrates for depraving the youth of Athens, as well as creating new gods that were not recognized by the state. In the Apology, one can understand that it was not much of an apology or an acknowledgment of offense. Later on, Socrates is sentenced to death and later writes Crito, where his friend Crito endeavors to convince Socrates to escape his jail cell. Yet, Socrates’ actions in Crito are not so consistent with the dialogue that is found in the Apology. In the Apology Socrates …show more content…
For example, whenever he exchanged answers with The Laws it was an “you’re wrong,” where as it when it came to Critos it was an, “I can’t.” Socrates demonstrates that the conversation that each situation differed was that one was with an audience he could trust and one that he could not. Socrates had demonstrated The Laws that were unjust and had to come up with some “smart” way to get him behind bars because he recognized that both sides knew nothing, including him. He explains to them that their wisdom should be classified more as ignorance because all that Socrates has ever tried to do was to help the citizens of Athens. His goal was to influence the community on how one can live a more valuable life by listening to the truth rather than falsely accusations stated by the …show more content…
Because even though each action action he took predicted his future, he took into consideration everything that would happen after he opens his mouth. Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” And even though the result came down to Socrates being placed onto death row, he knew that everything that had occurred and that will happen was because God had planned it. He chose to live a life in which was just and righteous all the way to the end. Socrates understood that the only truth and wisdom could only come from one person and that was God. As stated before, Socrates explained that human wisdom was worth nothing and the wisest of all was God. That God was before all and knew everything before anything was created at all. And that all wisdom rebounds back to him. “ With God is wisdom and might; He hath counsel and understanding. ” ( American Standard Version, Job
Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own but rather aimed at bringing out the worst in his interlocutors.
The first sets of charges against Socrates are from Plato 19a-24a where the early accusers accused Socrates of being a physicalist and sophist. These charges in truth were false and were not placed against him. The next sets of charges against Socrates were specific charges found in Plato 24b-28a. These charges were made by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. The accused charges Socrates was acquitted guilty for were corruption of the youth, and impiety. For these charges Meletus demanded death penalty which Socrates received at the end of the trial. Socrates was guilty for corrupting the youth not in a bad way but a good way. He corrupted the youth by educated them and trying to keep them out of trouble and the bad of the community. Yet on the other hand Socrates was not guilty for being impiety. Socrates says “ I do not have the leisure to engage in public affairs to any extent, not indeed to look after my own, but I like in great poverty because my service to the gods” (23b). Therefore making Socrates not guilty of being
In reply to the first charge against him, Socrates effectively recounted the reason that he had been privately questioning Athenians and claiming that some of their personal beliefs had been ill-founded. The affidavit read, “Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others.” (Plato, 2) The abstractness of that accusation made it an odd one to refute, so Socrates attempted to do so by explaining how he became unpopular with his accusers.
For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very friendly manner. He explains that he has no experience with the court of law and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he feels most comfortable: honesty. Socrates realized that he must be wiser than other men because he admits that he knows nothing. Socrates explains that he considered it his duty to questions about the “gods” and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities have earned him much admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the “gods”
Essay: A Discussion on whether or not I believe that Socrates’ views in the Crito contradict his views expressed in the Apology.
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. In Plato’s Apology, it seems that overall Socrates did an effective job using the 3 acts of the mind.
Socrates was not guilty as charged; he had done nothing wrong, as seen in the Apology. Not even a priest could tell Socrates what he had done wrong religiously, Euthyphro wasn’t even able to give Socrates a precise definition of piety. It is then questioned by Crito why Socrates would remain to face a penalty for a crime he did not commit. In the Crito, it is explained why, although innocent, Socrates must accept the penalties his peers have set upon him. It is his peers that will interpret and enforce the laws, not the law which will enforce it. Even if the enforcers don’t deserve attention and respect because they have no real knowledge to the situation, Socrates had put himself under their judgment by going to the trial. Therefore, Socrates must respect the decisions made by the masses because the decisions are made to represent the laws, which demand each citizen’s respect.
Throughout the readings of The Apology of Socrates and Crito I have found that Socrates was not a normal philosopher. It is the philosopher's intention to question everything, but Socrates' approach was different then most other philosophers. From one side of the road, Socrates can be seen as an insensitive, arrogant man. He did indeed undermine the laws so they fit his ideals, leave his family, and disregard the people's values. On the other side he can be seen as an ingenious man who questioned what many thought was the unquestionable. As he can be criticized for disregarding the many's ideals he can also be applauded for rising above the daily ways of popular thought. He questioned the laws that he thought were wrong and, to his death, never backed down in what he believed in. People may see that as stupidity or as heroism, the beauty of it is that either way people saw it, Socrates wouldn't care.
In the “normal” world many individuals would not use a trial to reaffirm their ideals or philosophy particularly if they life was on the line. In that analysis, I disagree with you because even that is seems a wrongful action for the “normal” world it was a normal behavior that goes in accordance with who was Socrates and what his philosophical ideas where. Socrates Apology was more than a reaffirmation of Socrates believes and views in my opinion it was an alibi to prove his innocence. In general, Socrates actions should be an inspiration to fight for what is Good and to him that was Virtue. For than we can say that Socrates was defending his
It is clear that Socrates in effect does associates with more than one of the three types of investigation. According to Plato’s elaboration on Socrates trial antiquity. It illustrates Socrates demonstrates of the fact that the truth can be found. Therefore, among the tri-partite Socrates is undeniably superlatively allied with the Academic skeptic and dogmatic philosophy system. The dogmatic which claim the truth can be found, in contrast, to the Academic skeptic which believe in knowledge is impossible to find, allied with the Socrates apology. Socrates in his introduction before the men of Athens, he explains that this is his first time in a lawcourt. He also clarify how he is merely an outsider to the custom of speaking in the court. He exemplified his lack of knowledge in the court of law, while, he will execute his speaking in the way he is familiarized with. Which he furthermore explain that he will do with candidness and straightforwardness. Socrates cites, “To concentrate your attention on whether what I say is just or not, for the excellence of a judge lies in this, as that of a speaker lies in telling the truth” (Cooper, 23). Socrates allude to this quote to illustrate his obligation to tell the truth and being justified. He explains a judge is credited by him concentrating his attention on whether someone who is being prosecuted is just or not. In like manner, as that of a speaker which he
Socrates is at the age of seventy and appearing in a law court for the first time. For the people of Socrates time is accusing Socrates, for miss leading the youth corrupting them and boasting about being wise, causing him to become very unpopular. Socrates says to the jury I am going to speak the whole truth, for it is me by myself that I have to defend. He says my accusers are many and I don’t know them, they say, “you should be careful not be deceived by an accomplished speaker like me” (Cohen, Curd, & Reeve, 2000). The accuser goes on to say that Socrates is accomplished speaker; Socrates starts to praise them, because their lies are so good well put together, that Socrates himself is almost convinced but then he says that they do not speak the truth.
This is because the Oracle at Delphi said that no one was wiser than Socrates. He initially does not agree with the Oracles’ statement and enters on a quest to search for someone whom can prove to be much wiser than himself. Through this process he then realizes that the Oracle’s statement was actually correct, because he found in every person that they believed to know about things in which they did not. For example, Meno believed that he knew about virtue when in fact he did not. This ended up being the situation for everyone that Socrates encountered, and due to this Socrates realized that he was the wisest because he did not pretend to know about things in which he did
Socrates on the other hand, was self thought and believed that he was wise enough to know that he could be ignorant at times. Unlike the sophists, he was not rich and did not ask for fines to teach people of this wisdom he had learnt. He was an orator, a great orator at that but according to the dialogue in Plato’s Apology (1.17c) he was not the kind of man who would talk in a formal tone as he was used to talking in common places. Socrates also saw himself as a god sent to open the eyes of the people to see what they had not learned.
Plato’s Apology gives insight to the thoughts and workings of the brilliant mind of Socrates. Everything we know about the philosopher is through the writings and works of his students and followers (Dean, 2014). The Apology is Plato’s version of the speech Socrates gave when he was put on trial. This important piece of literature demonstrates the skill that Socrates possessed in rhetoric, examination, and improvised speech which aided him in disproving the accusations made against him.
Interestingly about the work of Socrates is that its not known very well, since nothing was recorded during his time. Everything that we know about Socrates has come through the writings of his greatest pupil, Plato. Socrates was a man that revolutionized philosophy and how to approach his surroundings. One of Socrates greatest findings as a philosopher was that he admitted that he knew nothing, which to others, specifically the Delphic Oracle led them to believe that there were none wiser than Socrates. Socrates techniques as a philosopher came about with his abilities to question others. His line of questioning, to see why everything had a purpose drew a crowd of younger people, which leads us to The Republic, where Socrates encounters some questions for him.