The Modern Language In Plato's The Apology

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Plato’s The Apology is a hand-written recording of Socrates’ speech made at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the “gods” that are recognized by the state. Therefore, he is corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates' speech, however, does not really mean an "apology" in terms of the modern language. The name “Apology” is a Greek word for "apologia," which means “defense”. And so in The Apology, Socrates attempts to defend himself and certainly did not mean to apologize for what he believes. 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” …show more content…

The metaphor is meant to show the effects of human education. In this metaphor, Socrates describes a dark scene. A group of people who lived in a cave and has never saw the light of day. These people cannot look behind them nor beside them, but can only look straight ahead. Socrates described these people as prisoners. Behind the prisoners, there is a fire and statues. The statues represent the manipulation by another group of people. These people are the ones that considered themselves as “gods”. Because of the fire, the statues cast shadows across the wall of the cave in which the prisoner is facing. These shadows are all they ever get to see, they believe them to be the only things in their world even though there’s a whole other world outside of the cave. These prisoners represent the lowest stage

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