The most authentic, valid, and useable record that has been kept protected and unspoiled of Socrates’ defense of himself is the Apology. While the words penned in the Apology were not documented at the time they were spoken, Plato was present at the trial and; therefore, the record documented in the Apology was the words and confrontations of Socrates as Plato remembered them. However, one should put in mind that Plato was an admirer of Socrates and believed he is the true hero; in addition, he was still a student. Therefore, he may have been biased, in favor of Socrates, in the Apology. The Apology’s main focus is on Socrates’ responses to the different charges which are leveled against him by different accusers.…
In the “Apology” Socrates is on trial for crimes he has not committed. Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul. For a person such as Socrates that has lived virtuously there no reason for them to fear death. Socrates makes the argument that one should not fear death because only the gods know what is beyond death,because death could be a blessing. According to Socrates, “I had at the risk of death, like anyone else, remained at my post where those you had elected to command had ordered me, and then, when the god ordered me, as I thought and believed, to live the life as a philosopher, to examine myself and others,…
Socrates in Apology In the Apology, Socrates presents an argument for his belief in the Greek gods to invalidate Meletus’ assertion that Socrates is an atheist, which therefore means his teachings corrupt the youth (26b). Socrates’ argument is valid through philosophical logic yet as we will find, his argument is not sound. There are also revisions to Meletus’ claims which will be presented as it will display a stronger argument in favor of Socrates’ atheism.…
‘The Apology’ by Plato was about Socrates’ trial. Socrates at the age of seventy he had been convicted for breaking the law against ‘impiety’. This was for offending the Olympian gods (Zeus, Apollo and the rest of them) recognized in the city and occasions (17). Socrates was allowed to defend himself but haters would not listen to his ideas. Socrates believed in speaking the truth, which was his true character and was revealed.…
In 399 B.C.E. Socrates, accused of corrupting the youth and “making the weaker argument defeat the stronger” (Plato), faced the furious Athenian jury. During his trial/apology Socrates explained his perspective, stating that he was no fool because he was aware that he knew nothing “I am wiser than this man; neither of us probably knows anything…, but he thinks he has knowledge, when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think I have” (Plato). As written by Plato, Socrates’ “apology” is no real apology, as Socrates simply brings attention to his argument, while at the same time exposing the weaknesses of the accusations brought up against him. Submerged in his disgust of greed and corruption Socrates sets out to find the “wise ones” but in the process ends up exposing the highly respected yet selfish members of the society. In his interviews Socrates asked questions that made his subjects feel insecure and exposed, but even though his so called interviews made him unpopular Socrates believed it to be his responsibility to “expose the frailty in human nature” (Plato).…
This quote helps to illustrate the fact that although Socrates was found guilty, it was not because he gave a bad defense, but rather because of the sheer numbers of people who were against him from the beginning. It is also important to remember that Plato’s “Apology” was written as witnessed by Plato. Because of this we do not actually know what Socrates truly said, or whether Plato’s account of the Trial is completely accurate. However, it is generally believed that the “Apology” was written not long after the event, and many Athenians would remember the actual speech, thus it would be ineffective if Plato, whose goal was to prove Socrates innocence, tried vindicating his master by putting a different speech into his mouth. In addition, Aristophanes’ “Clouds” would have been more engaging and likely to impact the Athenians, and since it was written as well as performed before Socrates’ trial, it is likely the jury held biased opinions against Socrates and that nothing he said would have likely vindicated…
Pain and Gain: The Relationship between the Philosopher and the City In 1920, Warren G. Harding won the presidential election with the slogan “Return to Normalcy” (“Presidential Campaign Slogans” 1). Although referring to returning to the life style before the horrid World War I, Harding’s campaign highlights an interesting point: People resist change. In the Apology of Socrates, Socrates strongly challenges the city through philosophy, but in Crito, he submits to the laws of the city because it is ultimately the just thing to do. Because Socrates challenges the laws, he is sentenced to death, so it is not easy for Socrates to be a philosopher. In addition, Athens has a difficult reaction to philosophy.…
Plato portrays Socrates as the ideal philosopher, wise, with a curious mind and arrogant. In The Apology Plato tries to portray Socrates like the person he was. Some of the characteristic that I found in Socrates after reading The Apology was that he was arrogant and a proud person. In The Apology when Plato writes, “I lacked not words but boldness and shamelessness and the willingness to say to you what you would most gladly have heard from me” (Pg.12[39ed]). We can tell Socrates was a proud person.…
Set during the socratic age of philosophy, The Apology by Plato chronicles the trial of Socrates on the charges of corruption of youth and not believing in the Gods. Plato, a young follower and apprentice of Socrates, documents the trial in its’ entirety from beginning to the unfortunate end in which Socrates is sentenced to death. The Apology is the trial of Socrates on a very basic and literal level but upon further inspection, one comes to realize that not only the philosopher is on trial but philosophy itself. Throughout the piece, Socrates attempts to convince the jury of philosophy’s worth and also criticize the condition of man. Furthermore, the recounting of the trial is also a protest of the hypocrisy within the Greek society that…
From the perspective of an Athenian on the day of trial, Socrates was guilty as charged. However, Socrates was rather a thorn in the flesh to politicians and the aristocrats and charges of impiety and corrupting the youth was meant to tame his philosophical influence to the younger aristocrats including Plato-the writer of apology. However, through Plato, the writer of apology, the effect of Socrates’ philosophical thoughts reveals the rot in the Greek democracy. His…
One of Socrates childhood friends, Crito, tried to persuade Socrates to getaway before his trial began. Socrates replied that he “listens to nothing … but the argument that on reflection seems best” and that “neither to do wrong or to return a wrong is ever right, not even to injure in return for an injury received” (Crito 46b, 49d), not even under threat of death (Apology 32a), not even for one’s family (Crito 54b). Words like these, according to the judge, proved that he was a corrupter of the young because of the shame brought onto his family and friends. The word choice/confidence used by Socrates to never listen to others advice but to advice unlawfully proved this to be an accusation. He encouraged his friends and even others to follow the path that he himself has chosen.…
In the Apology of Socrates there is not real evidence of true impiety for the Athenian government, but Socrates does put forth feelings of arrogance and self-confidence within himself and his beliefs. Throughout Socrates’ trial he hardly questions anyone which would be seen in a traditional trial, he often goes on tangents and laments about the injustices of the world in large words that perhaps many of the people there did not understand which leads to him being seen as impious and rejecting traditional Athenian values. In the beginning of his trial Socrates talks about how he had never been to court in his more than seventy years of life, and that because he wasn’t accustomed to their language he would talk in the language he had learned,…
Every human being has the ability to decide what they believe and what they do not. At a very early age, we develop judgement that allows us to choose whether or not to accept certain claims. These assertions may be tempting, but our reasoning allows us to critically analyze the information with respect to all of our previous knowledge. These claims may be faith based, fact-based, or opinion. Without recognizing it, we take every bit of information we gather, analyze it, and decide whether we accept its validity.…
Wentz, “ In the Apology Socrates is represented as condoning disobedience. First (29d) he states that he would “never stop practicing philosophy” even if so ordered by the jury at his trail. Second (32 c-d) Socrates proudly tells of his disobedience to the Thirty Commissioners when they ordered him to go to Salamis to get Leon. Thus, there is at least apparent inconsistency between the Apology and the Crito on the question of disobeying the law. ”(Wentz).…
‘The Apology’ written by Socrates most famous student Plato, is a Socrates dialogue where he is defending himself from the accusations of corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods of Athens. He tells the court that these accusations are false and he does believe in the gods of Athens. He also tells them that he did not corrupt the youth, in fact the youth followed him on their own free will. According to Socrates the problem was that people who called themselves wise were not actually very wise, their knowledge was based on ignorance thinking that they were wise and he wanted to help them see that true knowledge was knowing nothing rather than believing that they know everything. As philosophy is based on questioning everything,…