Socrates Private Life Analysis

Socrates chose to philosophize for pleasure but was directed to live a private life in order to do this. Philosophizing, or arguing an idea in terms of one’s philosophical theory, is not much an act of the concealed. Likewise, being a philosopher does not happen for those who are concealed. While some believe Socrates’ life would have been better off lived privately, living a private life is contradictory to maintaining the life of a philosopher. Even though some might say Socrates would have had an easier life if he chose to live privately, this would have been unsatisfying to Socrates for, morally, that was not how he wanted to live. To philosophize privately would mean going with what others want without any insertion of one’s own opinion. …show more content…
To be a true philosopher one must not only have their ideas but also offer their views on theories for thoughtful questions in ethics. This does not leave any room for letting others choose one’s own opinion. Although that did not stop the accusers of Socrates from believing his ideas were faulty and corrupted the youth. During Socrates’ trial, Socrates pointed out, “So it turns out all Athenians except for me make people the right sort of people, and I alone corrupt them,” (Plato 25a). That is, those who opposed Socrates’ viewpoint believed Socrates was the only one at fault. Socrates followed up with an example saying, “there’s some one person who is able to make them better, or very few people … but most people corrupt horses,” (Plato 25a). In other words, Socrates is saying that he is the one who is able to make the youth, or anyone, better considering Socrates is the wisest. The accusers believe they know what is best for everyone which, in fact, only proves they know nothing. The ignorance of those in power seemed to be what led the society to the faults they struggled with in Socrates