Socrates was a Greek philosopher; who life was recorded by his students such as Plato. He is one of the founders of philosophy and he is known for his “Socratic method”. Socrates had a curious mind and he always wondered things. He wanted to find how people should act. We can see this behavior in The Republic when he tries to find a definition for justice. Socrates practiced philosophy, therefore he was accused of “corrupting the young” and not believing in the “gods”, and he was sentenced to death. We also know that by this time Socrates was already an old man when Plato writes in The Apology “You see my age, that I am already advanced in years” (Pg.12[37d]). His speech on his trial was recorded by Plato in The Apology. We also get an insight
…show more content…
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. If he wanted to live he would have just said what the jury wanted to hear. The jury wanted to see Socrates embarrass himself and beg for forgiveness, but Socrates was too proud to do that. To make things worse then Socrates calls himself a gift from the gods when Plato writes, “That I am the kind of person to be a gift of the god to the city” (Pg.8[31b]). This only show how arrogant he was. When you start calling yourself a gift from god it shows you are not humble and that you love yourself too much. When Socrates said he was a gift it only provoked the jury and didn’t help him at all. It shows how Socrates was fearless. He preferred death than to go to jail. Socrates was true to himself he knew he was going to go to be convicted when Plato writes, “There are many other reasons for my not being angry with you for convicting me, gentlemen of the jury, and what happened was not unexpected”. He was honest and …show more content…
He wanted to know what justice was, but he never gave his definition, instead he asked others and counter attacked this became known as the Socratic method. The Socratic method is more of investigation, and discovery, until you find the right definition. Socrates interest was to find answers and gain knowledge. In the Socratic method you can mold your answer and change perspective you’re always open to new ideas. Also from The Apology we know Socrates didn’t “charged fees” to share his knowledge. (19e-20a). The sophist of Athens such as Trasymachus had a very different method from Socrates. Their method was more like a contest they wanted to win and persuade you. You have your vision and no one will change it. They remind me of lawyers today who need to persuade the jury. Their interest was more in politics and winning. Unlike Socrates, sophist did accepted fees and we can see this in The Republic when Trasymachus didn’t wanted to give his definition of justice, until he got paid. (Pg. 34[337d]). Trasymachus knew Socrates method and he didn’t like it. We see this in The republic when he says, “your methods are clumsy” (Pg.36[338d]). This are just some of the interest and methodologies of Socrates and the sophist of
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. If he wanted to live he would have just said what the jury wanted to hear. The jury wanted to see Socrates embarrass himself and beg for forgiveness, but Socrates was too proud to do that. To make things worse then Socrates calls himself a gift from the gods when Plato writes, “That I am the kind of person to be a gift of the god to the city” (Pg.8[31b]). This only show how arrogant he was. When you start calling yourself a gift from god it shows you are not humble and that you love yourself too much. When Socrates said he was a gift it only provoked the jury and didn’t help him at all. It shows how Socrates was fearless. He preferred death than to go to jail. Socrates was true to himself he knew he was going to go to be convicted when Plato writes, “There are many other reasons for my not being angry with you for convicting me, gentlemen of the jury, and what happened was not unexpected”. He was honest and …show more content…
He wanted to know what justice was, but he never gave his definition, instead he asked others and counter attacked this became known as the Socratic method. The Socratic method is more of investigation, and discovery, until you find the right definition. Socrates interest was to find answers and gain knowledge. In the Socratic method you can mold your answer and change perspective you’re always open to new ideas. Also from The Apology we know Socrates didn’t “charged fees” to share his knowledge. (19e-20a). The sophist of Athens such as Trasymachus had a very different method from Socrates. Their method was more like a contest they wanted to win and persuade you. You have your vision and no one will change it. They remind me of lawyers today who need to persuade the jury. Their interest was more in politics and winning. Unlike Socrates, sophist did accepted fees and we can see this in The Republic when Trasymachus didn’t wanted to give his definition of justice, until he got paid. (Pg. 34[337d]). Trasymachus knew Socrates method and he didn’t like it. We see this in The republic when he says, “your methods are clumsy” (Pg.36[338d]). This are just some of the interest and methodologies of Socrates and the sophist of