The Wisest Man to Know Nothing
(An Analysis of Socrates as an individual “Socrates was a Greek philosopher and is considered the father of western philosophy.” as described by Joshua J. Mark. Socrates clearly left an impression on the world considering most westerns know his name almost twenty-five hundred years after his execution. Yet, what could be so interesting and captivating about a philosopher that lived in Athens, Greece almost two thousand five hundred years ago. Socrates is a legendary figure within history and his lack of leaving any written records, military service and controversial execution make him intriguing. One of the most fascinating parts of Socrates is his lack of any self-written records. Debra Nails concludes that,“The Socratic problem is a rat 's nest of complexities arising from the fact that various people …show more content…
Richard Kraut furthers the point, in stating, “The impact of his life was all the greater because of the way in which it ended: at age 70, he was brought to trial on a charge of impiety and sentenced to death by poisoning (the poison probably being hemlock) by a jury of his fellow citizens.” Socrates was executed by a jury of his peers of Athens. Unsurprisingly, the most well-known record of this event was written by Plato, the work is known as “Apology”. Apology meaning its original definition, defense, rather than the modern understanding of the word. In Plato’s work Socrates is brought to trial on charges of atheism and corrupting the youth. He attempts to defend himself against such charges, however, in Plato’s “Apology” it seems as though he’s more focused on embarrassing his accusers. Even though the charges seem questionable at best Socrates is charged and sentenced to death by the people of Athens. He spends his last moments with his students before ingesting what is believed to be hemlock poison. A unique end to a
(An Analysis of Socrates as an individual “Socrates was a Greek philosopher and is considered the father of western philosophy.” as described by Joshua J. Mark. Socrates clearly left an impression on the world considering most westerns know his name almost twenty-five hundred years after his execution. Yet, what could be so interesting and captivating about a philosopher that lived in Athens, Greece almost two thousand five hundred years ago. Socrates is a legendary figure within history and his lack of leaving any written records, military service and controversial execution make him intriguing. One of the most fascinating parts of Socrates is his lack of any self-written records. Debra Nails concludes that,“The Socratic problem is a rat 's nest of complexities arising from the fact that various people …show more content…
Richard Kraut furthers the point, in stating, “The impact of his life was all the greater because of the way in which it ended: at age 70, he was brought to trial on a charge of impiety and sentenced to death by poisoning (the poison probably being hemlock) by a jury of his fellow citizens.” Socrates was executed by a jury of his peers of Athens. Unsurprisingly, the most well-known record of this event was written by Plato, the work is known as “Apology”. Apology meaning its original definition, defense, rather than the modern understanding of the word. In Plato’s work Socrates is brought to trial on charges of atheism and corrupting the youth. He attempts to defend himself against such charges, however, in Plato’s “Apology” it seems as though he’s more focused on embarrassing his accusers. Even though the charges seem questionable at best Socrates is charged and sentenced to death by the people of Athens. He spends his last moments with his students before ingesting what is believed to be hemlock poison. A unique end to a