Apology

Socrates has the capability to reverse roles in his own trial in order to further prove himself as a paradigm of virtue. Plato creates this Socratic irony through the image of Socrates as a gadfly on the rear of a horse, which represents Athens. Socrates begins this metaphor by saying that he is “far from making a defense speech on my [his] own behalf, as someone might suppose. I [Socrates] do it rather on your behalf, so that you do not do something wrong concerning the gift of the god” by…

Alcibiades’ speech in Plato’s Symposium is a digression from the previous speakers’ because he illustrates a personal instance in which eros (love) is and is not felt, whereas the previous speakers defined it. Additionally, he shows eros as not always beneficial. His unrequited love for Socrates proves that it is not always a mutual emotion and can have a detrimental impact, unlike the other speeches which portray love as a beneficial force for both lovers and society. However, it would be…

fighting for in court. Not only does he refute Meletus’ claims, but he accuses him of evil doing, saying that he brings men to court over problems he has no interest in. Socrates confirms this point when he cross examines Meletus and finds inconsistencies; the points Meletus stresses about Socrates not believing in Gods and being a corrupter of youth are disproved when Socrates explains that he does technically believe in a God and that youth do not have one sole corrupter. This part of the…

In The Republic by Plato, the question of what justice really is is circulating around while Socrates goes from person to person asking their opinions of it. No two people in this story give the same answer to what justice really is, leaving Socrates stuck. Throughout this writing there are two very different societies mentioned and described in very great detail. These two important places mentioned are The City of Pigs and the City of Luxury. Yes, one might sound better than the other, but…

In Book I of Plato’s Republic, Socrates and Polemarchus debate the assertion “it is just to give to each what is owed to him,” that Simonides originally theorized. The postulation develops from Cephalus’ prior claim that a just man is one who “speaks the truth and repays his debts” (331d). Socrates undermines Cephalus’ definition of justice by proposing a scenario wherein a madman lends a sword to a friend, and the friend may either return the weapon or keep it from the obviously dangerous…

Justice can have many meanings when put into different perspectives. Throughout Crito, by Plato, Socrates has to determine whether to escape prison or stay. Socrates was initially charged with corrupting the youth and not believing in gods. He argued his case in jury and did not choose the alternate punishment, exile, which could have saved his life. He was then given a death sentence and he was imprisoned until his execution. Crito tries to convince Socrates to escape, but Socrates brings…

A man named Socrates is being accused by new and old accusers. This part of the book is of Socrates speech. Yet Socrates is saying his accusers are unfaithful. Socrates is over seventy years old and says that he should not be there. He wants to do away these wrong accusations about him and let God decide his faith. He then ask about the accusations being made about him. He is being accused of an evil doer who does not recognize the gods, and corrupting the youth. Socrates denies this by saying…

Not much is known about Socrates other than he was Greek philosopher who is considered, by many, to be the father of Western philosophy. Many of Socrates writings, if he ever did write anything, were never discovered. As a result, everything we do know about Socrates is solely based on the information derived from the works of his student, Plato, and his contemporary, Aristophanes. When Aristophanes and Plato’s works are compared, it is evident that they show many inconsistencies and do not…

Socrates then moves his focus on the argumentation on to Meletus directly; he engages Meletus, in a defense dialogue, in which he focuses in two main points. Socrates first point states that no man wishes to be harmed or evil upon himself. He mentions that if he does evil, evil in turn will come back to him to hurt him. Hence, he states that for him to intentionally corrupt the youth is unlikely, for if he did corrupt the youth it was done unintentionally and if it was unintentional, then…

Death of “the” Scholar Socrates is well known for his ideas that went against the norm. He was a Greek philosopher, believed to have played a major role in shaping Western beliefs. During his time period, Socrates ideas were viewed as irrational and provocative. The Athenian Government believed that Socrates was corrupting and impose ideas to the young that went against their own beliefs. Therefore he was tried and executed. But instead of allowing some other ignorant men to take his life…