Was Socrates guilty as charged?" Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, is linked with Western systems of logic and philosophy. At an early age, he served in the hoplite-ancient Greek infantry, and later devoted his life to philosophy. His rather unique perspective and wisdom in philosophy attracted friends and enemies at the same time. Socrates metaphorically was the gadfly that stung the horse- Athenian state. And from his brilliant debates accustomed with truthfulness and honesty that all stemmed from an oracle in Delphi, he laid bare the false wisdom of politicians, craftsmen and poets. It is from this very course charges against Socrates followed as explained in the following sections of this essay. In addition, I will address any objection…
crucially important to the rest of the Greek society at this time. It was a luxury few could afford. Often Sophists would charge a great sum of money to attend lectures; this was a practice that Socrates was against. “And if you’ve heard from anyone that I undertake to educate people and charge fees, that’s not true either”(30) Socrates lived “in extreme poverty.”(35); however, he did not wish to charge people for education because it was something that he believed everyone should be able to…
Who is Socrates? By many he is recognized as the father of Western philosophy. Other than that, very little is known about his life. What we do know is told from different viewpoints. Most of his life was chronicled through the dialogues of one his most famous students Plato, in The Republic and the plays of Aristophanes, in The Clouds. Each had their own portrayals of Socrates’ characteristics and beliefs. If you have read his texts then you can tell that in, The Clouds, Aristophanes wrote with…
There are two sides in the reflection of “Apology", artistic and logical side. Artistic side of "Apology" is certainly commendable. Socrates shows up as a majestic and inflexible thinker, sentenced to death because of miserable allegations. Socrates was shown as a majestic and dedicated servant of the truth. Speech of the prosecutors on the trial of Socrates remains unknown. It is clear that the allegations consisted of only common phrases. If only two main charges against Socrates - in youth…
Socrates, or the man that Plato wrote him out to be throughout several dialogues, had not believed in the ‘law of retaliation’; he did not consider it to be just to break a law even if the reason for doing so was because he was initially wronged. This reasoning can be disputed by saying that a citizen could have justification for civil disobedience if the law was unjust to begin with. Socrates, taking on the personification as the Laws could reply to this objection by stating that a citizen is…
In Plato’s apology he lays out all of the charges that Socrates faced. These charges included corrupting the children of Athens, impiety to the Gods and Goddesses of the City. Socrates also faced the charge of teaching things and not taking a fee unlike that sophists and teaching students about things above in the sky and below the earth. These things were considered socially and morally wrong in the city of Athens at the time. Because of this the city placed Socrates’ on trial for his life.…
Socrates' credo “An unexamined life is not worth living” sparks an intense and prolific discussion, just as Socrates intended. In the discussion of this credo, the thinker does just what the credo addresses: without studying, analyzing, or critically reflecting upon one's life, it is not worth living. Life is not about making all the right decisions in a progression to the idealized or perfect life. It is rather a procession to honor the experiences one is a part of or engages in, one's own…
At the end of book three Socrates specks of first persuading the rulers and soldiers, then the rest of the city, that all that they have learned was false and that they were born under the earth. He would say that the land is their mother and they must protect it. He also said that at birth people have metals mixed in their botties which gives them certain statuses, and though they produce offspring they can sometimes produce other metals than that what they are. Socrates then says guardians…
will observe that we are arguing about the way of human life"(Page 99). In the last speech of Socrates, he said, "I desire only to know the truth, and to live as well as I can, and, when I die, to die as well as I can. And, to the utmost of my power, I exhort all other men to do the same"(Page 121). "exhort" means he tried to persuade people. This word is also mentioned in the last sentence of the dialogue "This way let us go; and in this exhort all men to follow,"(Page 122). What he tried to…
their philosophies, I have come to accept that Socrates’ assertions and ideas on this topic are right. While the philosopher Cicero believed that we can know nothing, Socrates believed that we can know things. Socrates’ belief that we can know things is logical; for example, while time is based on a social construct, we can know how old we are and the dates on which significant events occurred in history. Although, he does makes a distinction between knowledge and understanding. Socrates…