...In 399 BC, a philosopher, named Socrates, is put to trial for multiple reasons. He was accused of corrupting the youth and impiety. They wanted the death penalty, but the importance of this trial were the arguments made by Socrates. One of the arguments made in The Apology that will be focused on is the corruption argument. Socrates made many arguments such as the horse trainer argument, the God argument, and also the death argument, but the argument that was most interesting was the corruption argument. The corruption argument, made by Socrates, is what set the tone and what allowed the rest of his arguments to have a place in his defense. In The Apology, by Plato, he talked about the defense that Socrates had in his trial against the...
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...Socrates Socrates was accused of many things in the Athens market. Socrates was accused of being a man who makes the worse argument into the stronger argument. A man who knows about the heavens and earth and therefore any one who believe this must not believe in the gods. Socrates was accused of being an atheist. Most of the people that followed him around his quest were inquisitive. Where as most adults would walk by Socrates with his “annoying question” the youth stopped to see what he had to say. The youth became his followers when he went out to ask questions that undermined society. Therefore, Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth. I do not believe that Socrates was guilty. For the fact that he was not responsible for the way, other people used what he said. Socrates is the seeker of self-knowledge. He poses the question, “how can I know about the world if I do not know who I’m”. Then the society says, “know thyself”. These two sayings sound alike but society has something else in mind, know thyself means that you must know your place in society. Socrates wanted people to find out who they were by themselves and not let society tell them who they were. You have to know how you think and act in certain situation to know yourself. Knowing yourself in a sense helps you in fact know the world. Socrates might have believed it takes time to know yourself rather than just saying you know who you are. Therefore, Socrates went out to find an answer to the question...
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...who lived at the same the as Socrates. They were major intellectual figures, and the term “sophist” means “wise person.” At that time “sophistry” was roughly equivalent to “rhetoric,” and rhetoric is the art of persuasion using language. However, the term ‘sophistry’ is now generally used to refer to manipulative forms of rhetoric. Protagorus * Was a Sophist Why was socrates unpopular * Two sets of charges put toward Socrates * * Accused of worshiping false Gods (or no Gods at all) * Also accused of corrupting the youth * Socrates adds that there are unspoken charges pressed against him * * He says these charges are the real reason he is in court * He says the may be impossible for him to fight against What do the people (wrongly) believe about Socrates: * He is the same as the Presocratics (and therefore does not believe in God) * Interested in Arche * An atheist * A sophist * Teaches the young (corrupting them) * * Socrates never tried to teach anyone * Therefore he denied he was a sophist Oracle of Apollo at Delphi * If socrates is not a sophist, and does not teach virtue, what has he been doing? * * He calls upon the Oracle to prove that he only has human wisdom (not divine) * The Oracle tells Socrates’ friend that he is “the wisest of men” * * What did the Oracle mean? * Socrates knows he is not wise, never...
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...In Plato’s Apology Socrates is being tried by Anytus and Meletus for two new charges: “corrupting the young, and not acknowledging the gods of the city acknowledges, but new daimonic activities instead” (Morgan 2005, 51). Throughout Plato’s Apology and Euthyphro Socrates uses complex rhetoric to challenge the charges brought against him based on his thoughts and understanding of what is right and wrong. He never once states he is not guilty nor does he provide reasons to support his innocence. He suggests rather that he is on a divine mission stating “this is what the god orders me to do, and I think there is no greater blessing for the city than my service to the god” (Morgan 2005, 55). Socrates uses his trial as an opportunity to show inconsistencies in the charges themselves, through questioning his accusers. Socrates remains true to him-self, a philosopher, and finds fulfillment out of the process rather than the outcome “…for the unexamined life is not worth living for men…” (Morgan 2005, 60) Socrates should be found guilty as his intentions to continue to practice the life of a philosopher may not have been morally wrong, his methods however unlawful during Athenian times. Socrates was not a member of a modern day society where innovative thought was encouraged, and freedom of speech tolerated. He chose to be a member of Athenian society therefore needed to conform to the requirements set out by the city. Suggesting other God’s and questioning the Gods of the city do not...
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...In comparison, Socrates and Rousseau share similar educational ideas. They firmly hold that every child is born with an ability to learn and explore. However, they are also born into a society which may corrupt them where ignorance is exhibited. Socrates introduced the educational idea of midwifery; it is to both of their understanding that children who leave the cave of ignorance is to be appreciated. To Socrates, the cave is a metaphor for the society that is blinded by ignorance and therefore the role of the teacher-midwife is to help the young learners find their way out of that cave. Socrates and Rousseau rely on the idea that the goal of teacher-midwife is to guide young learners to acknowledge the importance and values of human life....
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...The Conviction and Execution of Socrates The Athenians convicted and executed Socrates because they believed his questioning of societal norms, his ability to persuade youth, and his lack of piety to the true gods was endangering the stability of the city-state. In his apology, Socrates argued that the main reason Athenians were unhappy with him was because of his belief that he had more knowledge than even the wisest men of the city. He believed they were embarrassed and outraged that he’d exposed that they pretended to know more than they actually did. Although this might’ve been a contributing factor to his conviction, it’s not the most prominent or crucial reason. The trial was less about those who were angry that he’d looked down upon...
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...A huge role that the elders of the Athenian society play are to protect the younger generation from change; the change that would corrupt the future and change the way of living. The protection of the youth plays a major role for the elders because the youth is the future of Athenian society; the youth will be making the decisions later on down the road after all of the elders die off. This is the reason why the citizens are very concerned about Socrates. The elders believe that Socrates is going to be the reason why the youth will be corrupted. But Socrates does not see how he could be the reason for the corruption of the youth because he always claims to not have any knowledge of anything. In Plato’s The Euthyphro, Socrates has a conversation with Euthyphro about what piety and impiety is. Socrates wanted Euthyphro to be his teacher and teach him everything he knows because he claims that he knows all there is to be known about what piety and impiety is. Therefore, Euthyphro teaches him everything that he knows about what it means to be pious and impious. After he starts to explain everything to him Socrates is not satisfied with any of his definitions that he has proposed to him, so Socrates starts to question him even more, and ask for a better definition. This back and forth conversation goes on for a while, and from Socrates questioning Euthyphro so much, Euthyphro himself starts to question everything that he knows about what it means to be pious and impious. Euthyphro...
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...was what Socrates meant when explaining his defense, or what the Athenian court members had based their moral and ethical views from. More importantly, Socrates was a philosopher, and he strived to find answers, even when they were not easy to discover. This led me to Socrates’ idea, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates was a strong advocate of this statement and supported it in front of the Oracle of Delphi and in the Athenian court. I was very interested with Socrates statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” When I first discovered this statement the first thought that popped in my head was how serious Socrates was. There was...
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...Liao PHIL 2010 TR11 33835 Plato, Defense of Socrates The Defense of Socrates, written by Plato in the year of 400a.c, narrates how Socrates defended in a court of charges of different men. He is accused of corrupting the youth mind and not believing in the god of the state, but in other new divinities. His accusers are Meletus, Anytus and Lycon. Throughout this first part, Socrates explains his innocence through various examples given during his apology. During his defense speech, Socrates insists that he clearly speaks the truth. For him, the truth is a virtue of wisdom, and there is no effect without cause. Therefore, according to him, every effect has its own cause. According to Socrates, his bad reputation is due to the wisdom he possesses. Their god assured him that there was a wiser man than he worldwide. That bad name originated because Socrates was put to test people believed wise, without actually being, and letting them know their true image of ignorance. Socrates explained to the judges that he had no knowledge of any kind with respect to cosmological issues. Instead, it was considered wiser than those who boasted of it, because he recognized their ignorance to know the issues, that is, cosmological, which did not confess presumptuous. Socrates denies that he has corrupted the youth. Notes that according Meletus, he corrupts the youth, who then Meletus explain the reason why people enjoy watching Socrates interrogates those who believe without being wise...
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...through Music ‘‘Who writes the Nation’s songs shapes the Nation’s souls,’’ said Abraham Lincoln. This quote is relevant to today’s crisis: the influence of music on our youth. Music has been known to influence those who listen since the end of the Industrial Revolution, when people had more leisure time and the demand for entertainment and amusement began to increase. This is significant because media has a powerful influence on society and affects how we dress, act, and think. In The Republic by Plato, Socrates argues against Thrasymachus’ idea that "Obedience to the interest of the stronger" will lead to a successful tyranny. Socrates believes that "justice is the excellence of the soul,” and that benevolence is the key to a successful state. Yet humans embody not only Apollo, the god of the sun, of dreams, and of reason but also, Dionysus, the god of wine, ecstasy and intoxication, both sons of Zeus. In Plutarch’s Moralia, it is suggested that the state allows society to live for their pleasure so that the state gains the power to control them. We are fighting a constant battle between the rational principle of the soul and the irrational or appetite. The state is determined to keep feeding the Dionysus in each of us in order to continue to control us. The music industry is a tool that is used to influence the youth to indulge in their desires through songs about violence, sex, misogyny and drug use. In the Socratic dialogue in The Republic, Adeimantus, son of Ariston of Athens...
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...This paper will argue that during “The trial and Death of Socrates”, Socrates could have given better arguments for his defense. First it will outline the prejudices or accusations Socrates has to face during his trial. It will then show how Socrates acted as tough he wanted to lose the case and finally it will conclude explaining the arguments Socrates could have given in order to be acquitted. During the first speech (18a-19b) Socrates has to overcome two different types of prejudices: the old prejudice against Socrates set by the plays of Aristophanes and the new prejudices that included impiety charged by Meletus as well as the corruption of the youth. In fact more than once is Socrates confused for someone else. Aristophanes is responsible for latter but it is reconstructed by Meletus as including both impiety and corruption and Socrates is portrayed as a corrupt teacher .the first charge of impiety also originates with Aristophanes but Meletus confuses Socrates with the atheistic Anaxagoras when he describes Socrates as seeking to study the heavens (18a) the second charge of corruption is also in Aristophanes' Clouds but confuses Socrates with Protagoras. This led to confusion (18e) of Socrates with other sophists like Gorgias, Prodicus, and Hippias. The new prejudice against Socrates really is because of the Socratic paradox (20c-21a): “he knows nothing and only in this he claims to be wise “ this paradox aroused hatred against him (21b, 23ab), even though he...
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...Republic: A Guide to Education The Republic of Plato is a dialogue in which Plato’s teacher Socrates outlines his ideal city. The dialogue first sets out to answer one very important question: what is justice? The story begins with Socrates in the presence of several people, both friends and enemies, to whom he poses the question, ‘What is justice?’ Socrates then goes on to strike down every theory proposed and offers no definition of his own. This brings about the discussion of the ideal city. During this discussion, it is decided that the citizens of the city will be divided into three classes: the auxiliaries, the producers, and the guardians. The guardians are to be a class of citizens above the rest. They will be the defenders and rulers of the city and, therefore, must be the best of the best. This essay will summarize the education that Socrates advocates for the guardians of his city, and then discuss analyze the education of the guardian class in relation to that of Socrates’ own Socratic method to see if Socrates truly believes in the city he is creating. The first mention of the guardians’ education comes after Glaucon wishes to make the city far more luxurious, as he has begun having too much fun making up his own city and cannot imagine his ideal city as austere as the one Socrates has been describing. When Socrates begins adding some of these luxuries to the city, however, a few problems arise. For example...
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...“Apology” professes to be a record of the actual speech that Socrates delivered in his own defense during his trial and conviction before a jury of 501 men in Athens. Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth of Athens and introducing strange gods to the city. Socrates addresses the men of Athens as follows: “Do not create a disturbance, gentleman, even if you think I am boasting, for the story I shall tell does not originate with me, but I will refer you to a trustworthy source. I shall call upon the god of Delphi as witness to the existence and nature of my wisdom, if it be such. You know Chaerephon; he was my friend from youth, and a friend of most you, as he shared your exile and your return. You surely know the kind of man he was, how impulsive in any course of action. He went to Delphi at one time and ventured to ask the oracle – as I say, gentlemen, do not create a disturbance – he asked if any man was wiser than I, and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser. Chaerephon is dead, but his brother, will testify to you about this.” (Plato 25-26) Socrates recounts to the men of Athens how he took this news with great puzzlement. “What can the god mean? And what is the interpretation of this riddle? What can the oracle mean when he says that I am the wisest of men?” Socrates knew the oracle could not lie, and yet he thought that he had no particular wisdom or specialized knowledge at all So Socrates set out on a quest with two goals in mind: 1) To disprove...
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...Joshua Harris THEA 4200 Professor Marla Carlson September 26, 2010 Socrates is a danger to the state of Athens and something must be done. So much of what he says is against democracy. He does have a clever way of talking, but that just means that he is able to make all of the foolishness that comes out of his mouth sound like it makes sense. If you think about it, it makes no sense. We do not want to be ruled by philosopher kings. Under a democratic system, we can all come together to make decisions for ourselves like we have for so long. We know what is best for us and Socrates, by corrupting the youth of Athens with his nonsense, threatens to take our voice and liberty away from us. The oligarchs will say that Socrates should not be silenced because they are anti-democratic just as he is. They will say that Athens was a democracy when it was overtaken by Sparta which they will further argue is an oligarchy. I say that Sparta is made up of a bunch of meatheads who were not able to overtake us because they were an oligarchy. They were able to because they are so focused on fighting and little else. Democracy presents the opportunity to focus on fighting if it is the will of the citizens. Democracy also is a system of government that allows for innovations and rewards those who improve on things. While Spartans are busy doing things like head butting each other, we can be doing things like improving the navy, giving Athens a good defense. I also want to...
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...348/ 347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, the second of the great trio of ancient Greeks –Socrates, Plato, originally named Aristocles, and Aris- totle– who between them laid the philosophical foundations of Western culture. Plato was also a mathematician, writer of philosophical dia- logues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world. Plato is widely believed to have been a student of Socrates and to have been deeply influenced by his teacher's unjust death. Plato's brilliance as a writer and thinker can be witnessed by reading his Socratic dialogues. Some of the dialogues, let- ters, and other works that are ascribed to him are considered spurious. Plato is thought to have lectured at the Academy, although the pedago- gical function of his dialogues, if any, is not known with certainty. They have historically been used to teach philosophy, logic, rhetoric, mathem- atics, and other subjects about which he wrote. Source: Wikipedia Also available on Feedbooks for Plato: • The Complete Plato (-347) • The Republic (-380) • Symposium(-400) • Charmides(-400) • Protagoras(-400) • Statesman(-400) • Ion(-400) • Crito(-400) • Meno(-400) • Phaedo(-400) Note: This book is brought to you by Feedbooks http://www.feedbooks.com Strictly for personal use, do not use this file for commercial purposes. 2 Socrates' Defense How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my ac- cusers, I cannot tell; but I...
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