...have ever read. Plato describes Socrates, the accused atheist and corrupter of youth in ancient Athens, as a true beacon of ethics and morality. The method that Plato uses to depict Socrates on trial gives us a look back on how the trial of a man who encourages one of sound mind to ask questions even to those who are deemed wise in the eyes of others. Despite facing odds that are stacked highly against him, and this being his first time in court “For I am more than seventy years of age, and this is the first time that I have ever appeared in a court of law, and I am quite a stranger to the ways of the place; and therefore I would have you regard me as if I were really a stranger”(Plato). Socrates is able to achieve what he feels is the most imperative knowledge of morality for all present in the court to understand. When we, the readers, are first presented to Socrates we find him near the end of his trial where he is allowed to speak to the court. The sure genius of Socrates is revealed to us in his first words of dialogue. Using his brilliance of moral logic and ethical thinking he warns those present in the court of the mendacity of the accusations, “How you have felt, O men of Athens, at hearing the speeches of my accusers, I cannot tell; but I know that their persuasive words almost made me forget who I was - such was the effect of them; and yet they have hardly spoken a word of truth.”(Plato) By not only shooting down the lies of his accusers, Socrates acknowledges that...
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...Whether it 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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...Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were important philosophers in classical Greece (Matthews, Noble, Platt, 2014). Plato was one of Socrates followers. Plato was recognized for his most famous doctrine known as the Doctrine of Forms, even though there was never a clear explanation for its existence; but his student Aristotle did offer various arguments for it. Plato knew that his doctrine never made sense; however, he created an analogy and called it the Allegory of the Cave which supports what he stood for in regard to common sense as well as embodying his doctrine. Socrates was an intelligent man, who loved philosophy and challenging the people who he lived around. His main goal was to achieve understanding. The citizens were not actually fond of Socrates because he made them feel as if they did not know anything. He was happy to prove others wrong, in which made him...
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...Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death. His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and his words. Despite the fact that the philosopher attempted to defend himself and explain the reasons for saying and doing the things he did, it did not do any good for his justification. On the contrary, Socrates’ words seemed to make the jury harden their hearts and condemn him. The charges brought against the philosopher had nothing to do with true crime like we understand it today. He did not commit any physical or financial harm to anybody. Socrates insulted and angered many people more than any “legitimate” offense ever could. He said too many things that people around him did not like and could not forgive. One of the charges brought against him was corrupting the youth of Athens. Accordingly to the words of those who complained at...
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...Euthyphro – Plato Euthyphro – Plato The concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro after Socrates appears in court to respond to the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth are brought against him. The concept of piety and holiness takes a prominent position in the conversation because it is the reason behind Socrates’ impending trial. There he encounters Euthyphro, who reveals to Socrates that he is prosecuting his father for murder to which Socrates is almost sarcastically in awe. This concept takes a prominent position in conversation because Socrates questions the definition of piety and holiness, and questions Euthyphro if his knowledge of religion and things both pious and impious that he’s not afraid of being impious by bringing action against his own father (Plato and Jowett, n.d.). Over the course of the conversation, Euthyphro presents multiple definitions, through his own interpretation, of what piety is. The first definition presented by Euthyphro is “that piety is doing as I do, prosecuting you father (if he is guilty) on a charge of murder; doing as the gods do-as Zeus did to Cronos, and Cronos to Uranus” (Plato & Jowett, n.d.). Socrates’ feels that his dislike of the mythologies is what causing him to be charged with impiety, He goes on to refute this “definition” by stating “doing as I do, charging a father with murder, may be a single instance of piety, but can hardly be regarded as a general definition” (Plato & Jowett...
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...Name Course Instructor Institution Date of Submission Introduction The Athenian democracy developed in Greece in the 5th Century BC. It is the oldest known democracy in the world, and it was the most developed of all democracies that were prevalent during its time. Athenian democracy was a form of direct democracy. Citizens had the privilege to approve or disprove legislations and executive bills directly through a vote. To vote, one had to meet certain qualifications. They had to be of the age of majority and be of the male gender. Comics and political satire that was played in the theaters influenced the politics of that time. Pericles was the longest serving leader of the Athenian democracy. After his death, the Athenian democracy declined in its prominence after the Macedonians suppressed it in 322 BC. It was revived decades later. Pericles View of the Athenian Democracy The most notable aspect of Pericles contribution to Athenian democracy was his devolution of political power to the people. As the leader of Athens, Pericles gave the citizens the power to participate directly- as opposed to representation through representatives- in all matters of legislation and policy. He also increased the number and salaries of civil servants to ensure their commitment and participation in effective governance. Besides giving the power to the citizens, Pericles established various institutions such as the courts, the assembly, and a council that foresaw the execution of policies...
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...Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in March, 2011.) When reading the Apology and the Crito of Plato, one inevitably comes upon a seeming fundamental contradiction between the two dialogues. The Apology presents readers with a defiant Socrates who declares in his trial that, if acquitted on the condition that he never philosophize again, he would continue to practice philosophy in spite of the jury’s order to the contrary: . . . if you said to me in this regard: “Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now; we acquit you, but only on condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die”; if, as I say, you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you: “Men of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy . . . (29c-d).1 The passage from the Apology seems to present a defiant argument for civil disobedience in the face of injustice. In the Crito, however, when given a chance to escape prison and his upcoming execution, Socrates reasons that such an action would be unjust because it would defy the laws 1Plato, Apology. Trans. G. M. A. Grabe (Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2000), 32. Blanks 1  of the city. Near the end of the dialogue Plato presents Socrates as speaking for a hypothetical anthropomorphized “voice of the laws”: Is your wisdom such as not to...
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...By: Anonymous Understanding Philosophy and its Benefits 1 Many of Plato’s dialogues such as the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito and Phaedo are based upon the same reoccurring theme, the defense of the study of philosophy. Plato’s dialogues notable for their depth in a relatively narrow framework, attempt to argue the benefits of philosophical reasoning through essence, knowledge and truth. To understand the benefits of philosophy one must pose the question, what is philosophy? Ironically, philosophy in itself is a reflexive question. It is this bidirectional theory that makes philosophy so profoundly intellectual. It becomes reason as to why trying to find out what philosophy actually is inevitably becomes a way of not only studying philosophy but doing philosophy. By textbook definition, philosophy is the attempt to use reason and logic to answer fundamental questions about knowledge, life, morality and human nature. This definition represents a vexing philosophical issue, how can we attempt to answer these questions in a definite manner? Well, in retrospect Philosophy pursues questions rather than answers. Plato uses dialogue to aide clarity and understanding to those ideas and questions that fall outside of the “scientific domain”. After reading Plato’s dialogues, one can note that, Socrates never comes to any definite conclusion to any of the questions he poses. For example, in the Euthyphro, we are never fully able to determine a definition of piety and justice, but we do...
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...Apology, Socrates, an Athenian philosopher, is accused of not believing in the gods by corrupting the youth with his philosophical beliefs. Socrates uses the forces of logos and ethos to build the trust of his audience over his accusers, Meletus and Anytus, who have created prejudices against him in trial. Socrates uses a grand mixture of socratic irony and rhetorical devices to make his claim and prove his point in efforts to hopefully help find his innocence. However, in doing so, he reveals to the audience what kind of a person he is: a haughty, gadfly kind of man with an undesirable temperament. Although Socrates is indeed arrogant and comes off as egotistical, he is in fact quite admirable. “Let the judge decide justly and...
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...“Socrates, the Man of Many Colors” The Last Days of Socrates contains a series of dialogues with Socrates in the run- up to his trial, where he is sentenced to death. Plato, the author, was inspired by Socrates. Plato was a student of his and went on to teach many famous people such as Aristotle, who wrote treatises on everything from poetry to biology, and even Alexander the Great. Plato was born into a wealthy family around the last days of the Athenian Empire (427-347 B.C.). Plato was also an advisor to the king of Syracuse. Plato had great influence throughout the history of philosophy, often being called the father of Western philosophy. He wrote over twenty philosophical dialogues and thirteen letters ( oregonstate.edu/…/Philosophers/Plato/). Most of what we know about the life of Socrates was written down by Plato. This book of Plato’s, The Last Days of Socrates, includes four works or dialogues. The first three are written very close in time to one another. The last was written years later. All have been translated into modern English from ancient Greek. All works relate to Socrates’ trial and subsequent death. The One major theme of the dialogues is justice. Justice has a direct effect upon Socrates’ behavior. He insists to Crito in the third dialog that his beliefs pertaining to what “just” means is the very reason why he has accepted the sentence he is given. This very question, “What is just?” is just the kind of thing that got him into trouble in...
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...The Republic penned by Plato in 380 BC provides an interpretation and information regarding the different dimensions of the society and the ways through which justice, forms of government and theory of universals can be explained. It is primarily on the basis of these themes using which Plato has been able to publish and base his one of the most prominent works written in the field of philosophy and social justice. In addition to this it is also important to mention here that the Republic is basically a Socratic dialogue based on the conversations that Socrates had with his ideologues which have been narrated by Plato. During the course of this discussion we will be looking at some of the fundamental themes that have been discussed in this work and the nature of message and idea that they intend to deliver to us through them. Definition of Justice This particular theme of defining justice has been provided in the first book in which Socrates provides two definitions of justice but both are deemed as inadequate and irrelevant. Some of the generic definitions that are provided regarding justice are the fact that must return the debts he owned from somebody and he must help his friends in time of need while trying to harm his enemies. Towards the end of the first book Socrates in his dialogue does agree with the notion presented by Polemarchus that justice includes helping friends, however, Socrates was of the opinion that a man of justice would not think of harming anyone...
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...Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death. His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and his words. Despite the fact that the philosopher attempted to defend himself and explain the reasons for saying and doing the things he did, it did not do any good for his justification. On the contrary, Socrates’ words seemed to make the jury harden their hearts and condemn him. The charges brought against the philosopher had nothing to do with true crime like we understand it today. He did not commit any physical or financial harm to anybody. Socrates insulted and angered many people more than any “legitimate” offense ever could. He said too many things that people around him did not like and could not forgive. One of the charges brought against him was corrupting the youth of Athens. Accordingly to the words of those who complained at...
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...personal lives of the American public. In the story “Crito”, a dialogue written by Plato, he tells of the last days of Socrates. The issue arises as to what laws one should keep, and why. Socrates stands wrongly accused and facing a punishment of death while dear friend Crito tries desperately to convince Socrates to flee. There is every opportunity for Socrates to give in to Crito and save himself yet he will not; why? So many of us believe in free will, the ability to make our own choices without any outside limitations or constraints imposed upon us; however, I believe there is no such service as is depicted in the story of “Crito.” I have no doubt in my mind that if any of us knew we were wrongly accused, facing death, and were given the opportunity to live, we wouldn’t hesitate to take back our freedom. However, Socrates discusses with Crito all the reasons that he cannot abandon his punishment, and must sleep in the bed he made. These reasons will give rise to the argument that the decision he is making, to sacrifice himself, is not free from outside influence of any kind, therefore, his decision is not of his own free will. In paragraph 26 Crito discusses how it will look if Socrates doesn’t leave remarking that “a great many people who don’t know you and me very well will be sure to think I let you down, because I could have saved you if I had been willing to spend the money.” (Plato) He continues “most people will never believe that it was you who refused to leave...
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...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 point out that we should...
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...Plato Paper: Prompt #2 11/3/14 Why does Plato write dialogues? How does that genre fit with and promote his philosophy? Use Examined life to help promote this concept that Plato embodies. ! From what method of teaching can a learner take away a meaningful interpretation of the lesson taught? Upon determining the answer to this question, one might discern between more and less helpful ways to learn. The old Native American saying goes, “Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand”(Inspirational Quotes). This exact idea is embodied by Plato and also by some of the philosophers in The Examined Life. Plato provides examples of stories to help one wrap their brain around a concept due to their own involvement in the learning. The brilliant Plato methodically sends an equally striking and concise impression-making message to both his readers and interlocutors. Unlike Aristotle, who lays down the law of philosophy in absolute non-negotiable terms, Plato paints a sufficiently big picture for the reader in terms of philosophical conclusion through narrative dialogues and allegories in his writings. Plato does this by granting the interlocutor a paintbrush in drawing the “big picture” so that the appropriate details can be sketched in as needed and refutations are made possible in order to distinguish between what is and what is not relevant. This process gives the readers, as well as the interlocutors, a feeling of overall ...
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