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Socrates’ Courageousness

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Submitted By annalin93
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Anna Lin
Exam 1
6/18/14
Socrates’ Courageousness
Socrates should not be classified as a Sophist for many reasons. He did not take money from those whom he spoke to; sophists did not care if their conclusions were true, yet Socrates used his ways of dialectic to try to find the absolute truths and he tries to proof to people that the immortal soul exists that is why he does not fear death. Socrates tries to let people know that there is life after death by proving himself right; he is not afraid of death. For instance, “Socrates claims that the death is nothing more than the separation of the soul from the body and although some group of people denies it, the soul is immortal considering the cycle of life and death, the theory of recollection and the affinity argument” (Makaleler). Makaleler tells the audience that Socrates is so certain that the soul is immortal. He also says death is just the soul leaving the body, yet many people don’t believe what he says. People denies Socrates’ way of thinking is mainly because they are scared of changes, they fear the unknown of what exactly will happen to them when the soul leaves the body. This is a good example of why Socrates is not a sophist because if he was a sophist he would have collected money then tell people what they want to hear, as this quotes states people do not believe in him. Socrates is not trying to please anyone to get money, he is just stating what the divine voice had told him.
Again, “The soul can be considered as immortal since according to the rules of dialectics life and death exist together, people have inexplicable “deja vu” memories and knowledge and the soul is invisible and divine” (Makaleler). Like Makaleler states, the soul is something invisible and divine and no one could see it, which makes sense, because people can only see with their eyes, if they can not see it for themselves then they will not believe it. “Socrates explained that the immortal soul, once freed from the body, is rewarded according to good deeds or punished for evil” (Petty). The people that believes in the bible should already know that death is not the end and life is just a purpose. Wherever one goes is ultimately up to oneself. Either you do good deeds or bad deeds determines if you go to Heaven or go to Hell. That was what Socrates was trying to explain right before he died from drinking the hemlock. He was trying to proof to everyone that he was not afraid of dying, since the divine voice has never failed him before it will not start now. If he was a sophist, he would not risk his own life for people.
Also, “As he had argued in the Apology, the only opinion that counts is not that of the majority of people generally, but rather that of the one individual who truly knows. The truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action…” (Garth). Here he talks about the truth of how it does not matter what everyone says, but the only that holds to truth. Which is why he always question people. He ask people a question followed by another question until they have no idea what the answer is. They then admit that they did not know the first question to begin with. So he is far from a Sophist, as Sophist teaches things, yet Socrates reply with another questions until one do not know the answer to. Overall, it has proven that Socrates was clearly not a Sophist. He asks questions and questions until that person admits that he did not know the answer to the first question. He tries to prove that life exist after death which was his main argument when he was sentenced to die by the jurors. He spoke with Crito before he was about to die and Crito tries to persuade him to just run away but Socrates did not do so, because he stands on what he believes in and that the divine voice will not lead him to a bad decision since it has always led him right. It was just time for him to go.

Bibliography
Kemerling, Garth. "Socrates: Philosophical Life." Socrates: Philosophical Life. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License., 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 16 June 2014.

Makaleler, Ozan Örmeci. "Ozan Örmeci Makaleler (Ozan Örmeci Articles)." : Socrates and the Immortality of the Soul. Hackett Publishing Company, 2002. Web. 18 June 2014.

Petty, Gary. "What Does the Bible Say About the "Immortal Soul"?" - Good News Magazine. Good News Magazine, n.d. Web. 18 June 2014.

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