Plato’s Apology and Crito tells a story of the defense of Socrates, and his reasons for not escaping prison. The Apology is a long speech by Socrates about the accusations made by his accusers, Socrates position about these accusations, the verdict, and Socrates reaction to the verdict. Crito describes Socrates in prison waiting to be put to death. The story is set in Athens. Socrates is being accused of being an evil doer, corrupting the youth, and for not believing in the gods. Socrates chooses to defend himself and ask the jury to allow him to speak in his normal manner because he has never been in a court room. Socrates starts his defense by denying all charges and addressing them one by one. He starts with the accusation of being an…
There are numerous charges against Socrates in the reading of The Apology. The basic charges against him include impiety, corrupting the youth, and theorizing about unknown topics. He does not believe in the gods that the state does, and therefore seeks for natural explanations to processes that occur in the world around him. He did not recognize the gods and introduced other new divinities. Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth. Due to the constant asking of questions and inquiry, it lead him to try to discover new things about life. Since he looked for natural reason, he began to teach others about his understandings. His followers soon began to imitate his methods and expose other people as unwise which was a threat to the order…
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…
Plato's The Apology is an account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, inventing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates' speech, however, is by no means an "apology" in our modern understanding of the word. The name of the dialogue derives from the Greek "apologia," which translates as a defense, or a speech made in defense. Thus, in The Apology, Socrates attempts to defend himself and his conduct--certainly not to apologize for it.…
Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher, mathematician, and pupil of the philosopher Socrates, relays his interpretation of Socrates’ defence against the Athenian council in, An Excerpt from Plato’s Apology. In the writings, (which may be biased being as Plato was an admirer of Socrates), Socrates attempts to dispel the charges laid against him. Throughout the excerpt, there is much acknowledgement surronding the scuttlebut in cirulation emcompassing Socrates, why and how he earned he vile names, his everlasting support of philosophical studies, and the importance of finding and improving the sole. All developing the thesis of Socrates’ attempt to prove that he is not a conceited, boastful philosopher but in reality there is a method to his madness.…
People are accused all over the world for crimes they are not guilty of. In the text “Platos Apology” Socrates is accused of a crime which is slander. Socrates believes that teaching is not crime and he shouldn't be prosecuted for such an act.Teaching is not a crime. How can he be accused of something that isn't wrong in society?…
citizens. The Apology is Plato’s account of the speech that Socrates gave in defense of his…
This paper examines the significance of Socrates’ opening lines in Plato’s Apology. Socrates’ opening lines establish the key points of his defense, which he explains in further detail as his dialogue continues. Socrates’ essentially makes four points with his opening two lines, which become relevant later on.…
Before one can examine a path to knowledge, one must try to understand, and define what knowledge is. In Plato’s Five dialogues, Socrates critiques the individuals who are thought to be the most knowledgeable, specifically in the Apology, when Socrates is explaining a conversation he had with a well-respected intellectual in the community. Socrates states: "When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and wiser still by himself; and I went and tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise…I am better off than he is - for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows. I neither know nor think that I know (Plato p 26) Rousseau states, in his book, Discourse in inequality, that “One must not take the kind of research which we enter as the pursuit of truth of history, but solely as hypothetical and conditional reasonings, better fitted to clarify the nature of things than to…
In 399 B.C, Socrates, a 70 year old teacher of rhetoric and speech, had been declared the wisest by the oracle at Delphi, however, he hadn’t considered himself the wisest. He figured that someone else was wiser than himself so he began to talk to poets, artist, educators and he realized that when they claimed that they knew the answers that didn’t. He had been the only one that had acceptably admitted that he didn’t know the right answer. People were infuriated because he had pointed out that the politician hadn’t actually known about politics or that the poet wrote about myths and believed them to be true, so they brought him to court and charged him for corrupting the youth with ideas that the Greeks considered a lie. Socrates defended himself from accusations of impiety and corrupting the youth through the use of Metaphors, Allusion, Logical Reasoning and Correction of Erroneous View.…
In Apology by Plato, passage 38d-39c, Socrates turns his attention to those who voted against him. He expresses that he was convicted because he did the opposite of what they wanted him to do which was to beg for mercy and try to avoid the death sentence like many others do. On the contrary, he was not ashamed or scared to reveal his truth nor did he try to avoid death. Socrates’ tone conveys his strong beliefs of doing what’s right, this idea of justice which is highlighted throughout his defense. Death and truth/justice are two particular themes that come up in this passage. He states that no one should try to avoid death which is easy to do. He explains in his example that in war, one can escape death by surrendering and there are multiple…
Plato (429-347 B.C.E) is seen by many as one of the greatest philosophers of the classical period, if not of all time. Coming from a wealthy Athenian family it is the belief that he followed and further developed philosophy from his mentor Socrates. His first works are seen as the most trust-worthy accounts of Socrates life, and after his death Plato would continue to develop Socrates works with the help from Plato’s most famous student, Aristotle. During this time Plato would develop his most famous work The Republic. This would notably, along with many of his later works, blend his ideas of politics, ethics, psychology, and metaphysics into an interlinked philosophy. Plato’s dialogues present much of the idea’s founded and developed by the trio, especially in one of his most famous dialogues, The Apology of Socrates Trial. It is from these experiences that with the help of his teacher Socrates and his student Aristotle, Plato would develop the philosophical foundations of Western culture.…
Hey what’s up Erick, long time no talk. I haven’t spoken to you since the Graduation party you had at your house. That was a great party and it was cool that you got Kid Cudi to perform at your party. I remember that you were always the one in the group who always had to have the newest Jordan’s and expensive clothes. I attend LaGuardia Community College and I’m currently enrolled in an intro to Philosophy class and I have to say it has changed my perspective on life. In the class I’m currently learning about great philosophers such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. I now understand the importance of the Good life opposed to the “Good’s Life”. The good life is basically going through life questioning things and self-examining yourself the goods life is basically a materialistic life which most people want to live today.…
In the diagram, Plato gives a discussion of what he thinks is justice and he talks about a Just person. This is a lecture where he compares these theories in political views and psychological views. He wrote a book in the republic where he talks about harmony by applying to a pure person who is justice and with logical reason. The ideas and arguments of Plato is on the social settings of an ideal republic. Since Socrates was his mentor, he uses his discussions to help support his discussion. The idea of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being. He draws this into three separate parts in which will be discussed in depth.…
Plato was born in 427 BCE in Athens, Greece. He devoted his life to philosophy after the death of his mentor, Socrates at the hands of the Athenian court. He, most notably, was the first philosopher to develop ideas of human nature, knowledge, and metaphysics, and argued for the existence of the soul. Furthermore, he believed that there was distinction between changing physical objects and the unchanging, perfect ideals of the mind, and that the mortal human body and the immortal, invisible soul, were associated with each respective realm. This idea of attainable, constant perfection shows that Plato viewed humans as conflicted and yet rational creatures who can achieve goodness when exercising reason.…