2. Socrates brings up the case of an athlete engaged in professional training. What point do you think Socrates is trying to make here? Although he was an awful wrestler, anything is possible even if one is destined for failure. There just may be a positive ending to his going away.…
There is a runaway trolley barreling down the railway tracks. Ahead on the tracks there are five people tied up and unable to move. The trolley is headed straight for them. You are some distance off the tracks on a footbridge standing next to a very large or fat man; we will call him the portly fella. You can push the man off the bridge, and his body will fall onto the tracks and stop the trolley from killing the five people, but will kill the portly fella. You have two options: (1) Do nothing and let the trolley kill the five people. (2) Push the man onto the tracks, where it is likely to kill the one person. What would you do in this situation? Push the portly fella, or just watch as the five people on the tracks reach their own demise.…
Athenians live as the society tells them to live, and they follow their own traditions, customs, and morals of the rest of the people. Socrates has never forced Athenians to follow his teachings, on the contrary he lets them do it without getting anything in return. He states “And I cannot justly be held responsible for the good or bad conduct of these people, as I never promised to teach them anything.” (33a-b) He doesn’t directly influence society, he tries to make them aware of their lack of knowledge; it then becomes their responsibility to fill the void exposed by Socrates. Therefore, he believes they have not examined their own lives. Socrates believes an examined life is one that is reflective, where we examine actions on the basis of…
There are numerous reasons why Socrates is more important and influential than George W. Bush. After the 9/11 incident, the world supported America and Americans were united. However, President Bush lost his opportunity to unite America and the world by deciding to invade Iraq. One of his main reasons for invading Iraq was to get rid of the country’s weapons of mass destruction, which turned out to be false. America’s reputation had been negatively impacted and its image much damaged due to the invasion of Iraq, which was a potent factor in the formation of ISIS.…
Leonard Nelson in a critical essay defines the Socratic method as “the art of teaching not philosophy but philosophizing, the art not of teaching about philosophers but of making philosophers of the students” (Nelson). Socrates way of teaching was not simply telling his students something directly and having them accept an answer without doubt like most straightforward teachers of the time did, but rather to propose a question or series of questions and see what his students had to say about it. Socrates would listen to his student’s arguments and either gun down their answers or show an example, which obviously contradicts and proves their ideas wrong. As an example, in The Republic, Polemarchus is arguing with Socrates that it is the right thing to do harm to those who do evil to you. Socrates rejects his answer by telling a horse analogy which he says that harming a bad horse will only make the horse worse, therefore it is not right to do return evil for evil. With his questions, he helped his listeners realize that they lacked a full understanding of the topic they were discussing. Socrates did not teach his own ideas and beliefs. Through his method, he acted as a type of catalyst for others to search and find the truth for themselves. Socrates peculiar teaching method was radically different than those methods of his time and proves another reason why Socrates was a very intriguing…
In the Gorgias1, Socrates says, “I think that I am the only or almost the only Athenian living who practices the true art of politics; I am the only politician of my time”, while in the Apology2, he claims that “he who will really fight for the right, if he would live even for a little while, must have a private station and not a public one.” As we know, Socrates did manage to live for over 70 years, and did indeed confine himself to a private stance; but how can one be a politician without being a public figure? Or was Socrates not a true champion of justice, as he maintained to be?…
In this essay I am evaluating if Socrates death harmed the citizens of Athens more then it did Socrates himself. Socrates has two reasons why Athens will be more harmed then him by his death. When Socrates died he did just that, he left the earth and was no longer there, after this moment Socrates was no longer harmed by his own death, the people of Athens however went on to suffer the repercussions for years to come. It was Athens in the end that suffered, Socrates was at peace.…
One of the major themes that Socrates heavily focused on in his speech was the philosophical ideas of wisdom and a description of Socrates’ own wisdom as well. Older accusers had allegedly claimed that Socrates did not believe in gods, and instead would try to explain phenomenons through physical explanations instead, as well as the fact that Socrates would teach others how to make a weak argument triumph a stronger one by using clever rhetorics. In Socrates’ defense, he has stated that he does not have any kind of competence and expertise in any of these areas. This statement truly divides Socrates from sophists and even Presocratics, as teachers that each belong to these organizations assert that only through experience and examination they can gain…
In this excerpt of the discussion between Polus and Socrates, they are trying to decide if suffering something unjust is worse and more shameful than actually doing what is unjust. Polus states that it is worse to suffer, but more shameful to commit, an unjust act. When Socrates begins his argument against this, he questions Polus on the distinction between what is admirable and good, and what is shameful and bad. In Polus’ eyes, these pairs of words do not hold the same meaning. However, Socrates believes that what is good and bad actually defines what is admirable and shameful.…
Plato divided society into three groups. Briefly describe each of these groups Your answer should be at least three full paragraphs (about five sentences each).…
“The Death of Socrates” was painted by a French painter . His name was Jacques Louis David. The painting represents the scene of the death of Greek philosopher Socrates. He was condemned to die by drinking hemlock for the expression of his ideas against those of Athens' and corrupting the minds of the youth. The painting also depicts both Plato and Crito, with the former sitting at the edge of the bed and the latter clutching the knee of Socrates. Socrates had the choice to go into exile and , hence, give up his philosophic vocation or be sentenced to death by drinking hemlock. Socrates chose death. In this painting, someone hands a confident Socrates the goblet of hemlock. Socrates' hand pointing to the heavens indicating his defiance of the gods and fearless attitude to his death.…
He reasons that nobody will blast anyone in citizens participating in assembly, as he believes that people think that virtue can’t be taught like shipbuilding. Socrates believes that people can’t transmit to other “virtues that they…
Socrates is known today as one of the greatest Philosophers. With his philosophical views, centuries ago, Socrates was brought to trial and cost his life due to his claims and charges were pressed against him. He was indicted of turning the worse argument into the stronger argument (28). Socrates was accused for not recognizing the gods acknowledged by the state, and was accused of being an atheist (36). He was despised by adults due to his inquisitions and answering a question with a question and appraised and followed by the youth.…
In the trial of Socrates, I juror number 307, Ryan Callahan vote the defendant is Not Guilty on the first charge of Corrupting the youth. My justifications for this vote are as follows. Socrates didn 't corrupt the youth, he just shared his ideas with them and they in turn chose the path to take these ideas. Part of understanding this case is understand the time in which the case was held. This time being 399 B.C., a time in which Athens was a free democratic city, a town which prided itself at the time on the fact that its citizens had much freedom, particularly freedom of speech. Socrates believed that only people who were educated should rule the people, which meant that people were not capable of government participation unless they had the proper knowledge to do so effectively. The charge of corrupting the youth originated because the people felt that Socrates teachings had led to the many uprisings by his students. Keep in mind that none of these uprising that had occurred have been backed by Socrates nor did they originate due to any action by Socrates. Socrates supposedly had the right to freedom of speech but now somehow was on trial for doing just that. This trial, I feel, is more of a convenience for Athens than a civil right. Athens has been disturbed by Socrates students and there is no law being broken. This is frustrating and they found out how to take care of the problem. Create bogus charges on Socrates and put him to death. These charges that are a result of fear of another uprising were brought forth by three men. The three men were Anytus, Meletus, and Lycon. Now granted Socrates was unable to defend himself to the best of his ability. Whether or not this is the route he chose or if he was incapable, I am unable to decide but one has to focus on the mere facts of the case. The way that I see it is that Socrates did not corrupt the youth. Socrates spread his ideas and teachings to the youths which is perfectly legal.…
1. What are the needs of the political community? What must all political communities do to insure their survival? What about Philosophy? What does philosophy seek? How does it go about this process?…