Was Plato Justified In Defense Of Socrates

Plato`s Defence of Socrates: Retribution In the Defence of Socrates the citizens of Athens condemned Socrates to death. I will explain and evaluate the prophecy that was given before his death. His prophecy held that the citizens of Athens would be harmed by Socrates` death more than he will be. I will explain Socrates reasoning behind his belief that the citizens of Athens will be harmed by Socrates’ death. I will also explain how he attempts to convince them that death is not evil but instead is a good thing, and therefore not something that can harm Socrates himself (57). Then I will evaluate the reasoning that Socrates provides, and explain why his prophecy is both reasonable and unreasonable. Socrates was correct in prophesizing that
Socrates supports this claim without actual proof but instead uses superstition. Socrates professes that his usual sign from God did not oppose any of the actions that lead him to his death, and since this sign supposedly warns him of flawed results than his death must be the proper course of action, or in his words “a blessing” (57). He then boldly claims that death is either similar to an eternal dreamless sleep, or a transition to the afterlife. He claims that this kind of sleep is a remarkable gain because it outshines all of the other restless nights that people experience, thus resulting in a sort of incomparable rest. Then, argues that if we are transported to the afterlife then we would get to interact with all of the deceased. This transition is a blessing because we would get to be in the company of people we admire who have passed and share in each other’s company (57). The counter-part to that is we would also be in the company of those we denounce. If one of these definitions of death is true then, yes, Socrates will suffer a considerably less amount of harm, that is to say none, when compared to the citizens of