Socrates (469-399 BCE) lived during the time of transition from the height of the Athenian hegemony to its decline with the defeat by Sparta and its allies in the Peloponnesian War. This was a time when Athens sought to stabilize and recover from its defeat. The Athenian public had started to contemplate the effectiveness of democracy as a governmental system. At the latter end of his life he was charged with teaching the youth to “disrespect” the gods of the city. Socrates was convicted of these
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We are taught at a very young age that we are to seek out happiness‚ yet no one really knows what that is. When you are a child‚ happiness could be found by playing with toys‚ and schoolmates. When we are children‚ our concept of happiness is minimal. As years passed‚ our concept of happiness becomes much more expansive. We are schooled to think that if we succeed at something‚ whether it is at a career‚ college or in relationships‚ we are seeking to be happy. Some people seek out happiness through
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Confucius and Socrates both have a very definite perspective of an person and how he/she should live their life. However these perspectives do differ in specific areas and that is what brings me to compare and contrast on both philosophers. "He acts before he speaks‚ and afterwards speaks according to his actions" (Confucius 2-13). Confucius says that we shouldn’t speak about what we don’t know‚ just as Socrates is known for saying "I am wise because I know nothing." Both of them seem to imply
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One could argue that Socrates examined life‚ and yet what does that mean? From my understanding of the Apology‚ Socrates did not just live the life of the ordinary Greek he questioned life. What did he mean by “the unexamined life is not worth living?” I believe he meant that we must question everything around us. That the answer “things have always been this way” wasn’t a good enough answer. If we look at Sparta‚ they lived their lives as dictated by the government. There was no “I” in Sparta‚ Sparta
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worshiping the gods of the city was once sentenced to death‚ not because he actually did those things which he was accused of‚ but because 501 citizens of Athens acting as jury for his trial had been convinced he deserved death. This philosopher‚ Socrates‚ considered to be the wisest man of his time‚ was humble and knew that his purpose as a philosopher was to express‚ share‚ and not compromise the truth. Recorded in the ancient works of Plato‚ he expressed through Socrates’s example that the wisdom
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In the story of Crito‚ Socrates is in a prison cell and is waiting to be executed. His wealthy friend Crito is trying to convince him to escape because he believes Socrates is innocent and is being wrongly accused of impiety and corruption of the young. Socrates refuses to run away‚ although Crito offers to care for him. He instead chooses to face the city because the city needs philosophy. His submission to the unjust conviction‚ emphasizes this relationship between the philosopher and the city
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According to Socrates‚ an unjust person is an unhappy person. Why do you believe Socrates made this analogy? How does one become a balanced individual? Furthermore‚ Plato also has an opinion of what a well-balanced person is. Show how Plato’s understanding of a well-balanced person is necessary to a society in harmony with itself‚ and how that ties in with Socrates’ preceding analogy. Socrates believed a unjust person could not be happy that only the just person could be happy. The unjust person
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Socrates‚ the father of philosophy‚ and teacher: Is he corrupt? Did this man‚ who still teaches students thousands of years after his life ended‚ earn capital punishment? Was it fair to receive such severe punishment for teaching the youth to ask questions? Was an innocent person murdered? Despite it being the unpopular answer to the question‚ Socrates did deserve his penalty‚ but only through the perspective of the Athenians. The reasons are simple: Socrates really seemed to have committed the crime
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Socrates was a man that questioned all. He looked into the words people spoke discovering that they were mere soap bubbles. Why he did this‚ only Socrates knows. He believed that a life not looked into was a life that could have been done without. What did Socrates mean by this? Possibly that a life lived only on the surface was meaningless. If one could not dive deep into the oceans of his or her own thoughts it would be better for them to drown‚ so to speak. Perhaps the philosopher was trying to
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Socrates undermines the claim that he is intentionally corrupting the youth by asking Meletus a series of questions that make him explain his reasoning for accusing Socrates of this crime. Socrates would start by placing Meletus into a hole with his many questions asking who exactly was good for the youth and it turned out to be everyone but Socrates. He continues this argument by bringing up why would he corrupt the youth when they could potentially be his neighbors one day. It is common sense that
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