Socrates
The main themes of Plato's Apology are the great irony of many of Socrates' claims, his use of the Socratic method of teaching, and his surprising strategy of questioning the fundamental validity of his trial itself, rather than putting on a vigorous and elegant defense of his actions as was expected by both his supporters and detractors, and likely by the people of the jury. Plato's Apology is a detailed account of the 399 BC trial of the great philosopher Socrates, in which Socrates was on trial for his life after being accused by Meletus, an ambitious young Athenian, and others of the upper class of being "a doer of evil, and corrupter of the youth, and he does not believe in the gods of the state, and has other new divinities of his own" (Plato, Apology). Ultimately, Socrates' defense led to his death, by his own hand, and the silencing of one of the world's greatest intellectuals, making Socrates a martyr to the cause of intellectual freedom.
Main Themes
The most important initial theme of the introduction to Plato's Apology is Socrates' surprising decision to choose to question the entire basis for his trial, rather than to put on an elaborate and eloquent defense as was likely expected by both his supporters, detractors, and the individuals in the jury.
At the end of his well-argued and carefully constructed defense, Socrates has engineered his response to get him found guilty and condemned to death, and he even chooses to drink the hemlock himself, rather than to...
Socrates and Virtue Comparing and Contrasting Virtue in Taoism and Socrates' Philosophy The idea of virtue in Taoism may be compared and contrasted to the idea of virtue in the teachings of Socrates. For Socrates, virtue is related to the pursuit of wisdom through philosophy, and is ordered to that which is true and good. Taoism similarly calls upon the practitioner to devote himself to the Way, which is the order that
From this we need to understand that the existence of entities, beings which superior power and knowledge is accepted. People not only accept that these being actually exist, but they obey their commands. From this one can deduce that morality is connected with power. People obey the commands of the gods because the gods are what they are. The implications are that on the one side, the gods have access
SOCRATES' DECISION-defense Before we begin our discussion on Socrates' decision and take a position on this issue, we must bear in mind that philosophy doesn't offer any clear-cut answers to perplexing questions or situations. For this reason, we need to closely study various writings and philosophies and strive to interpret them in our way. The reason Socrates' decision is still embroiled in controversy is because many fail to see consistency between what
This aspect of the work also confirmed a clear belief that Socrates held, that nothing bad could happen to a good man. Socrates believed this to be a fundamental truth and he believed that he was a good man. As such he was at peace with whatever was going to happen to him as a result of the trial. In this particular passage it is also clear that Socrates
They do not occupy space. Nevertheless, although the Form of a circle has never been seen -- -indeed, could never be seen -- -mathematicians and others do in fact know what a circle is. That they can define a circle is evidence that they know what it is. For Plato, therefore, the Form "circularity" exists, but not in the physical world of space and time. It exists as a
Philosophy -- Plato's "The Apology" "The Apology" is Plato's recollection of Socrates' trial, conviction, sentencing and last words to the jury. The Apology is divided into three parts. The first part, Socrates' principal speech to the jury, is his argument against old and new accusations. The second part, Socrates' "counter-assessment," is Socrates' rebuttal of the prosecutor's recommendation of the death penalty. The third part, Socrates' final words to the jury, consists
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