Socrates: Offering Legal Counsel
Socrates, the charges that you face are serious ones. For many years, you were allowed to wander the streets of Athens, advocating your moral philosophy of ideal governance. Your concept of 'philosopher kings' having the right to rule, versus the ordinary populace, was profoundly at odds with the ideology commonly espoused in democratic Athens. For many years, you were allowed to speak as you wished. But gradually, as fears of tyranny began to creep into the average Athenian citizen's mind, your ideas began to fall out of favor.
The first charge against you is impiety. Your attackers claim that you worship no gods at all. However, you must point out that in Athens, the freedom of speech that is advocated in our land has always allowed us to address the gods in humorous as well as a serious fashion. Just as you, Socrates, have been mocked in the public theater in the plays of our most distinguished comedic playwrights, so has great Zeus himself....
As someone might say today, the lack of knowledge as a result of not willing to search for it is no excuse. How can anyone be sure to do right since the truth remains hidden? Socrates thinking was aimed at making his fellow humans who were willing to listen to him aware of the dangers of doing wrong by not being willing to question the truth or what it
Socrates In Plato's Crito, Socrates engages the title character in a dialogue about the nature of law, justice, and ethics. Crito wants to break Socrates out from prison, making various arguments in favor of the escape. For one, Crito tells Socrates that it is not ethical to abandon his children if he can help it. Second, Crito repeatedly refers to his own honor and ego, not wanting to be viewed as
His view is Asian in that it mirrors the view that meaning is found by searching within, that imposing a specific doctrine is not the way to find enlightenment, and that a teacher is a guide rather than a figure of authority. Such ideas are expressed in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Confucianism, and other Asian philosophical and religious systems. Socrates takes a very self-effacing position in keeping with the way
Trial and Death of Socrates Several of Plato's works explicate the details of Socrates life, especially his trial, sentence and execution. The novel, Trial and Death of Socrates too work around the same ideals, and present to the audience a man of great integrity and honor. Socrates was a man who valued his decisions and had great regards for self-respect, as well as respect for others. He was a man who
Socrates and the Apology Socrates and Death in the Apology In The Apology, Socrates contrasts his ability to address the crowd against more skillful speakers stating that he offers truth over eloquence (17b). In essence, he infers that others use the power of persuasion and slick words to sway others vs. The truth. He postulates that there are others who will always present a skewed depiction of the facts in order to
The logic is simple: the judges here are fakes but the judges in the afterlife are real; and moreover, the one truth he asks the jury to keep in mind is that "…a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death" (41-c). After all, Socrates will find joy in questioning and having discussions with iconic persons like Homer or Orpheus: "I could spend my time testing
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