The Public Sphere has become the center of thought and the forum in which people can freely communicate their views, though it is important to realize that not always have the two been intertwined. Though today the Public Sphere is thought to have originated during the French Revolution, but it is much older than that, it held an important aspect in the Hellenistic Greek era. Because free speech and Public Sphere were not combined back then many philosophers found themselves in a tough spot when they spoke out against the norm in favor of change. Philosophers, such as Socrates, found that the Public Sphere was very important to their ability to teach/lecture to other students or passer byes (Plato p. 2). However, unlike now where free speech …show more content…
Because Socrates believed that the most important job in his life was to pursue wisdom by questioning “ the politicians...to the poets; tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts,” making sure he questioned all of the influential people of Greek Society (Plato p. 4). What Socrates found was that “men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that some inferior men were really wiser and better,” from these inferior men he helped raise formidable minds and also upset those within power thusly creating enemies (Plato p. 4). In his own words “This investigation has led to my having many enemies of the worst and most dangerous kind,” which led to accusations being placed against him (Plato p. …show more content…
2). Because Socrates publicly questioned the norm and backed up his comments, youth started to challenge the system, that being said Socrates argued that he “either I do not corrupt them, or I corrupt them unintentionally, so that on either view of the case,” his accusers were in fact making themselves into liars and had no real claim against him (Plato p. 7). It had been common knowledge for quite some time the aspect of free will and therefore Socrates could ever predict what people took away from his lectures as he could not determine when they first came in or how much they actually were paying attention. To polish off his accusers, he says “my offence is unintentional, the law has no cognizance of unintentional offences,” which meant that since there was no slandering of specific people, or groups that there was no lawful case against him (Plato p.
Throughout all the years, he never could find anyone as wise as himself, and all he did was make enemies searching. These enemies are now his accusers, and they accuse him of spreading evil doctrines, corrupting the youth, and not believing in the Gods. Throughout the speech, Socrates continues to shoot down every accuser and it is evident that he has done no wrong. Eventually, one of his accusers states that he must be doing something strange and that he wouldnt be that famous if he were like other men. Socrates did not live a very public life unlike most people at that time. His thoughts of being virteous had more to do with examining yourself and becoming a better person and in that way, you benifit society. He did not believe Athens to be virtuos at all, and that they relied on materail things and reputation rather than finding happiness by searching for it deep within
Socrates was wise men, who question everything, he was found to be the wise man in Athens by the oracle. Although he was consider of being the wises man alive in those days, Socrates never consider himself wise, therefore he question everything in order to learned more. Socrates lived a poor life, he used to go to the markets and preach in Athens he never harm anyone, or disobey any of the laws in Athens, yet he was found guilty of all charges and sentence to die.
After reading “The Apology of Socrates”, I feel very strongly that Socrates was innocent in the allegations against him. “The Apology of Socrates” was written by Plato, Socrates most trusted pupil, who in fact wrote everything for Socrates. Numerous times in his defense, Socrates points out ways that what he is being accused of is false. The point of this paper is to show how Socrates did this, and to explain how he proved his innocence by using these quotes. He uses a lot of questions to the accusers to prove his points and is very skilled in speech and knowledge. This essay’s purpose is to explain why I think Socrates was innocent, and how he proves that in his speech.
1. The measure of a great society is the ability of its citizens to tolerate the viewpoints of those with whom they disagree. As Voltaire once said, “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” (Columbia). This right to express one's opinion can be characterized as “freedom of speech.” The concept of “freedom of speech” is a Constitutional right in the United States, guaranteed under the First Amendment to the Constitution:
Socrates was indicted to a court of law on the charges of impiety, and the corruption of the youth of Athens. Three different men brought these charges upon Socrates. These men represented those that Socrates examined in his search to find out if the Delphic Mission was true. In that search he found that none of the men that promoted what they believed that they knew was true was in fact completely false. This made those men so angry that they band together and indicted Socrates on the charges of impiety and the corruption of the youth. Socrates then went to court and did what he could to refute the charges that were brought against him.
Hentoff, Nat. Free Speech for Me – But Not for Thee. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Print
Socrates was not guilty as charged; he had done nothing wrong, as seen in the Apology. Not even a priest could tell Socrates what he had done wrong religiously, Euthyphro wasn’t even able to give Socrates a precise definition of piety. It is then questioned by Crito why Socrates would remain to face a penalty for a crime he did not commit. In the Crito, it is explained why, although innocent, Socrates must accept the penalties his peers have set upon him. It is his peers that will interpret and enforce the laws, not the law which will enforce it. Even if the enforcers don’t deserve attention and respect because they have no real knowledge to the situation, Socrates had put himself under their judgment by going to the trial. Therefore, Socrates must respect the decisions made by the masses because the decisions are made to represent the laws, which demand each citizen’s respect.
In Plato’s Apology, when Socrates is pleading his defence, he makes a good argument against the charges of corrupting the youth of Athens. This is evident when he states that, firstly, Meletus, the man who is trying to get Socrates executed, has never cared about the youth of Athens and has no real knowledge on the subject. Secondly, Socrates states that if he was in some way corrupting the youth, then he was doing it unintentionally or unwillingly, in which case he was brought to court for no reason. Finally, Socrates brings to light the fact that Meletus doesn’t have a single witness to attest to Socrates’ corruption. This is how Socrates proves his argument that he isn’t responsible for corrupting the youth of Athens.
Public sphere, in rhetoric, a place for citizens to express their ideas and opinion, are becoming an important concept in China during 1990s. The concept of Public Sphere was originated during 18th century by German scholar Hannah Arendt, with analyzing of the human condition, the origins of totalitarianism and the plight of the modern constitutional issues in the public domain, thus Hannah Arendt opened the public sphere theory study of the regiment.
In society the topic of free speech comes up very frequently. One side will argue that there should be no limit on what someone wants to say, while others believe that the idea on full free speech is dangerous and should be restricted. In a video that was presented to us there was a debate that conquered this topic on why or why not this should be allowed. This topic of free speech has gone on for decades and continues to be a fight on whether it should be limited.
(37) The problem is that many of the citizens of Athens who wanted Socrates dead, lacked that emotional intelligence and thought highly of themselves. So of course they become defensive when Socrates sheds light on the idea that they may be wrong. As someone who cared most about the improvement of the soul, Socrates would have made a constructive role model to the criminals of Athens, as he would go on saying, “virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every other good of man…”(35) Socrates was able to benefit everyone alike as he had human wisdom- something that all the Athenians could relate
Thomas Jefferson once said, “Where the press is free and every man is able to read, all is safe”. In his quote, Thomas Jefferson is referring to freedom of speech. Freedom of speech also referred to as freedom of expression (Roleff). The freedom of speech is an unalienable right given to every citizen of the United States of America. The Bill of Rights, which includes the first amendment, was drafted in 1789 and adopted in 1791. In 1925, the United States Supreme Court declared the freedom of speech as a civil liberty. In conclusion, state governments had to allow freedom of speech because the fourteenth amendment protected it. This paper will explain the origination of freedom of speech and arguments for free speech as well as restrictions,
Freedom of speech might be the most useful and righteous freedom a citizen could be granted with. As technology improves and society becomes more and more modernized, people get more comfortable with the social media and tend to express themselves more on those tools.As one knows, there are specific ways to express opinion or address to people and social media require specific manners and would not advise publicly intimidating another no matter what the situation is or was. That is the case for Anthony Elonis whose case will be studied and elaborated in this assignment.
“I would like to be a philosopher in ancient Athens and a poet in ancient China” a quote from Shan Sa, an awarded Chinese author, show the legacy of ancient Athens today. Athens is remembered for being the birthplace of democracy, drama, and philosophy. All of these would have most likely never occurred if not for development of an academic society that valued reason and logic. One of Plato’s works, The Symposium, shows the degree of the intellectual community. The intellectual life in Athens was sophisticated and accomplished due to the education level of its intellectuals, the sharing of ideas and its openness to criticism.
When Socrates was brought to trial for the corruption of the city’s youth he knew he had done nothing wrong. He had lived his life as it should be lead, and did what he ne...