The main argument in The Apology by famous ancient Greek philosopher Plato is whether, notorious speaker and philosopher Socrates is corrupting the youth by preaching ungodly theories and teaching them unlawful ideas that do harm to individuals and society. In his words Socrates quoted the prosecution’s accusation against him: “Socrates is guilty of corrupting the minds of the young, and of believing in supernatural things of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the state.” 1 Further Socrates consistently introduces tediously compiled number of examples to provide valid and sound arguments to prove that he is innocent of the charges brought up against him to the court. The first approach that Socrates uses to prove his innocence’s is he uses a practical comparison between horses and all living and artifical things “Take the case of horses; do you believe that those who improve them make up the whole of the mankind and that there is only one person who has a bad effect on them? Or is the truth just the opposite that the ability to improve them belongs to one person or to very few persons, who are horse-trainers, whereas most people, if they have to do with horses and make use of them, do them harm.” 2 The premises in this quote are: 1. Horse trainers do improve horses. 2. Those who use the horses do not enhance them. 3. There are more horse owners than the horse trainers. 4. Therefore, the improvements come from a small group of specia...
Plato's The Apology is an account of the speech. Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, inventing new gods, and corrupting the youth of Athens. For the most part, Socrates speaks in a very plain, conversational manner. He explains that he has no experience with the law courts and that he will instead speak in the manner to which he is accustomed with honesty and directness. Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily responsible for bringing Socrates before the jury. He strongly attacks Meletus for wasting the court¡¦s time on such absurd charges. He then argues that if he corrupted the young he did so unknowingly since Socrates believes that one never deliberately acts wrongly. If Socrates neither did not corrupt the young nor did so unknowingly, then in both cases he should not be brought to trial. The other charge is the charge of impiety. This is when Socrates finds an inconsistency in Meletus¡¦ belief that Socrates is impious. If he didn¡¦t believe in any gods then it would be inconsistent to say that he believed in spiritual things, as gods are a form of a spiritual thing. He continues to argue against the charges, often asking and answering his own questions as if he were speaking in a conversation with one of his friends. He says that once a man has found his passion in life it would be wrong of him to take into account the risk of life or death that such a passion might involve.
Plato’s "Apology" gives the substance of the defense made by Socrates to the Athenians at his trial. Meletus, Anytus and Lyncon brought Socrates to court on charges of corrupting the morals of the youth, leading the youth away from the principals of democracy, neglecting the Gods of the State and introducing new divinities.
There have been many great presidents and each president carries on the work of the past presidents. George Washington, being the first president of the United states, started it all. There are presidents that have made huge difference in slavery, rights, laws and plenty of other significant changes but none of this would have happened without George Washington. Washington lead by example and defined what the rule of a true leader and president is.
During this essay the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical.
Washington, George (1732-99), commander in chief of the Continental army during the American Revolution, and later the first president of the United States. He symbolized qualities of discipline, aristocratic duty, military orthodoxy, and persistence in adversity that his contemporaries particularly valued as marks of mature political leadership.
From his birth on February 22, 1732 in Bridges Creek, Virginia until his death on December 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Virginia, George Washington was a very sensible and significant man. Because his mother was very active in the public, George became accustomed to this lifestyle of dealing with the majority of people in a society. Along with his father being very active in public and with the people of Bridges Creek, George’s father was also a middling planter with over ten-thousand acres of land used on his plantation.
O men of Athens! After we have heard the accusers, whom said that Socrates corrupts the youth by criticising democracy and does not believe in gods, and makes the worse appear the better cause. (Apology, Plato) I beg you to grant me a favor, please listen to a few words from me before making this decision.
Each man has a different background and different problems with which to deal; how that person solves his problems, makes the man who he is. During the Industrial Revolution in America, technological advancements began to greatly impact the lives of the American people. To the poor people, the city was a glamorous place with a multitude of opportunities to work and gain wealth. To the rich people, the city was where their successful and monopolized businesses were located, but it was associated with continuous poverty. As America’s industrial revolution continued to grow during the Gilded Age, a gap between the wealthy and the wealth-less grew thicker in education, the economy and politics, and urbanization.
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.
According to Athenians, Socrates, a Greek philosopher, was corrupting the younger generations with his ideas. In a society where worshipping anything besides the Olympian Gods was considered illegal, Socrates was a threat. Socrates’ ideas were beyond what the Athenians already knew or thought they knew, and this led them to become defensive against Socrates. Through Plato’s Apology, readers are able to understand how Athenians lived back then, and what the popular ideas and beliefs were. The importance of religion in Athenian society is highlighted by the accusations of the Athenian council against Socrates, the laws are thoroughly laid out when Socrates is sentenced, and the significance of one’s place in the society’s social structure is
Over the years, members of the literary community have critiqued just about every author they could get their pen on. One of the most popular novels to be critiqued has been J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye. In favorable critiques, Holden Caulfield is a good guy stuck in a bad world. He is trying to make the best of his life, though ultimately losing that battle. Whereas he aims at stability and truth, the adult world cannot survive without suspense and lies. It is a testament to his innocence and decent spirit that Holden would place the safety of children as a goal in his lifetime. This serves to only re-iterate the fact that Holden is a sympathetic character, a person of high moral values who is too weak to pick himself up from a difficult situation.
The first main argument in support of the thesis is that it is society’s job to educate the youth and Socrates argues that it is impossible for just one man to corrupt the youth. This is the first mistake made by Meletus, as he makes the absurd overstatement that “every Athenian improves and elevates [the youth]; all with the exception of [Socrates],” who alone is their corrupter. Socrates goes on to defend himself by alluding to a horse analogy. Socrates argues that (P1) trainers improve horses, (P2) all others who simply ride horses, injure or corrupt horses, (P3) there are fewer trainers than riders, (P4) therefore, those who corrupt horses are in smaller number than those who ride horses and we can conclude that (C) people are corrupted by a majority rather than a minority. Socrates believes that this analogy to horses must be true of all animals and furthermore, for all people. Socrates utilizes this analogy to point out that Meletus’ overstatement is rather ironic, since according to Meletus all other beings except for the youth in the world are more likely to be corrupted by a majority rather than a minority. For this reason, it is more logical that the youth have been corrupted by a majority like the judges, senators, and the Athenians rather than one man, Socrates. Meletus’ overstatement and inability to defend himself reflects poorly on his character and further gives more authority to Socrates as it seems that Meletus is only arguing for the sake of argument and that he has no true evidence to prove that Socrates is guilty of corrupting the youth.
Imagine the time just after the death of Socrates. The people of Athens were filled with questions about the final judgment of this well-known, long-time citizen of Athens. Socrates was accused at the end of his life of impiety and corruption of youth. Rumors, prejudices, and questions flew about the town. Plato experienced this situation when Socrates, his teacher and friend, accepted the ruling of death from an Athenian court. In The Last Days of Socrates, Plato uses Socrates’ own voice to explain the reasons that Socrates, though innocent in Plato’s view, was convicted and why Socrates did not escape his punishment as offered by the court. The writings, “Euthyphro,” “The Apology,” “Crito,” and “Pheado” not only helped the general population of Athens and the friends and followers of Socrates understand his death, but also showed Socrates in the best possible light. They are connected by their common theme of a memoriam to Socrates and the discussion of virtues. By studying these texts, researchers can see into the culture of Athens, but most important are the discussions about relationships in the book. The relationships between the religion and state and individual and society have impacted the past and are still concerns that are with us today.
George Washington is arguably the single most important figure in all of American history. As the first President of this nation, he set the stage for what the public head was supposed to act like and do as well as established many rules for a lot of the ideology that America has today. Historians believe that he is the major reason all of the American presidents prior to Franklin Delano Roosevelt only served for two terms and the reason they did a lot of what they did publically in the sight of America. Today, everyone in the world knows the name George Washington and knows what he’s done to create the world everyone lives in today. He kept America from becoming another monarch and brought it to eventually be a great power
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...