Plato And Socrates Essay

Socrates and Plato were some of the world’s most famous philosophers. Yet, they caused much trouble in the midst of their philosophizing. These philosophers, in the view of the political elites, were threatening the Athenian democracy with their philosophy. But why did they go against the status quo? What was their point in causing all of this turmoil? Plato and Socrates threatened the democracy as a wake-up call. They wanted the citizens to be active thinkers and improve society. This manifested itself in three main ways: Socrates’ life, his student Plato’s life, and their legacy in our modern age.

Socrates was born in 469 BCE and died in 399 BCE. In fact, because Socrates kept no writings of his own, his students are the lenses in which we

Several times he mentions that “death would be a wondrous gain.” This draws a close parallel to the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians in the New Testament. Philippians 1:21 says, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” For both Christians and philosophers, death is viewed as a release from this menacing world. Jacques Lewis David’s 1787 painting, The Death of Socrates, portrays the scene right before his death. Even in the midst of the weeping and tragedy, he was still arguing and reasoning. David captured the essence of Socrates’ character in his work. This painting holds such a strong irony. There are no signs of fear or trembling, but only thinking and

One historical figure that loved Socrates’ ideas was Martin Luther King Jr. In King’s famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he mentions Socrates by name several times, commending his provocative thinking. He says, “Isn’t this like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock?” The idea of civil disobedience is one that has permeated through generations. Dr. King suggests that Socrates is one that sparked this movement of asserting rights by defiance. He says, “To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.” Even the father of the Civil Rights Movement found inspiration in Socrates’