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Greek philosophy's influence on western civilization
Greek philosophers'influence on civilization
Socrates disertations
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what is socratic philosophy? Socrates was a great philosopher, one of the wisest ever to be known. He had a way with words, a gift of gab. He could piece words together in a way that he would turn your argument against yourself. He is for the good of the people and not the selfishness of the government. His ways of thought and understanding excelled anyone who was alive during this century. He is a legend to the wise and has remarkable traits individuals envy. Socratic Philosophy is a process that continues onward only progressing to the end point. His reasoning behind his statements were for the most part, clearly understood and well remembered. His emotions do not get entangled in debates which shows great self control and calmness. The homeostasis …show more content…
Socrates’ was blamed for numerous things. One of his most harmful accusations was when he was blamed for impiety and corrupting the youth in the city. He felt that there was no harm done but the residents felt otherwise. In my eyes, the accusations where portrayed as false information. He was simply stating unpleasant truths instead of comforting lies. The townspeople would rather hear fibs than listen to facts. It is imperative that he is helping the country in such an abstract and non ideal way that reflects the personality of those being judged. To get mad at someone for stating an uncomfortable is showing that you care too much about your personal appearance. If you truly believe in what you are saying and doing, why get emotional when your traits are exploited in a “rude” way. Socrates did nothing but help and aid the people of this earth, to terrorize a town’s youth and mental process is an absurd assumption for townspeople to make. There was a case against him for this and he pleaded for himself how he saw fit, what he was used to. Usually in a court there is a lawyer defending your case, he ended up being held guilty by a whole town instead of a single source. The youth have not done any crimes or illegal activity, they were just given the wrong word of advice so to speak. Socrates only stated what was necessary for the city to rise up and be great again. He considers himself like an annoying gadfly and the city is a horse. The gadfly bites the horse, waking it up. The bite represents the sharp information explained to the townspeople. He is confused on why he would be accused for corrupting youth if he was the one waking them up. You can not be blind in this world of living, too much can happen at any point in time for you not to be equipped for the situation at
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.
In fact, it’s I who can call what I think is a sufficient witness that I’m telling the truth, my poverty.” (Plato 661) Socrates also states “if I really do corrupt the young or have corrupted them in the past, surely if any of them had recognized when they became older that I’d given them bad advice at some point in their youth, they’d now have come forward themselves to accuse me and seek redress. Or else, if they weren’t willing to come themselves, some of their family members…would remember it now and seek redress.” (Plato 663) There was no one in the audience who stepped forward to speak on behalf of his accusers. Socrates consistently proved by words, how the accusations against him were false. In the end, he was accused of all of these things and put to death. This goes to show how much they truly hated Socrates and that no matter what they were told, it wouldn’t have mattered, they would have found a way to punish him in the
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.
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.
Socrates’ view on morality is that anyone can do wrong. It is said that injuring someone in return for injury to oneself is wrong. He follows this with the connection between morality and the city. You do badly without the cities authorization; you are doing wrong towards the city and the laws. He felt if you are behaving against peoples mind and in this way, behaving against the city. It is a way of destroying the cities laws and so you are hurting citizens by doing so. An example of this is the general understanding that you shouldn’t hurt your father. If you do so than you are disrespecting laws within your city. Of course you will get convicted for this, and it doesn’t change the idea that you acted against the city.
When I think of a philosopher, I think of something that gets people to ask questions and think. This is exactly what Socrates did for the people of Athens. He is accused of doing wrong when he is just trying to help advance society. Another thing that makes him a great philosopher is the fact that he sticks to his morals throughout. He has the ability to escape prison, but he knows that would go against all of his teachings.
One of the reasons why Socrates was arrested was because he was being accused of corrupting the minds of the students he taught. I personally feel that it is almost impossible for one person to corrupt the thoughts and feelings of a whole group of people. Improvement comes form a minority and corruption comes from the majority. Socrates is one man (minority) therefore it is less likely the youth have been corrupted by Socrates than by some larger group of people (educators, council members, jurymen etc...).
In his defense, Socrates claims over and again that he is innocent and is not at all wise, “…for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great.” Throughout the rest of his oration he seems to act the opposite as if he is better than every man, and later he even claims that, “At any rate, the world has decided that Socrates is in some way superior to other men.” This seems to be his greatest mistake, claiming to be greater than even the jury.
Socrates, according to Plato challenged the norms of society by questioning life and having others question it as well. He was labeled of “corrupting the youth” and for not believing in the Athenians gods. “Socrates is guilty of corrupting the young, and of not acknowledging the gods the city acknowledges, but new daimonic activities instead.” (The Apology, pp 654) Although, he was cast by being “corrupt”, Socrates had many followers that saw him as a wise man. Socrates trial was made up of thirty jurors, who were later known as “The Thirty.” The “Thirty” really wanted was to silence Socrates, rather than taking his life. However, Socrates did not want to disobey the laws, he did not want to be violated of his right to freedom of speech, nor did he did he want to be undermine his moral position. (The Apology, pp. 647) He stood against injustice acts several times while he was in counsel. “I was the sort...
...t Socrates came up with a system. This system was called the Socratic Method, in which Socrates would ask a question, propose an idea, and then ask more questions. His ultimate goal in doing this was to prove the Oracle was wrong.
(24b-8) I believe that Socrates is wholly innocent of the first accusation against him of corrupting the youth. Socrates responds to Meletus’ claims in a similar fashion to how he responds to each of the accusations. Socrates explains how firstly, that Meletus is indifferent towards the young people of Athens and therefore infers that he cannot have any idea on how Socrates positively or negatively affects the youth. (24d-25c) Socrates then says, “No, either I’m not corrupting the young or, if I am corrupting them, it’s unintentionally.” (25e6-26a) This, in my opinion confirms that Socrates is innocence. Socrates then debunks the two following claims in one statement. Socrates paraphrases Meletus’ argument in order to express the hypocrisy in his statement, “Socrates is guilty of not acknowledging gods but of acknowledging gods.” (27a4-27a5) This analysis by Socrates shows that you cannot indict some body of both not acknowledging gods but then acknowledging beings that are either akin to or children of the former. And that in order to not acknowledge the gods; one cannot acknowledge something that is related to the belief of the gods. (27b-27d) In my opinion, both of these statements show Socrates’ innocence as he is not corrupting the youth in a criminal manner as it is either unintentional or not at all, and the last two charges contradict themselves making them inherently both
Socrates was a philosopher who set out to prove, to the gods, that he wasn't the wisest man. Since he could not afford a "good" Sophist teacher, surely a student of one had to be smarter than he. He decides to converse with the youth of Athens, but concludes that he actually is wiser than everyone he speaks with. He then realizes that their lack of intelligence is the fault of their teachers. Socrates understands that the practice of "sophism" leads to a lack of self-knowledge and moral values. Socrates was later accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and put on trial. In The Apology of Socrates he sta...
The point of Socrate's philosophies was to make people think about the questions he would often ask. The reason for these questions being asked is to have people express their own thoughts and opinions about life. He did not think a person with the right mind should follow the steps of their ancestors. Instead of going around asking questions, Plato, another philosopher, would write his own conversations with imaginary people. These conversations would cover much of the same topics that Socrates had tried to cover earlier.
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...