Socrates and the Apology
Some of the best sources of information about Socrates' philosophical views are the early dialogues of his student Plato, who tried to provide a faithful picture of the methods and teachings of the great master. The Apology is one of the many-recorded dialogues about Socrates. It is about how Socrates was arrested and charged with corrupting the youth, believing in no god(s) (Atheism) and for being a Sophist. He attended his trial and put up a good argument. I believe that Socrates was wrongfully accused and should not have been sentenced to death. Within the duration of this document, I will be discussing the charges laid against Socrates and how he attempted to refute the charges.
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...).
Socrates was also put on trial for being an Atheist. In the argument Socrates has with Meletus, Socrates gets Meletus to admit that Socrates is Atheist and theist. Considering that both of these practices are totally incompatible, and Meletus admits to both of theses, maybe Meletus does not really understand what he is accusing Socrates of. I understand that back then; not believing in religion was considered a crime but to actually sentence someone to death for being different is totally uncalled for.
Thirdly, because Socrates practiced making weak arguments strong (Sophist).
Socrates was a traveling teacher and talked and challenged everyone he met. Socrates taught the art of persuasive speaking. He did not charge people money like most of the other Sophists did, but he did have similar beliefs as the Sophists. Sophists thought that our minds are cut off from reality and that we are stuck in our own opinions of what the world was like. Socrates believed that reason or nature could not tell us why the world is the way it appears. The Sophists' point of view is best summed up as this: we can never step out of the way things appear.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most renowned women to lead campaigns for women’s rights. Her efforts were focused on "opportunities for women, for married women’s property rights, the right to divorce, and the right to custody of children; her most radical demand was for women’s right to vote" (Davidson and Wagner-Martin 845). In general Stanton wished to instill independence and self-reliance in all women. Stanton was an inspiring orator of speeches including the Declaration of Sentiments as well as the book The Women’s Bible. Upon analysis of her speeches and other works, as well as gaining knowledge of her background, one is able to assume that personal experience strongly affected her writing, which illustrates her writing as representative in that it addressed inequality based on the issue of gender. Another factor that influenced her writing was the way in which she interpreted the great works, the Declaration of Independence and the Holy Bible. Noticing the obvious discrimination and guidelines set for women, Elizabeth Cady Stanton composed a new "women friendly" version of each that she called the Declaration of Sentiments and The Women’s Bible.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an important element of the Women’s Rights Movement, but not many people know of her significance or contributions because she has been overshadowed by her long time associate and friend, Susan B. Anthony. However, I feel that she was a woman of great importance who was the driving force behind the 1848 Convention, played a leadership role in the women’s rights movement for the next fifty years, and in the words of Henry Thomas, “She was the architect and author of the movement’s most important strategies ad documents.”
Elizabeth Stanton was a social activist and was one of the originators of the women’s moment in the United States. Stanton was an Author of many books, she was also a wife and a mother 7 children . She campaigning for women 's right with an emphasis on women 's rights to vote. In this paper I will walk through some of Stanton’s major life events.
Socrates, in his conviction from the Athenian jury, was both innocent and guilty as charged. In Plato’s Five Dialogues, accounts of events ranging from just prior to Socrates’ entry into the courthouse up until his mouthful of hemlock, both points are represented. Socrates’ in dealing with moral law was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of by Meletus. Socrates was only guilty as charged because his peers had concluded him as such. The laws didn’t find Socrates guilty; Socrates was guilty because his jurors enforced the laws. The law couldn’t enforce itself. Socrates was accused of corrupting Athens’ youth, not believing in the gods of the city and creating his own gods. In the Euthyphro, Socrates defends himself against the blasphemous charges outside the courthouse to a priest Euthyphro. Socrates looks to the priest to tell him what exactly is pious so that he may educate himself as to why he would be perceived as impious. Found in the Apology, another of Plato’s Five Dialogues, Socrates aims to defend his principles to the five hundred and one person jury. Finally, the Crito, an account of Socrates’ final discussion with his good friend Crito, Socrates is offered an opportunity to escape the prison and his death sentence. As is known, Socrates rejected the suggestion. It is in the Euthyphro and the Apology that it can be deduced that Socrates is not guilty as charged, he had done nothing wrong and he properly defended himself. However, in the Crito, it is shown that Socrates is guilty only in the interpretation and enforcement of Athens’ laws through the court system and its jurors. Socrates’ accusations of being blasphemous are also seen as being treasonous.
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.
In his examination of Meletus, Socrates makes three main points: 1) Meletus has accused Socrates of being the only corrupter, while everyone else improves the youth. Socrates then uses an analogy: a horse trainer is to horses as an improver is to the youth. The point is that there is only one improver, not many. 2) If Socrates corrupts the youth, either it is intentional or unintentional. No one would corrupt his neighbor intentionally, because he would harm himself in the process. If the corruption was unintentional, then the court is not the place to resolve the problem. The other possibility is that he does not corrupt them at all. 3) In frustration, Meletus accuses Socrates of being "a complete atheist," at the same time he claims Socrates teaches new gods. Thus, Meletus contradicts himself. Socrates argues that fear of death is foolish, because it is not known if death is a good or an evil, thus there is no reason to fear death.
I went to the Human Resource department to see why this was happening and why I was not getting the promotion that I have worked hard to achieve. I got the run around and did not get a straight answer. It seemed I was not in what you called a “groupie” or in a certain group called a “click” which means to me not a single or married woman with kids. I ended leaving the bank and only made ninety-five cents more than the regular employees make. If I knew more about the act then I would have made sure this would not happen to anybody and I would have gotten the promotion that I worked so hard for. In the end I concluded that the Human Resource Specialist was biases and the work force in the call center was a “women’s” world.
Socrates was accused of bringing false gods into the polis and corrupting the youth. The only false god was himself. For he might have presented himself in such a way to his many followers. These followers were mostly, as he says, wealthy young men with not much to do. This I could imagine is where a good deal of his conceitedness comes from, being almost worshipped be others. These men followed all of his teachings and practices, including the condescending cross-examinations, which were probably the worst of his acts.
From a historical point of view, Elizabeth Cady Stanton is a key figure in the women’s rights movement and aided in gaining women’s suffrage. Born in 1815 in Johnstown New York, Stanton was from a young age very involved in women’s rights. After high school Elizabeth got involved in the abolitionist movement, through which she met her husband Henry Stanton a reformer. The two were married in 1840. They moved to Seneca Falls New York in 1847 bringing their innovative thinking with them. There she met Lucretia Mott who served as her mentor in feminism and the abolitionist movement. With Mott and three other women, Stanton helped organize the first Women’s right movement in Seneca Falls in 1848. At this convention the Declaration of Rights and
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the first to say that women deserved the right to vote and that men should not have all the say so. After, many women were no longer afraid to stand up for themselves. Eventually, many women stood with Stanton. She spoke at many conventions, such as the Rochester Convention of 1848. In Seneca Falls and the Origin of the Women’s Rights Movement by Sally McMillen, it states that Stanton was even invited to the National Women’s Rights Convention in 1850, but she was not able to make it because of her pregnancy. She did not agree that men should have so much power over women. Women could not do the many things they wanted to do for the fear that it would look bad for their husbands’ or fathers’. So when Elizabeth stood up for what she believed
Elizabeth Cady Stanton made a remarkable difference in the history world for women and has encouraged many women to get involved. Stanton was a leading figure of the women's rights movement. Her declaration of sentiments was revolutionary for women's rights. She was an american suffragist, social activist, and a leading figure. As she grew older she narrowed her political focus on women’s rights. Stanton worked to not only address the main ideas of women's rights such as voting, but she tried to address the deeper issue people didn’t want to face.
The tears and complaints of the women who came to my father for legal advice touched my heart and drew my attention to the injustice and cruelty of the laws. I could not understand why my father could not alleviate the sufferings of these women (Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Excerpts from her Autobiography)”. So she grew up hearing these women and hear them coming to try and do something about their rights, so this inspired her to do something to create change. Stanton’s father was against women having rights and what all she had partaken in until 1854 when she was preparing her first speech to the New York Legislator. She went in his office and read him the speech as part of practice and when she looked up he was crying because he had finally realized what it meant to her and how awful it really was that women didn’t have rights. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the most influential women during the women’s suffragist movement. She spoke to crowds of thousands of people and influential people in the government about how women should have equal rights; she even helped create the National Women’s Suffrage Association, along with the help of Susan B.
Red Bull was created more than three decades ago. The founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, came up with the idea for Red Bull while touring Thailand. He took note of a Thai energy drink called Krating Daeng (or “red bull”) that had become a popular pick-me-up, especially amongst blue-collar workers. Believing that this would be a popular drink in Europe, he made a deal with the owners of Krating Daeng that gave him the international rights to the drink in exchange for a 51 percent share in his Red Bull Company (Peter, 2013). By 2004 Red Bull was an undeniable success with sales reaching 1.9 billion cans in 120 different countries.
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...
Socrates was a wise man who realized that life was not something that could be easily understood. He knew that questioning life would lead to a stronger conception of life and reality. When he stated that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato 45), he truly meant that without questioning life, one would not be truly living. Actions would have no understanding of being right or wrong. For Socrates, a man who believed that life should be based on what was right, there would be no greater wrongdoing.