Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher. He lived in Athens, where he taught and talked leading debates with accidental passers-by on the streets. Socrates thought that good and virtue are the most important value in life. In the 399 BC Meletus made an accusation against Socrates that he commit crimes because he do not believe in gods but create some new and also he corrupt the youth of Athens. Socrates had to stand trial. It is known from Apology of Socrates that he was found guilty and sentenced him to death penalty by poisoning. In my opinion it was not a good decision, I think Socrates was innocent. He was teaching and talking with people honestly and openly, he did not hide. He wanted to give some knowledge to others and he even did not get money from that. Maybe he is guilty due to irritating authority with awareness. But he did not deserve for such punishment. I will try to prove that Meletus was not right. …show more content…
First of all people charged Socrates with impiety. There were two groups of accusers – first claimed that he is an atheist and the second said that he believe in false gods, other than the city. It excludes one another. You cannot be impious and believe in other gods in the same time. Socrates was talking about contradiction between these two accusations. He claimed that he believe in Divine Spirits. His argument was that whoever believes in the children of gods, believe in the gods. And he believed in spirit who are the children of the gods, therefore he believed in Gods themselves. Moreover, in the defense speech the philosopher appealed to the god Zeus. If Socrates did not believe in Gods then he was an atheist. Socrates was not an atheist but godly. Therefore, he believed in Gods ( modus tollens ). In ancient Athens some chosen men had an opportunity to ask some questions to Delphic oracle and they were convinced of truthfulness of answers. Pythia’s prophecies and answers were so great and important that they had a significant impact on religion, politics, or the law of ancient Greece. Its words were really respected and crucial. Everyone knew that Pythia was always right. If Delphic oracle (Pythia) was always right then it knew and was aware that Socrates was the wisest man and no one is smarter. Pythia was always right. Therefore, Socrates was the wisest man in those times ( modus ponens ). Socrates explained that Delphic oracle had maybe contributed to his trouble a little.
The Delphic oracle told to his friend Chaerephon that Socrates is the wisest man on earth. However, he did not think in that way and tried to prove that the oracle had not right. When he started to talk with people it turned out that the politicians are arrogant and not so clever, poets do not understand their own work, manual artisans considered themselves to be so smart in all areas, however, they know only their craftsmanship. When Socrates showed their ignorance, he became hated. Although he only wanted to prove that human wisdom is not so important and has not the biggest value in life. Moreover, he was just about to show that real wisdom belongs only to the gods. Socrates wisdom consisted in realizing his ignorance. Other people did not confess to their ignorance, they thought that they know everything. Socrates was aware of that he can do not know something, compared to others. And for him it was natural, when other people did not want to confess to their
ignorance.
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.
First of all, there was no legitimate reason Socrates should have been brought to court and absolutely no reason he should have been found guilty. Socrates lived a humble, poor life so that he could spread his wise words throughout the land. He was not boastful and he did not preach anything that he did not believe himself. “It seems
Socrates was executed after a trial in which he was accused of corrupting the youths of Athens, and committing acts of impiety. These accusations were brought to the court by a small group of men. Meletus was the speaker representing the group of accusers, while Socrates defended himself. The jury of 501 Athenians voted to execute Socrates on these accusations, but this extreme outcome was not planned out (Stone 78). The initial object of the trial was to get Socrates out of Athens, and he would just move a...
In any case of law, when considering truth and justice, one must first look at the validity of the court and the system itself. In Socrates' case, the situation is no different. One may be said to be guilty or innocent of any crime, but guilt or innocence is only as valid as the court it is subjected to. Therefore, in considering whether Socrates is guilty or not, it must be kept in mind the norms and standards of Athens at that time, and the validity of his accusers and the crimes he allegedly committed. Is Socrates guilty or innocent of his accusations?
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.
Socrates lived such a private life that it lead to the most important revelation of his entire life. He would go about his life doing nothing but self-examination. In examining his life so strenuously others would come to him to be taught, or to have their children be taught by Socrates. They would offer him money and he would refuse. They would do whatever they could to learn anything Socrates had to teach. What they did not know is that Socrates was not teaching anyone he was simply going about his usual life and people just happened to learn from it. This was also why Socrates was put on trial. He was brought up on two charges, one of impiety and the other of corrupting the youth. These two charges set the course for the last month of his life.
While he fails to convince the Athenian jury of his innocence, he does a wonderful job in this effort. I personally believe that Socrates is innocent, and that the Athenian jury made the wrong decision. Socrates was accused of being a sophist, a professional philosopher. Sophists were seen as corrupters of society and as generally bad men. Socrates says that every one of these accusations is false.
In the Apology, Socrates was told by the Delphic Oracle that there was nobody wiser than him. With ancient Greece having been a prominent home of philosophy and art since before Socrates' time, the Athenian court found his proclamation both insulting and hard to believe. Socrates goes through great lengths to find the wisest of men and seeing if their reputations are in fact true. He hoped to find a man wiser than him to prove the oracles prediction was false, even Socrates failed to believe he was the wisest man. He first went to a man that seemed wise. After he spoke with him Plato quotes "I came to see that, though many persons, and chiefly himself, thought that he was wise, yet he was not wise."(77) With his certainty that Socrates was wiser, the man was insulted and hated Socrates for derailing his intelligence. Socrates then goes to another wise man, but is again let down. He still believes he is wiser. Convinced that he would not find a more intelligent man amongst wise men, he then questioned the more "educated people", such as poets and artisans. According to Plato, Socrates says "I imagine, they find a great abundance of men who think that they know a great...
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.
A. Under trial for corrupting youth and not worshiping the Gods in Athens, Socrates takes an attitude that many might interpret as pompous during his trial. Rather than apologise, as Plato’s dialogue title Apology suggests, Socrates explains why he is right and those who accused him are mistaken. He speaks in a plain manner, as if the jury is just another of his followers. Socrates first cites the profit at Delphi for why he behaves in ways that lead to him being under scrutiny of the law. He explains that his friend, Chaerephon, went to ask the oracle if anyone is wiser than Socrates and the oracle responded no (21a). Socrates then explains his interpretation of this being that he is wise in knowing that he does not know certain things, where
In conclusion, Socrates was guilty of inventing his own deity, which violated the Athenian laws and the general moral principle held by Athenians, though his main purpose was to improve the society and educate the youth through questioning. However, he was a great citizen and thinker in ancient Athens, since he developed a new value system which did guide the people to the truth and rightness, despite the fact that some part of defense was not convincing and involved sophistry. In addition, the legal system of Athens had some defects for it let the majority rather than professional judges or lawmakers make judgment, leading to the tragedy of Socrates’ death.
It was because of the Oracle that Socrates began to question his wisdom and the wisdom of others. He was not trying to corrupt the youth nor did he believe in false gods. Socrates was a man who believed that the Oracle’s message, “There was no one wiser than Socrates.”, was misguided and tried to prove it wrong. He went about doing that by questioning people. Socrates realized that he truly know nothing, of importance. So he tried to seek the truth. To be able to do this he ahd an open mind, and told his followers they should also have open minds. This is why Socrates was falsely accused by a culture that was both strict and hypocritical.
Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher. “He is credited with laying the fundamentals of modern Western philosophy. He is known for creating Socratic irony and the Socratic Method (elenchus). He is best recognized for inventing the teaching practice of pedagogy, wherein a teacher questions a student in a manner that draws out the correct response” (Ancient Greece). Socrates was sentenced to death for refusing to obey the orders of the Athenian government to refrain from discussing philosophical questions with young. The government was afraid that Socrates would turn the youth against them. Socrates refused and, as a consequence, he was condemned to death. While in prison Socrates closet friend, Crito came to break Socrates out. Socrates
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...
He possesses the qualities by his account but also by the assignment of others. According to Socrates the definition of human wisdom is the acknowledgment and understanding of the limitations to solely crediting one 's knowledge of things. Socrates showed that he possessed these qualities when he acknowledged that there are unique skills and perspectives that people of other trades have, such as poets and craftsmen (Plato 22c-d). Even though he did not necessarily possess these qualities himself, he felt like they were something to be admired (Plato 22c-d). Socrates labeled as wise by others. Others such as Plato and the Oracle have also attested to Socrates’ wisdom by looking to him as an inspiration and deeming that “none is wiser than he” (Plato 21c). Socrates was a wise man because his knowledge did not restrain him and his wisdom was not contained to him. He wanted to learn more and know more and encouraged others to do the same. That being said, Socrates became a victim of his wisdom because of other 's