...NO THANKSGET THE APP Apology rough draft Kwong 2 Emily Kwong Mrs. McGinity Honors English Period 3 6 September 2016 Socrates Against the World Socrates’ words during his trial were called the “Apology” which was put to paper by his student, Plato. In his discussion with the majority of the Athenian men, Socrates faces unjust judgement for speaking up for his different beliefs. Unintentionally attacking the natural philosophy, Socrates is put to trial for declaring his mind’s thoughts. Knowing that “God only is wise” (75), fuels the hatred of those who “thought himself wise, but was not really wise” (57). Socrates enlightens others that “wisdom is in truth worth nothing” (78) for the only one that has the wisdom to be...
Words: 371 - Pages: 2
...Summary 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 deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates' speech, however, is by no means an "apology" in our modern understanding of the word. The name of the dialogue derives from the Greek "apologia," which translates as a defense, or a speech made in defense. Thus, in The Apology, Socrates attempts to defend himself and his conduct--certainly not to apologize for it. 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. He explains that his behavior stems from a prophecy by the oracle at Delphi which claimed that he was the wisest of all men. Recognizing his ignorance in most worldly affairs, Socrates concluded that he must be wiser than other men only in that he knows that he knows nothing. In order to spread this peculiar wisdom, Socrates explains that he considered it his duty to question supposed "wise" men and to expose their false wisdom as ignorance. These activities earned him much admiration amongst the youth of Athens, but much hatred and anger from the people he embarrassed. He cites their contempt as the reason for his being put on trial. Socrates then proceeds to interrogate Meletus, the man primarily...
Words: 940 - Pages: 4
...After reading Plato’s Apology there are many questions that filled my head. Whether it was what Socrates meant when explaining his defense, or what the Athenian court members had based their moral and ethical views from. More importantly, Socrates was a philosopher, and he strived to find answers, even when they were not easy to discover. This led me to Socrates’ idea, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Socrates was a strong advocate of this statement and supported it in front of the Oracle of Delphi and in the Athenian court. I was very interested with Socrates statement, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” When I first discovered this statement the first thought that popped in my head was how serious Socrates was. There was...
Words: 934 - Pages: 4
...In the, “Apology, we can see dialogue on how Socrates pleads in his own self-defense. Socrates is on trial for his life because he is known as a non conformist. One important fact that must be addressed is that Socrates understood what the Athenians did not. Socrates did not believe the claim of his wisdom and was willing to disprove it. In order to do that, he decided to question three different citizens on the topic they should be knowledgeable about. Socrates also questioned the Athenians while on trial to refute the allegations brought against him. In his conversations with the Athenians, Socrates questions before and during the trial were ineffective because he was still convicted of his crime. While on trial, Socrates tells of his interactions while questioning all people of knowledge. Socrates says “where wisdom is concerned, those who...
Words: 483 - Pages: 2
...that at 70 years old, Socrates was convicted to death for allegedly corrupting the youth’s minds. He was also convicted for not believing in the gods of the state and for speaking with contempt to the high ranking officials of his time (Ober “Gadfly on Trial” 2). The accounts of his trials were written by his avid and equally popular student Plato in Apology (Colaiaco 17). In Apology, he quoted: For if you kill me you will not easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the god; and the state is like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life (Plato, in McIntyre 20). In this statement, Socrates compares himself to a gadfly – a biting, noisy insect commonly found buzzing around and refers to the state as the horses. What Socrates meant by this is that his frequent questioning (or “biting”) is intended to wake the state up. For him, the people during that era were in an idle stage because they are just accepting the things that have been set for them by the previous generations, by the government, the rich and powerful, or by the church. Socrates does not want that. Socrates would like the people to wake up, ask questions that challenge their minds, like – Where are we from? Is there really a god? Why do we live? He wanted to bring the people to reality by taking them out of their ignorance. I think what Socrates feels is that ignorance...
Words: 930 - Pages: 4
...Heath Thomas Kinkead English 1301-394 12 September 2017 Plato tells a story about a “wise” man being accused of corrupting the youth in Athens. In “The Apology,” Socrates defends himself in front of the jury while he attempts to embarrass Meletus and lessen his credibility as the prosecutor. Socrates then talks about how Athens would lose more than they would gain by exiling him, and he finishes by saying that he does not fear death for only the gods know what happens after death. Socrates uses apologia, a method of defense, to embarrass Meletus. He wants to prove to the jury that Meletus really has no affiliation with the youth of Athens, so there is no way for him to know if the youth are corrupted or not. It appears that Meletus just...
Words: 619 - Pages: 3
...PL 109 Study Guide Plato’s Apology, pp. 1-5 1. When Socrates is on trial he initiates his defense by comparing his manner of speaking to that of his prosecutors. He discusses his force of eloquence because his accusers use this topic to say that you should not be mislead by this. Socrates goes on to agree with them by saying he does speak with the force of eloquence but only if that is a force of truth. He compares the eloquence mainly by agreeing with the prosecutors, but getting more specific with that of what he speaks and saying that he speaks only the truth in an elegant and persuasive manner. He also goes on to compare the words spoken and informs everyone that the accusers have only spoken false things about him, and everything that they will hear from his mouth will be nothing but the truth. Socrates mainly compares the eloquence to prove his point that these people accusing him are liars and that everyone should open their minds up a it believe him because he speaks truthfully. He asks his jury to...
Words: 3636 - Pages: 15
...discussions about Socrates in Plato’s Apology, a controversial issue has been whether or not Socrates should be considered Man Thinking, a term coined by Emerson. On one hand, some argue that since Socrates was unable to convert his ideas to actions and become powerful, he cannot be described as Man Thinking. From this perspective, Socrates is not Man Thinking because he only thought, but was not dexterous with his hands, being too much like a scholar than Man Thinking. On the other hand, others argue that Socrates was Man Thinking because he stood by his ideas even upon punishment of death. According to this view, the fact that Socrates stood up for his ideas is action enough for him to be described as Man Thinking. In sum, the issue is whether...
Words: 1400 - Pages: 6
...In ‘The Apology’ written by Plato, Socrates is being accused of many things by Meletus. Socrates is being accused of corrupting the youth in general, corrupting the you intentionally and that Socrates is an atheist; in all of which he does not defend himself but rather manipulate what all the accusations against him are. In the middle of ‘The Apology’, Meletus accuses Socrates of “corrupting the youth by demonic teachings” but instead of defending himself, he starts to manipulate the accusations against him. When Meletus is accusing Socrates, Socrates says that it is impossible that he is the only one to be corrupting the youth. Socrates says “Like horses, very few are able to improve them while many can hurt or spoil them. The ability is rather limited, you will admit” – which in the end, Meletus does not care for the improvement of the youths of Athens....
Words: 460 - Pages: 2
...Socrates, a famous Greek Philosopher, was formally charged at the Athenian courts for his philosophical teachings and its effect on the people of Athens. He was presented in front of hundreds of jury men and unsupportive audience to defend himself against charges that were set by Meletus, one of his prosecutors. Normally a person would plead with the jury to free himself from receiving harsh punishments, but Socrates was not among them. Despite of knowing the fact that the result of the trail would be death, Socrates presented a powerful speech and tactfully cross examined Meletus to prove to the audience and the jury that Meletus accused Socrates of an issue (the corruption of the youth) that Meletus himself was ignorant about. As Socrates says “But in fact Meletus, you have sufficiently displayed that you never yet gave any thought to the young. And you making your own lack of care plainly apparent, since you have cared nothing about the things for which you bring me here” (West, 25 c). First of all, Meletus accuses Socrates of corrupting the minds of the youth. When Socrates questioned to Meletus who is it that has a good influence on youth, Meletus replied the laws. Socrates then asked him to be more specific in terms of people, and Meletus said it were the jurymen. In response to Socrates persistent questions, Meletus mistakenly makes an absurd overstatement that the entire population of Athens has a positive influence on youth except for Socrates. Socrates...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...Plato’s Apology and Crito Ben Blanks, Lynchburg College (Editor’s note: This essay by Ben Blanks is the winner of the North Award for the best paper in the 2012 Agora. Ben presented an earlier version of this paper at the ACTC Student Conference at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in March, 2011.) When reading the Apology and the Crito of Plato, one inevitably comes upon a seeming fundamental contradiction between the two dialogues. The Apology presents readers with a defiant Socrates who declares in his trial that, if acquitted on the condition that he never philosophize again, he would continue to practice philosophy in spite of the jury’s order to the contrary: . . . if you said to me in this regard: “Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now; we acquit you, but only on condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die”; if, as I say, you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you: “Men of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy . . . (29c-d).1 The passage from the Apology seems to present a defiant argument for civil disobedience in the face of injustice. In the Crito, however, when given a chance to escape prison and his upcoming execution, Socrates reasons that such an action would be unjust because it would defy the laws 1Plato, Apology. Trans...
Words: 1804 - Pages: 8
...Aristotle's Poetics in the work Apology by Plato According to Aristotle, the criterion that is expressed in Poetics should be based on the matter, subjects and method. For example; for matter, the melody, rhythm and language are the key considerations to be looked into. The subjects in Poetics usually bring out the character traits that are related to human characteristics. This is what brings out the difference between tragic events and comic events in a work of poetry. For tragic events, the character in most instances is usually considered to be more honest, serious and considered to be very important in society. While comic characters are usually considered to be less important in the society and not dignified. The method used could involve the use of direct speech, dialogue or quoted speech. These are the major poetic criteria used by Aristotle and applied in the work Apology by Plato. Plot structure and character are also an important part described Poetics. Plot structure is basically the plan of the work. For Apology, this can be considered into the action or the events that are taking place through this work. For example, there is recognition of the characters and an evidence of the suffering of the main character, Socrates. According to Aristotle, a good plot is one that is complex for the human understanding which can be seen in the Apology. There is the evidence of fear as well as pity for Socrates. For example, the main character in the Apology can be seen to be having...
Words: 1227 - Pages: 5
...Socrates is accused of being “an investigator of all things below the earth” (Apology, pg. 47, 18b). This means that he studies the science behind everything. Socrates is accused of “not acknowledging the gods” (Apology, pg.50, 23d). The people of Athens things that Socrates does not believe in the gods, that he studies the science of everything around him. Socrates went to Piraeus for a festival. When he was there, he said a prayer and watched the procession. Then Socrates “hurry[ed]” back to his own town (Republic, bk.1, pg. 75, 327b). When Socrates hurried back it seemed like he did not care for the god, Bendis, in which the city was acknowledging as a god (Mark, lecture of 2/2/17). He seems like he is doing it to show that he does acknowledge Bendis but inside he does not believe in him. Socrates does not think the gods are helpful in trying to find what justice is. He says that he “won’t accept from Homer… the foolish mistakes he makes about the gods” (Republic, bk.2, pg.107, 379c). Since the Odyssey was like the Bible, in where Odysseus is like the god of the story, Socrates is saying let’s not praise them because they are the ones who make good and bad people. When people do good or bad things,...
Words: 767 - Pages: 4
...Analysis of The Apology of Socrates by Plato Socrates was an orator and philosopher whose primary interests were logic, ethics and epistemology. In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Plato recounts the speech that Socrates gave shortly before his death, during the trial in 399 BC in which he was charged with "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, also being a busybody and intervene gods business". The name of the work itself is not mean what it is appeared; here, Socrates is not apologizing, but merely speaking in defense of his beliefs and actions – the word apology is used in the context of its original meaning. During this apology, Socrates attempts to explain himself and the decisions that led to his action, educating his audience in the philosophical questions he chooses to pose. Socrates does not try to avoid death in the trial; instead, his goal is to enlighten the public for the last time before his own passing. Socrates was always fascinated with the solving of questions, both big and small; his approach was to use the Socratic method of inquiry, wherein he would break the problem down into several questions, and then systematically find the answers to each question in order to find the larger answer. It was a methodical and practical approach to show his ultimate quest for seeking the true knowledge. He says, "His wisdom is truly worthless"; this is indicative of his unending search for more and more knowledge (Apology 23b). According...
Words: 2091 - Pages: 9
...When reading the Apology one gets a feel for disobeying the law when the law stands in between of what one believes and what the law states. In the Crito one gets the feel of ethical conduct, to obey the laws, and to endure the blows one has received and accept them regardless of the consequences. The only problem with this is that the sequel contradicts the prequel. In the Apology, Socrates threatens to disobey a court order to cease philosophizing, among other orders. In the Crito, Socrates obeys the orders of the state and doesn’t break out of prison even though he is facing an execution. One might say “did Socrates lose his edge, did he give up because he was condemned to death?” I say that he was caught in his own hypocritical contradiction. Although many people think Socrates never contradicted himself, both the Apology and the Crito clearly show he did. In the Apology, Socrates contradicts himself by emphasizing the significance of obeying the gods above anything else. In the Apology (29c-d) while defending himself, Socrates states "If you said to me in this regard: 'Socrates, we do not believe Anytus now; we acquit you, but only on the condition that you spend no more time on this investigation and do not practice philosophy, and if you are caught doing so you will die,' if, as I say, you were to acquit me on those terms, I would say to you: "Gentlemen of the jury, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as...
Words: 1050 - Pages: 5
