...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...
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...To do harm is to cause injury or damage. In Plato’s writing, “Apology”, his friend and teacher, Socrates, is accused by Meletus, among others, of causing harm to Athens and Athenians by “corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other new spiritual things”.(27) Over the course of the trial arguments for both sides are presented, though Socrates’ own defense or “apology”, resonates with enough reason and logic to make his case believable while Meletus is unable to reasonably present an argument proving harm or counter Socrates ’self-defense. Socrates responds to Meletus’ charge of harming or corrupting Athen’s youth by building a series of arguments in his own defense. The first step requires discrediting Meletus by having Meletus agree with him that it is important to ensure “that our young men be as good as possible”.(27) From there he maneuvers Meletus into admitting that as it is the responsibility of all Athenians to educate and improve the young, no one person, such as Socrates, could possibly be responsible for corrupting them. He continues to reason with Meletus while questioning whether a crime was actually committed. Asking “whether it is better for a man to live among good or wicked fellow citizens”(28), Socrates creates the argument that no one would willingly want to live among bad persons because they would bring harm to those around them. Socrates then compels Meletus into agreeing with him that no one would...
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...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...
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...The Apology Plato What I found interesting about Plato’s Apology is how you can see Socrates values throughout this account or description of the trial. The Greek “apologia” translates as a defense, or a speech made in defense. I feel like the real defense was not so much a defense to save his life but a defense in which to safeguard or uphold his values about life and to defend his relationship with the Delphic Oracle. His honesty and directness may have got him into this situation but he contuined to use this method throughout his trial. I feel like being a smart as he was, he knew if he was going to fuse to these procedures or practices during this trail it could cost him his freedom or may even death. Even knowing this he was unwaveringly and defended his way of life. I had an inspiration on the fact that the Delphic Oracle told Socrates he was the wisest man in Athens. Because the Oracle knew he would strive to know more about this prediction. I think that by him wanted to know more about what the Oracle said caused him to turn many people against him. I do think that at first Socrates didn’t really take it too seriously. I do consider the fact when or if he did recognize, appreciate, and understand what the Delphic Oracle said he used it in a way that would allow him to always be precise in his values. Or at least be precise when questioning another person. How can someone be troubled about a person when he claims to have no knowledge of anything? And I think this...
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...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...
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...Ke Zhan 詹可 Philosophy 120 J. Gentzler Summer 2016/5/31 Arguments of The impiety of Socrates In the “Apology” written by Plato, Socrates is charged of impiety that he teaches students not to believe in the gods in whom the city believes but in other new spiritual things (Plato, Apology,25b). Socrates argues that he is not guilty of impiety and he believes in the god. Perhaps the strongest argument that Socrates gives for this claim relies on the claim that the new spiritual things he believes are also belong to the extent of god. In this paper, I will argue that this argument fails because Socrates doesn’t have enough powerful evidences to prove that the thoughts he believes are the parts of scope that Athenian believes. In “Apology”, Melutus charges that Socrates teaches his students to believe new spirituals things. Facing to Meletus’s charges, Socrates defends himself from different aspects. Firstly, Socrates raises doubts about the Meletus’s real meaning of the charge. He corrects the accusation should be he doesn’t believe in gods at all. Let’s see how he gets the conclusion. From Melutus deposition, Socrates is charged of teaching his students to believe different spiritual thinking which didn’t admitted in Authens. Socrates argues that he doesn’t understand Meletus original thoughts. Because Meletus said that the sun is stone, and the moon earth, Sacrates indicates Meletus is antitheist. What’s more, according to Socrates’s sayings, because Meletus doesn’t believe in gods...
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...In 399 BC, a philosopher, named Socrates, is put to trial for multiple reasons. He was accused of corrupting the youth and impiety. They wanted the death penalty, but the importance of this trial were the arguments made by Socrates. One of the arguments made in The Apology that will be focused on is the corruption argument. Socrates made many arguments such as the horse trainer argument, the God argument, and also the death argument, but the argument that was most interesting was the corruption argument. The corruption argument, made by Socrates, is what set the tone and what allowed the rest of his arguments to have a place in his defense. In The Apology, by Plato, he talked about the defense that Socrates had in his trial against the...
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...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...
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...Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death. His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and his words. Despite the fact that the philosopher attempted to defend himself and explain the reasons for saying and doing the things he did, it did not do any good for his justification. On the contrary, Socrates’ words seemed to make the jury harden their hearts and condemn him. The charges brought against the philosopher had nothing to do with true crime like we understand it today. He did not commit any physical or financial harm to anybody. Socrates insulted and angered many people more than any “legitimate” offense ever could. He said too many things that people around him did not like and could not forgive. One of the charges brought against him was corrupting the youth of Athens. Accordingly to the words of those who complained at...
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...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...
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...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...
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...Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death. His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and his words. Despite the fact that the philosopher attempted to defend himself and explain the reasons for saying and doing the things he did, it did not do any good for his justification. On the contrary, Socrates’ words seemed to make the jury harden their hearts and condemn him. The charges brought against the philosopher had nothing to do with true crime like we understand it today. He did not commit any physical or financial harm to anybody. Socrates insulted and angered many people more than any “legitimate” offense ever could. He said too many things that people around him did not like and could not forgive. One of the charges brought against him was corrupting the youth of Athens. Accordingly to the words of those who complained at...
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...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....
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...in using reason to explain different aspects of life. During his lifetime, he not only tried to help develop his own mind and understanding of life, but also those around him. He often tried to teach the adolescence and get them to use their minds. Socrates enjoyed teaching children because their minds were still open and they were willing to learn. However, his views varied from most of other people around him. He was put on trial because others did not care for his methods. He was eventually executed. Socrates had the courage to be different and marked the beginning of Western Philosophy. His trial was one of the first of its kind and it is the first recorded trial in which someone was sentenced to death as a result of their beliefs. “Plato tells us that Socrates compared himself to a gadfly, whose stings are necessary to keep a sleepy horse awake” (Wilson 3). Socrates wanted himself, along with the people around him, to always be aware of life and to better understand what it has to offer. Socrates may have been killed for his beliefs, but his ideas and his life have not been forgotten. They still serve as a source of learning for us today. THE LIFE OF SOCRATES Socrates was a philosopher...
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...Death Over Unrighteousness In Plato’s Apology, Plato documents what occurs during Socrates’ trial, where a philosopher named Socrates was accused for being an evil-doer by simply questioning his surroundings. He defends himself in order to prove that he is innocent. But Socrates’ accusers will not accept any reason other than the one that they provided. Rather than saying that he is wrong, Socrates continues to argue for his righteousness, but then accepts that his accusers will always remain unrighteous. Socrates believes that it is better to die than to live an unrighteousness life. Rather than spending the rest of his life in a prison, Socrates does not see an issue with death, as for all he knows, it can be as equally good...
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