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    Essay 1: Socrates "The Apology"

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    hhh1sr
    Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of blasphemy and corrupting the youth. At his trial, as recounted by Plato, Socrates mounted a defense claiming that he questioned the supposedly wise men of Athens to test the oracle's pronouncement that he was the wisest. While his questioning exposed the false beliefs of these men, it earned him their wrath. The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death, rejecting his arguments that justice was not being served. The essay argues that despite initial resistance, Socrates' fundamental values of challenging assumptions, questioning false beliefs, and continuing to learn have become widely accepted in modern society.

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    Essay 1: Socrates "The Apology"

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    hhh1sr
    38 views2 pages
    Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of blasphemy and corrupting the youth. At his trial, as recounted by Plato, Socrates mounted a defense claiming that he questioned the supposedly wise men of Athens to test the oracle's pronouncement that he was the wisest. While his questioning exposed the false beliefs of these men, it earned him their wrath. The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death, rejecting his arguments that justice was not being served. The essay argues that despite initial resistance, Socrates' fundamental values of challenging assumptions, questioning false beliefs, and continuing to learn have become widely accepted in modern society.

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    Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of blasphemy and corrupting the youth. At his trial, as recounted by Plato, Socrates mounted a defense claiming that he questioned the supposedly wise men of Athens to test the oracle's pronouncement that he was the wisest. While his questioning exposed the false beliefs of these men, it earned him their wrath. The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death, rejecting his arguments that justice was not being served. The essay argues that despite initial resistance, Socrates' fundamental values of challenging assumptions, questioning false beliefs, and continuing to learn have become widely accepted in modern society.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    38 views2 pages

    Essay 1: Socrates "The Apology"

    Uploaded by

    hhh1sr
    Socrates was tried in Athens on charges of blasphemy and corrupting the youth. At his trial, as recounted by Plato, Socrates mounted a defense claiming that he questioned the supposedly wise men of Athens to test the oracle's pronouncement that he was the wisest. While his questioning exposed the false beliefs of these men, it earned him their wrath. The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death, rejecting his arguments that justice was not being served. The essay argues that despite initial resistance, Socrates' fundamental values of challenging assumptions, questioning false beliefs, and continuing to learn have become widely accepted in modern society.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    ESSAY 1

    Socrates The Apology 1

    The Apology written by Plato gives one of the two existing accounts on the trial and
    execution of Socrates by Athenian democracy. The speech given by Socrates for his
    defense may have been an idealization of what might have actually happened as Plato can
    claim to hold a bias towards Socrates due to him being Socrates disciple. Nonetheless it is
    as close as we can get to the factual description of the events that took place as Plato was
    present at the trial. In the following essay, I briefly describe the events of that tragic day as
    narrated in detail by Plato and illustrate the values Socrates has inevitably succeeded in
    embedding in our world today.
    The name Apology also in ancient context is sarcastic and means a defense which was
    Socrates mounted against the charges brought to him and in no sense means that Socrates
    was sorry for what he had done. The charges laid forward by the Athenians claimed Socrates
    of blasphemy toward the Greek gods and of corrupting the Athenian youth. Socrates asks
    the court to excuse him of speaking in a very plain and crude manner as he is untrained in
    the affairs of the court and has never been put on trial before.
    Socrates starts by telling the jury that his teachings and behavior stems from the
    confirmation from the Oracle of Delphi that he is indeed the wisest of all men. He tells the
    court of his curiosity to learn whether he truly was wise and so he questioned the,
    supposedly, wise people in Athens on matters of religion among others. In doing so Socrates
    earned the wrath of those wise men and the praise of the youth as he exposed their false
    beliefs and hollow claims. He cites the fact that it is their hatred towards him that has
    resulted in his trial. Socrates also famously likens himself to a bee that is stinging the horse
    which is Athens and in doing so he is waking it up into a renaissance.
    However, the jury narrowly finds Socrates guilty and asks him to name his punishment.
    Socrates rejects prison and exile and offers to pay a fine to the city after mockingly saying
    that he should instead be rewarded for his actions. Socrates questions whether justice is
    being served by democracy in Athens and tell the jury has no fear of death for only the gods
    know what lies ahead. This is rejected by the jury who sentence him to death. Upon hearing
    this verdict Socrates observes that the Athenians cannot see further than their ignorance
    and will regret this decision in hindsight.
    All the wisdom and sophist ideas of Socrates have truly benefited society today if one
    ponders back to what he spoke of. Although it took time for his teachings to trickle through
    the ignorant and prejudiced minds of the Greeks nonetheless, it shows us that progress and
    discovery wait for no one and are as inevitable as death. It therefore rests upon us to
    continue with the flow of change and accept them. I believe Socrates fundamental values
    are vastly applicable in modern society. It is not an option for us but it is our duty to
    challenge the doubtful, question the wrong and fight for justice. We should neither linger on
    hatred for a person who has a superior argument to ours nor should we try to win debates
    by creating a boisterous tantrum. Rather we should accept the fact that we have knowledge
    of nothing which I believe implies that we should not stop learning. We should acquire

    1
    Plato, Hackett Publishing Company, Apology of Socrates

    knowledge for it is a lifelong process and not let self-confidence lead us to believe that we
    know it all.

    Page 2

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