Through many of Plato’s works, such as the Republic, the Gorgias, and the Apology, the person that Socrates was and his personality shine through in his dialogue. Socrates was a man who asked many questions and always pushed not only his students but the whole city of Athens to look for more than just physical things. Many people claim, that Socrates went about teaching in the wrong way and that he is an arrogant fool and not an extremely wise person. However, I disagree with this claim. I believe that Socrates was a man who looked beyond the physical world and strived to gain as much knowledge as he could through asking questions and continuing to learn from others and in turn teach others, thus making him wise and striving to live the best life. Socrates was confident, but not arrogant. He had reason to believe that he was truly the wisest, as he could not find one example to disprove the Delphi’s claim that “no one is wiser” than Socrates. (Apology 21a). Socrates wanted to assure that this claim was true before presenting this idea to others so that he did not come off as arrogant. By not being able to …show more content…
Socrates believes that if every citizen is doing their role in society and doing it just and well that society will flourish. But to do this, everyone must understand what justice and true good really are. That is why Socrates believes it to be so important to find the answers to such questions as, “what is courage?” and “what is justice?” He does this by constantly questioning himself and those around him, not to be annoying or redundant but to find the answers that are true. If we could answer these questions, we would have all the knowledge needed to live a just and happy life. Socrates is not arrogant or a fool, if he was, he would not share his knowledge with others and he would only want to improve himself and not
The first concept that I noticed shared by Russell and Socrates was the concept that one had to remove themselves before serious philosophical contemplation could take place. In Russell 's case, he refers to the "Self" and the "Not-Self". With Socrates, as seen in the Apology, confronting his accuser about the corruption of youth, his accuser is silent because he had not given the matter any thought. Socrates awareness of his own ignorance frees him from what Russell would refer to as "Self". I mention this because it serves as a common theme even as both philosophers differ in their messages.
This could mean that Socrates had understood, or at least on the way to understanding what is the good and how to obtain it. This interpretation also explain Socrates´s behavior, as recounted by Alcibiades. Socrates spend most of his time either thinking(220D), or talking and philosophizing with others(221D, 222E).He seem to show extreme calmness and unrivaled self control( 221B). He does not desire physical beauty, money,power, or anything else that Alcibiades might be interested in(216E), and seem to only be concerned about giving speeches and
For this week's journal entry, I would like to bring up the idea of "wisdom" in reference to Plato's Apology. Personally, I find that the way in which Socrates defends is wisdom is admirable, and although it leads to the verdict of him being killed, I think that this decision and the reaction by Socrates helps define wisdom. Socrates, in essence, says that he does not fear death because he is wise. No one knows what death is -- perhaps it may be the best thing a person gets to experience. However, a person that is unwise would approach death into thinking that it is the worst thing that can happen in life.
Moriah R. Emrick Dr. Miller Philosophy 1301.906 13 February Plato’s Apology - Analysis In Plato’s Apology, one of the big ideas discussed by Socrates is his role as someone who asks searches for answers regardless of the consequences. At the beginning of Plato’s Apology Socrates explains his bad reputation and starts by talking about how he angered some important people. Socrates explains what started this journey by explaining how a friend of his, Chaerephon asked the oracle in Delphi if there was anyone wiser than Socrates and the oracle stated that there was no man wiser than him. When he found out that the oracle of Delphi declared him the wisest man he wanted to find out whether or not this was correct so he searched to find a man wiser
In this play the Socrates here doesn't sound like the Socrates from the Apology or the real life Socrates. The real Socrates doesn't actually teach per say, he teaches in a way that makes you yourself use your brain. He makes you question everything and understand things based on your own perception. The writer of this play clearly felt as if Socrates was a major problem in his society for allowing people to actually try to think outside of the box and ask questions. He most likely enjoyed the fact that everyone were robots and all thought alike and believed in the same thing because it brought no need to bring out discussion.
He held that upright life is the only life worth living. To him, justice was a matter of knowledge and hence, a truth aspect. Meanwhile, he honored and acknowledged his duty to obey the Laws of the state. From Socrates' perspective, Laws are absolute.
I think that it is a little ironic that Socrates, the man who was all about intellect, had an intellectual error. Socrates was a man who focused on the truth, and unfortunately he failed to realize that the truth might not be what everyone else was focused on. In relation to what I stated earlier here is some in text evidence; Socrates said “to disregard the manner of my speech- it doesn't matter how it compares- and to consider and concentrate your attention upon this one question, whether my claims are
In this second quote, Socrates is saying that he possesses a certain wisdom given to him by the god to spread his philosophy and belief in the city of Athens. Here is a third piece of evidence to support my point from “ The Apology”. “Afterwards I went to talk to one person after another, sensing how odious I had become to them. I was sad and fearful; but I felt it was necessary to make the god’s work my highest priority.” (Lines 56-58)
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 goal was to make the court understand his beliefs prove which type of knowledge is worth knowing. When talking about the wise man he examined, Socrates said, “Neither of us actually knows what Beauty and Goodness are, but he thinks he knows, even though he doesn’t; whereas I neither know nor think I know.” This shows that Socrates proved he was more wise than the titled wise man because instead of faking the knowledge, that wasn’t too important, he accepted that he did not know which would result in him then seeking for
Socrates started his life as an average Athen citizen. His parents worked, making an honest living. But as Socrates grew up, he began to realize that his mind questioned things and wondered how come no one else questioned the same things or at least think about the answers to the questions that were not answered. So, as his mind kept wandering, he began to acknowledge the questions that were not answered and sought for those answers. He ended up believing and teaching things to other people, whether it went against the way the Athen government or not, he still continued his work.
Philosophical thinking uses three acts of the mind: understanding, judgement, and reason. In order to have a sound argument all of the concepts must be applied. Socrates didn’t want to please the people by saying or doing what they wanted him to say or do. Socrates thought it was not important to seek wealth or fame; he was concerned with truth and virtue. He wanted to create an impact on humanity by relying on the truth and shining a light in people’s lives, even if they put him on trial.
Socrates view of an authentic life is based on his point of view that " an unexamined life is one not worth living." He thinks that you shouldn't let society tell you what to believe in and that you shouldn't live your life based on society's opinions. In addition, Socrates felt that one needs to examine his surroundings and come out with their own ideas and conclusions, thus gather more knowledge about the world you live in. The most important values when trying to live an authentic life is to always want to learn and understand topics that you might not know yet and to also want to further study and examined those that you do know. He believed that even if you felt you were wise in a certain topic, that you shouldn't fool yourself into
By this time the people of Athens thought of Socrates as the wisest man in Athens although he himself maintained that, all he knew is that he didn’t know anything. This mindset is what angered the upper class citizens of Athens because to them he was questioning their cultural beliefs.
Socrates on Wisdom Steven Rabby Excelsior College INTRODUCTION Socrates is often regarded as one of the pinnacle figures, if not the pinnacle figure in establishing western philosophy. Although Socrates claimed no specific theory or set of beliefs, what he did do, is introduce the world to a new way of thinking. This way of thinking, or questioning, is referred to as the dialectical method. The dialectical method involved taking the beliefs of others as one who knew nothing and attempted to expose contradictions, gaps in information and false assumptions within their arguments.