In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is put into trial because he is accused of corrupting the youth with his teachings that deviate from the established beliefs of the Greek society. Although he justifies that he is only doing what he believes is his duty, he reasons that even if he is given a death penalty, death is nothing to be feared. He raises multiple strong and effective arguments that explain to his audience that it is illogical to fear death. All of these arguments revolves around the central idea that death is not evil and that “no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death” (Apology, 41c). The first argument that Socrates presents during his trial is the idea that death is not the most important thing to worry about in …show more content…
“…if I disobeyed the oracle because I was afraid of death: then I should be fancying that I was wise when I was not wise. For this fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being the appearance of the unknown: since no one knows whether death, which they in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good” (Apology, 29a-29b). This potent statement not only highlights Socrates’ wisdom, it effectively makes use of his belief that he is wise because he knows nothing. By saying that he knows nothing of the afterlife, it gives him the reason to illustrate to his audience that he cannot fear what he does not know. He is able to make the claim that the fear of death is just another type of false wisdom of claiming to know the unknowable. He further supports his claim by stating that instead of fearing the unknown caused by death, he is more terrified of failing his mission to God and his people. He asserts that fearing certain evil such as failure to do God’s duty is more sensible than fearing death, which cannot be accurately identified as either good or
There is an ample amount of evidence that suggests Socrates delivered his death speech in order to not outrun death, but to outrun wickedness, which was far more dangerous. The author also gives many reasons why death would be okay. In example, Socrates explains that he would have died without
Socrates, on his death bed, did not want to escape his punishment because he did not fear death and wanted to stand by what he believed (Source B). This allows Socrates’s followers to gain tremendous amounts of respect for him because he followed through with his beliefs until the end. This makes an effective ruler because then his followers respect him and thus it helps everyone in a whole. Not only was Socrates true to himself but he also was brave. It took tremendous amounts of courage for Socrates to spread his views at a time when they were not popular (Source B).
Taylor Diebert 820074652 4 February 2018 Short Essay: Plato’s The Apology The Apology is a speech presented by Socrates in court in defense against accusations facing him, formal and informal. The Apology is an interpretation of what happened in the time of the trial and who Socrates was and what his duty was in life. In this essay, I will carefully explain section 30e-31b and Socrates analogy of a gadfly and how it relates to the text as a whole. I will explain Socrates role in the city and why if he is killed, the city will be doing themselves a greater injustice than they will be doing to Socrates by killing him. I will also be explaining how the Socratic Method is used by Socrates in the trial to help against his accusations how he could
Socrates states that a good philosopher should not fear death, but rather embrace it and look forward to it. This is also where he comes out with the four claims of the separation of the soul and the body. With this point Socrates is trying to explain to Cebes, Simmias, and the others in the room that the soul is everlasting and outlives every body that it is ever in. They agree that the soul is long lasting but does not live forever. This is the end for Socrates as him and Crito head to the bath chamber and return to say goodbye to his three sons and the women of the household.
The first reason Socrates gives for accepting his death sentence is the fact that Athens has provided him with education. (Crito page 15) Although Socrates thinks this is a just reason, Plato would disagree because Socrates could have become corrupted and bad without proper education. According to Plato, Socrates would have the traits of a philosopher king. Socrates loves the truth, hates the false, is moderate and courageous. (The Republic 485a-486b)
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.
Plato’s view on death According to Plato, Socrates didn’t fear death. He stopped fearing death when God ordered him to live the life of a philosopher. “No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of all evils.” He says that this is just as bad as thinking that you’re wise, when you’re actually not.
In Apology, Socrates faces possible execution as he stands trial in front of his fellow Athenian men. This jury of men must decide whether Socrates has acted impiously against the gods and if he has corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates claims in his defense that he wants to live a private life, away from public affairs and teachings in Athens. He instead wants to focus on self-examination and learning truths from those in Athens through inquiry. Socrates argues that "a [man] who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if [he] is to survive for even a short time" (32a).
The term “apology comes from the Greek word apologia which means to defend. In this essay I would like to explain why I believe that The Apology by Plato should be classified as pity and fear, in regards to Greek tragedy. I believe that this is true because I can personally empathize with Socrates; this will be discussed later on in this essay. A tragic hero is considered to be an individual with an intellectual flaw or error, Socrates fits this description; Socrates failed to understand that he could not empathize with the jurors because they simply wanted him to acknowledge his prior offenses, while he only sought out telling the truth and not sullying his own moral code. Socrates should be considered a tragic hero because he had an intellectual error, not an ethical one.
(20c) Socrates mentions that it was human wisdom and nothing more that has allowed himself to know what he knows. (20d) Socrates even mentions
No matter which path death is, death is a gain. One will either be a peaceful sleep, or a journey to another world filled with intelligent people and knowledge. He had support to his theory, but only talked about conversing with people from the past. The apology is repetitive in the last two paragraphs because Socrates desired to talk to all these different people. He did not clarify as to why living on Earth was cruel and that death was the only answer.
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
This quotation is significant because it represents Socrates’ ideas about death. He believes that fearing the unknown is unreasonable because we don’t know what happens after death. Socrates also believes that “being dead is one of two things” (Socrates 58); either you feel nothing at all or it is a “journey from here to another place” (Socrates 59). Fearing something we don’t now is not going to get us anywhere except limit our potential. Although, death is a frightful concept, it might also be a good thing.
One can conclude then that Plato wrote down what he heard after, possibly providing his own opinion. Socrates says that “men are in some sort of prison, and that one ought not to release oneself from it or run away”. We know that Socrates was Plato’s teacher, so while we cannot be entirely certain that their views on death concur, it is possible that they do. From both Phaedo and The Apology, one can conclude that Socrates does not fear death. He says that death either means one is non-existent, or that death is a “marvellous gain”.
I also agree that Socrates, probably knew he would be sentenced to death. The only thing that did seem to surprise him was when he was condemned he says: "I expected it, and am only surprised that the votes are so nearly equal; for I had thought that the majority against me would have been far larger". He also tells them that it'll be worse for them if he dies. 1.) Stating that he is "not going to argue for my own sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God" because if they kill him it will be a sin.