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How Is Socrates Justified In The Apology

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The "Apology" by Plato is a story about Socrates, who defended himself against accusers. Socrates was one of the greatest thinkers in ancient Greece and one of the few whose wisdom was noticed. From this story we can learn who Socrates was and what kind of life he had lived. To understand why Socrates deserved to be executed, we should have a view of times before execution. I will provide a brief opening statement. Socrates was accused for corrupting the youth, teaching out of the charge and not believing in gods. These accusation were brought by Melatus, Anytus, Lycon and citizens of Athens. Below I will try to prove that Socrates was not guilty for corrupting young people neither willingly nor unwillingly, he was not a sophist, and also …show more content…

Melatus claimed that Socrates " did not believe in the gods in whom city believes but in other new divinities" and at the same time accused him for not believing in any Gods (26c-27a). There is a contradiction. Socrates cannot at the same time be an atheist and believe in other new divinities. Therefore, Socrates defended himself by asking a question "if anyone believes in human affairs but not in humans, in equine affairs but not in horses, in flute music but not in flute players " and then asked if any man believed in divine activities but not in divinities?( 27b-d). By these words Socrates meant that he did no object any particular God. However, he believed in existence of supernatural powers in our life. Moreover, Socrates shared with his belief in the existence of life after the death. In addition to it , his last words were " But now it is the time to go away, I am to die and you to live. Which of us goes to a better thing is unclear to everyone except the God". This proves that Socrates believed in after life which is dependent on God. Although, Socrates believed that he was a messenger of God. The people blamed Socrates to have a neutral approach towards their Gods, so they decided to put the blame on him for all the misfortunes. Socrates actually believed in after death which means that he also respected the presence of supernatural …show more content…

He said that spoiling the youth was not deliberately against the society. In addition , Socrates was accused for being a sophist who was defined as a person collecting money for sharing his knowledge. He emphasized that his dialogues and lectures are free of charge and everyone can join if just desires to. Moreover, he criticized the sophist who charge money for their " wisdom ". By comparing himself to them he says that he does not have any interest in corrupting youth, because money are meaningless. Furthermore, Socrates asked audience to prove his corruption, but there was no one who could gave any examples (33d-34b). Socrates was a victim of society, who did not understand the idea of education by questioning. To conclude with, Socrates was not liked among citizens, because he used his knowledge to show the weaknesses and simplicity of peoples thinking and their vanity of life. His all accusations were related to the issues of morality which never was defined by one explanation. Socrates was sentenced for death

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