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Comparing Socrates And Plato's Apology

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According to the Oxford dictionary, a gadfly is a fly that bites and agitates livestock. In Plato’s Apology, it is claimed that Socrates compares himself to a gadfly that is attached to the city of Athens (29e). Then, in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. mentions Socrates in his letter to the clergymen and compares himself to Socrates claiming, “so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society…” (89-90). In both passages, there is an importance to be a gadfly in society and by being a gadfly, both men are able to create a change in their societies. It is undeniable that both men’s work caused an agitation of thought in their respective societies which opened a path for beneficial change. However, both
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CLAS 1110 Second Paper Assignment JoAnn Luhrs Spring 2017 Socrates was viewed by many people in Athens as insane. Two writers dedicated their plays to share their opinions about Socrates with an audience. Aristophane wrote a play called Clouds and another writer, Plato wrote a play called Apology. Both plays made fun of Socrates belief system and character. Aristophanes wrote how Socrates theories were ridiculous and Plato made Socrates to disagree with Athenians opinion about him.

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Anish Yonjan Philosophy 1301-73426 Prof. Marcos Arandia Feb. 19, 2017 Explain and evaluate Socrates' claim in the Apology that "the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being," and briefly analyze and discuss the particular method he uses to discover the truth (i.e., dialectics or the Socratic Method), using at least two examples from Plato's Euthyphro and/or Apology. Do you agree that a human being cannot live a fully satisfying life if he or she remains ignorant, like the slavish prisoners in Plato's cave? Why or why not? In the Plato’s Apology, Socrates claims that the “unexamined life is not worth living for a human being”.

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The version of Socrates presented in both The Apology, Crito, and The Republic could very well be two different versions of Socrates as presented by Plato. However, both versions of Socrates have one thing in common: they both value the importance of philosophy and they both defend philosophy as something that is important to humanity. The Apology is Socrates defending not only himself, but also philosophy as an area of study that could be useful to the city of Athens. Socrates is trying to defend himself and his study and he tries to distance himself from the sophists in that they charge for money.

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In Plato’s The Apology, Socrates defended himself against the two charges – corrupting the youth and ungodliness. Throughout The Apology, Socrates firmly defended his beliefs as he attempted to compel others to understand his wisdom. Although, his plea of defense was ultimately unsuccessful as he was sentenced to death, Socrates made strong attempts to formulate a proper view of death. After reading The Apology, a new view on death can be considered as Socrates’ influential thoughts have greatly impacted world literature today. When being tried, the question was raised as to if it was suitable for Socrates to receive death as a penalty for his actions.

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In The Clouds, by Aristophanes, and The Apology by Plato, Socrates is illustrated in distinctive ways. In The Clouds, Aristophanes tries to expose Socrates and his followers, the Sophists. In his play, Aristophanes shows that Socrates is contaminating the young men of Athens, and he uses mockery to magnify a lot of the lessons delivered by Socrates. Plato, who was a devoted advocate of Socrates, portrayed his advisor in a positive way. Even though majority of The Apology is literally a speech narrated by Socrates, we can guess that Plato was intrigued by the story enough to twist it in a way that would highlight Socrates, and the picture was thoroughly diverse from that of Aristophanes.

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In her paper, "A Defense of Abortion," Judith Jarvis Thomson engages in a nuanced exploration of the moral aspects surrounding abortion, specifically addressing the common opposition based on the belief that a fetus is a human being with an inherent right to life from the moment of conception. Thomson constructs a series of thought experiments and logical scenarios to dissect and challenge the anti-abortion stance. Thomson begins by questioning the logical connection between the belief in fetal personhood and the conclusion that abortion is morally impermissible. She argues that even if one accepts that the fetus is a person with a right to life, it does not necessarily follow that the mother's right to bodily autonomy should be overridden.

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Plato’s Apology is in the words of Socrates. The apology explains what Socrates though of death as he awaited his death after being condemned for not believing in God. He believed after death, one would either go to another world or be in a state of nothingness. He had the theory of death being a place where one would learn about life and talk to people that no longer walk the Earth. He supports his argument that death is a gain by explaining that he, Socrates, will get to speak to famous poets and past heroes.

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The ideal of Justice permeates all parts of the human experience. Our morals define us as people, as well as our greater society. The way we implement our beliefs into a structured system may not always be the same and often causes disagreements on what is just. Civilization continues to redefine and debate the concept of Justice since ancient Greece, and Plato’s The Apology represents one of the founding works in this debate. Within the greater work, The Trial and Death of Socrates, Plato identifies fault in the current definition and implementation of Justice when his teacher faces punishment for helping Athens.

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With the Apology, and the Crito, Socrates comes to delve into his many teachings and finds himself put to death with the words of wisdom that have been passed down generation after generation. Socrates for many in this present day is a man of many words and great teachings, but anyone but Socrates thought differently, in Athens people thought of him as an annoyance rather than an integral part of society. As Socrates stood in front of the counsel of judges, he stood for what he thought was right and never changed opinion of himself or of his words. That’s why Socrates is still talked about in classrooms everywhere today.

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No great hero goes down without a fight. Typically, when one hears the word “hero,” images of a great soldier, military leader, or even their favorite Avenger comes to mind. Yes- those are all heroes, but it can also be any person who stands for courage and holds onto their true beliefs through good times and bad. The great Socrates is the true epitome of a hero; this is most evident around the time of his death. While reading Plato’s “Apology” in The Trial and Death of Socrates, it is almost impossible to not be inspired by his bravery and tenacity.

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Socrates was a greek philosopher who found himself in trouble with his fellow citizens and court for standing his grounds on his new found beliefs from his studies about philosophical virtue, justice, and truth. In “Apology” written by Plato, Socrates defended himself in trial, not with the goal of escaping the death sentence, but with the goal of doing the right thing and standing for his beliefs. With this mindset, Socrates had no intention of kissing up to the Athenians to save his life. Many will argue that Socrates’ speech was not very effective because he did not fight for his life, he just accepted the death sentence that he was punished with. In his speech he said, “But now it’s time to leave, time for me to die and for you to live.”

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Was Socrates right to say he would stay in Athens no matter the consequences, or should he have fled Athens to avoid death? Socrates was right to say he would stay in Athens no matter what because first, he believed he was sent to Athens or “placed in Athens” for a specific reason and he also believed that even though the Athenians found him as a threat and annoying, he believed that it helped them. Socrates was right to say he would stay in Athens no matter what the consequences were because he believed that he was placed or in Athens for a reason. This quote from “The Apology” is an example to prove that he was placed in Athens for a reason. “Because if I tell you that doing that would mean disobeying the god, and so I can’t keep quiet,

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The Apology is one of the numerous recorded dialogues about Socrates. It talks about the trail of Socrates who is arrested on the charges corrupting the youth, not believing in the gods of the lord, and for being a Sophist. Socrates is not believed to have written any books; the apology was written by his student Plato who was at his trial. In this paper, I will discuss I will be talking about the charges laid against Socrates and how he defends himself.

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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.

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“Plato’s philosophy is an attempt to justify Socrates’ belief in the objectivity of moral virtues.” As one of Socrates’ most loyal disciples, Plato’s own philosophy was heavily influenced by Socrates’ own thoughts and teachings. Much of Plato’s philosophy is a direct extension of some of the questions Socrates posed, i.e., Socrates asked what justice is, and Plato explored this question in his own writings. It is Socrates’ code of ethics, however, that most closely corresponds with Plato’s ethics.

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