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Death Of Socrates In The Apology

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After Socrates is condemned to death, he makes his final statements to the jury at the end of “The Apology”. This portion of the text clearly expresses his deeply held believes and seemed the most honest to me, as he was no longer reciting his defense in court but had already acknowledged and accepted his fate. Paragraph 39a eloquently describes why Socrates valued just action over his own life. He claims that if someone is “shameless enough” to defy their own principles, avoiding death is easily accomplished. The more difficult struggle that plagues us is “escaping villainy”, which he has completed by facing his punishment. His false accusers, on the other hand, have succumbed to unjust desires and lashed out by convicting the innocent Socrates. He goes on to warn them …show more content…

Socrates is the perfect example of a martyr because he did not only risk his life in support of a cause he believes in, but welcomed his own death rather than straying from his principles. The death of Socrates has strong parallels to that of Ninoy Aquino. From 1965 to 1986, Ferdinand Marcos served as dictator of the Philippines, frivolously spending money on useless projects and stealing billions from the state while its people lived in extreme poverty. Aquino was the leader of the opposing party and publicly condemned Marcos and his wife Imelda’s selfish and irresponsible actions. After Marcos imposed martial law, Aquino was imprisoned for seven years. He was later allowed to fly to the United States for medical treatment if he promised to return but instead stayed for three years. This act of defiance contrasts with Socrates’s vow to always act justly, but Aquino believed that he owed no loyalty to Marcos, as “a pact with the devil is no pact at all”. Upon returning to his home, Aquino was assassinated while disembarking his plane in Manila.

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1209 Words | 5 Pages

Later in his argument, he asks the jury to excuse his ordinary language and rather to “consecrate your attention on whether what I say is just or not, for the excellence of a judge lies in this, as that of a speaker lies in telling the truth” (Plato 18a). By demonstrating that he does not speak with eloquence or enticement, Socrates proves to speak with honesty and plainness, which shows that he considers truth a virtue. Here he also reveals why it is so important for both a speaker and a judge to focus on the truth; in a court, both are under an oath: the speaker to be honest, and the judge to be just based on the speaker’s actions. By asking the jury to ignore the eloquence of words he uses and focus on the truthfulness of what he is saying, Socrates shows that he is confident that the facts and correctness of his argument will lead the jury to see his innocence and the slander of his accuser’s claim. However, the jury do not seem to adhere to Socrates’ plea and gives its verdict of guilty, and Meletus asks for the death penalty.

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376 Words | 2 Pages

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.

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1678 Words | 7 Pages

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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1314 Words | 6 Pages

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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961 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction The Apology was written by Plato, and relates Socrates’ defense at his trial on charges of corrupting the youth and impiety. Socrates argues that he is innocent of both charges. Plato reports the contents of three speeches delivered by Socrates in his own protection in court which has been arranged over him by the Athenian democrats and has terminated in the death sentence to the great philosopher. The word "apology" in a literal translation means "justification". Plato's purpose when writing "Apology" was to acquit posthumously Socrates from false accusation.

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560 Words | 3 Pages

Socrates claims that he did not consciously corrupt the youth of Athens, and he gives many reasons why he is not at fault for these actions. In his defense to the jury, he tells them that by looking at the facts, they will see Meletus is accusing him of something that is not true. The way Socrates defends himself is well-thought out and logical. He ask Meletus a serious of questions and Meletus answers, Socrates then moves on to the next question to support his claim.

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162 Words | 1 Pages

Knowing this information, he began to pick apart their case and clearly stated that if he was proven guilty that he was willing to die. Socrates genuinely believed that his teachings were not corrupting the

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908 Words | 4 Pages

Plato believes that his teacher, Socrates, was trialed because he was “evil” and needed to be killed from society. The “apology” Socrates presents himself as respected and mistreated due to the emotions of the Athenian

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1595 Words | 7 Pages

He is given the opportunity to choose an escape, and live his life never being able to return back to Athens. He completely opposes the idea and decides to live out the consequences of his trial, ultimately dying. Socrates made it his mission to live a virtuous life, which he did, right to his death. To life a virtuous life it would have gone against his own belief if he did escape his conviction, making this aspect very important in his philosophy. “To do so is right, and one must not give way or retreat or leave one’s post, but both in war and in courts and everywhere else, one must obey the commands of one’s city and country, or persuade as the nature of justice.

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1303 Words | 6 Pages

Leading up to and throughout the trial, Socrates is provided with numerous opportunities to avoid conviction and the death sentence he receives. However, since Socrates had too much hu-bris and was a firm believer in the “death before dishonor” mantra, he refused to attempt to sway the jury through argumentum ad passiones, which was customary. Instead, Socrates opted to uti-lize valid arguments, that were rooted in logic as a means of convincing the jury of his innocence. Nevertheless, had Socrates ceased practicing philosophy publicly prior to the trial, appealed to the jury’s emotions during trial, or suggested a tougher punishment to the jury, he would have successfully avoided his fated conviction and eventual death sentence. The simplest method Socrates could have used to prevent the conviction he received would be to cease practicing philosophy in public, similar to the Pre-Socratics who preceded him

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715 Words | 3 Pages

Socrates was executed in 399 B.C.E in Athens, his infamous trial was documented by his student, Plato who distributed "The Apology," 40-50 after the trial occurred. Socrates allowed himself to be put on trial because he believed that his death would shine light on his life as well as his teachings; thus, he intentionally lost the trial. At 70, Socrates was put on trial for atheism, his investigation of things below and aloft of the Earth, his education to younger students, and the corruption of the youth of Athens; these charges were pressed Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. Throughout the entirety of the trial he never stopped talking and searched for justification for

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

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).

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287 Words | 2 Pages

When the Athenian philosopher Socrates was being tried in court, he unabashedly stated that he was proud of his life 's work and that the unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates was correct in his view of life, and he died for what he believed in. In court, Socrates claimed that he would be willing to die many times over in order to defend his way of life. Socrates believed that if a person was living their life virtuously, they should never worry about when they would die.

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1070 Words | 5 Pages

His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and his words. Despite the fact that the philosopher attempted to defend himself and explain the reasons for saying and doing the things he did, it did not do any good for his justification. On the contrary, Socrates’ words seemed to make the jury harden their hearts and condemn him.

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592 Words | 3 Pages

In the Apology, Socrates states that the “unexamined life is not worth living” which for him was his decision on whether he wanted to live therefore discontinuing his passion for philosophy or be sentenced to death. For him to choose death over life simply because he wouldn’t be able to live out the rest of his life doing the one thing he so clearly values more than life, is something I don’t think I could’ve done easily. Yet for Socrates, he had embraced uncertainty and found comfort in that uncertainty to fully rely on his already discovered wisdom and curiosity. Going back to the statement itself, he went to the most extreme situation to make his point. Instead of simply stating that life would be less meaningful or less valuable, he goes straight and clear to the fact that to

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