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Similarities Between Socrates And Snowden

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Socrates & Snowden
Socrates was a true believer that true pleasure only comes when individuals live a moral life. He believed that an individual’s inner life, or the soul, is the most important part of life. Each person must keep his or her soul healthy, by seeking truth, self-knowledge, justice, and goodness. Socrates believed that any soul in search of fame, wealth, and power becomes ignorant, sickly, and weak (Claudia, 270). He was concerned with strengthening his inner self by examining and criticizing it. He was not concerned with finding what people would seek since this could only lead to a weak, sick, and ignorant soul. Therefore, Socrates remained committed to his guns and never told the court what it wanted to hear.
Socrates’ philosophy had been based on morality; which is the desire to do good and reject evil. Telling the courts what they wanted to hear was immoral and against Socrates’ philosophy and morality. Doing so would result in a weak soul that is full of ignorance. Socrates had developed an understanding that came from within. This gave him …show more content…

Snowden, who was a computer systems contractor, worked for the National Security Agency and revealed to the public how the American Government was spying on its own citizens and foreigners. Snowden was committed to the truth which allowed him to reason and understand the difference between what is right and what is legal. Snowden was convinced that the truth requires an individual to do the right thing and not necessarily what is legal. However, doing the right thing could sometimes require an individual to break the law. Snowden was committed to doing the right thing so he revealed the different spying operations that were going on within the N.S.A. He became a whistleblower who rescued American citizens from being monitored through illegal surveillance and was looked upon as a

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545 Words | 3 Pages

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).

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648 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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111 Words | 1 Pages

In general, I do agree with your analysis, Socrates intentions were to leave a mark in society. In other words, to have individuals then and now take some time to “think” and seek greater knowledge. In my opinion, I can have concluded that his argument in trial serve not just as a plead to prove his innocence but as an invitation to follow his philosophy. Plato’s documentation of that event proves that Socrates did not die in vain that some was hearing his words and has cause conscience of themselves. Additionally, it can be seen that Socrates came to the wisdom of knowing himself and defending that knowledge to the

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249 Words | 1 Pages

I don 't think of Edward Snowden as a hero or a traitor. I do think what he did was bad he informed the general public of what the federal government is doing and the people have the right to know. If my best friend 's girlfriend was cheating on him and I told him about it does that make me a traitor? that 's an over simplified comparison but the point is that we as people of the "free world" have the right to know. The federal government should not have the ability to monitor your activity without a warrant without a just cause.

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1372 Words | 6 Pages

Additionally, his teaching and philosophy would not have the same effect since he would be going against everything that he had taught previously. He believed that it would be wrong for him to leave the arguments that he believed in from the past, just because he was set to die. If he were to change his philosophy on the law and how the rules were being followed, it should not be simply because he was in danger. By not escaping, he would be honorable just as his teachings had acknowledged. Socrates believed that an injustice should not be committed, knowingly and even in retaliation, it is wrong to inflict an injury upon someone who has wronged you since inflicting injury is a form of injustice.

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846 Words | 4 Pages

A few weeks later, these documents were released by The Guardian, and Edward Snowden was the reliable source. Now, people all over knew that the United States Government was spying on its own people through messages, internet searches, browser history, smart T.V’s and many many more. This case is ongoing, as he seeks asylum in other countries. This newfound information raises the question, is Mr. Snowden a traitor, or did he save us all by “blowing the whistle” to warn us about the unconstitutional collection of our private possessions protected by

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298 Words | 2 Pages

  I would argue that Socrates is influencing the audience and the people who will read his case to become more philosophical. He has a purpose

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1382 Words | 6 Pages

To be just or to be served an injustice and obey, this is the very basis of the philosophical dialogue between Socrates and Crito. The Crito begins as one of Socrates’ wealthy friends, Crito, offers Socrates a path to freedom—to escape from Athens. Through the ensuing dialogue, Socrates examines, as a man who is bound by principles of justice, whether an unjust verdict should be responded to with injustice. In the dialogue between Socrates and Crito, Socrates outlines his main arguments and principles that prevent him from escaping under such circumstances. Socrates is under guard when Crito visits him, thus the plan to escape.

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912 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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1074 Words | 5 Pages

The government debated about Snowden being considered a traitor or patriot of the country. The definition of a traitor is a person who is guilty of treason or treachery in betraying friends, country, family, etc. Definition of Treason is the crime of betraying one's country, by attempting to kill, sovereign, overthrow the government, or giving aid and/or comfort to the enemies government. Snowden was not giving aid or comfort to America’s enemies, unless the citizens of America are considered the enemy to the

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518 Words | 3 Pages

His opponents claim that he “threw the secrets he knew up in the air” in an act that was more for his ego than conscience, and hoped that it would have positive effects. There are also people who are in support of Edward Snowden and believe that in revealing just how much the government had been spying on Americans and others, he has performed a “public service” that by far outweighs any breaching if trust he may have committed (Cassidy). His supporters counter the argument of his actions being dangerous, by claiming that the information he put out didn’t reveal anything about the algorithms that the N.S.A. uses, the groups and individuals targeted, or the identity of U.S. agents. Furthermore, no content of U,S. military plans and conversations between U.S. or foreign officials was revealed.

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1021 Words | 5 Pages

Through becoming a teacher of the young men who followed him in Athens, Socrates effectively began to enter the public life. He was able to influence others through sharing his conclusions of justice, self-examination, and piety, and by asking relentless questions. Socrates effectively showed that an individual can live a private and a public life, even if Socrates was not directly involved in the policy-making in Athens. An individual can combine these two aspects of life in a productive way allowing her/him to live a full existence. These individuals can become teachers, politicians, and activists who use their focus on justice and piety in their private lives to advocate and create laws that promote true justice for the rest of the

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1471 Words | 6 Pages

Snowden’s actions proved his incompetence as a professional. He basically took all the files and dumped them on newspapers doorsteps. If his intentions were for the government to reform the NSA activities so they protected civil liberties more, he would have stayed at the agency longer and collected more information and carefully presented it to the people who do the changes, not to the public. 2. Snowden harmed the relationship between the US and its allies.

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1070 Words | 5 Pages

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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969 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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