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Socrates Argument For Innocence In Plato's Apology

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In Plato’s Apology, Socrates uses religious appeals, proof by contradiction WC and various examples to argue for his innocence in court. Socrates is forced to argue for the sake of his life to prove that he is not guilty. Socreates’ speech, however, he is not apologizing for anything instead, the word comes from the Greek word “apologia,” that translates to a speech made in defense. Socrates begins his argument by stating the reason he thinks he is being accused is because of his reputation with the citizens of Athens. He says, “I shall call upon the god at Delphi as witness to the existence and nature of my wisdom, if it be such. You know Chaerephon … He went to Delphi at one time and ventured to ask the oracle … if any man was wiser than [Socrates], and the Pythian replied that no one was wiser. Chaerephon is dead, but his brother will testify to you about this.” This arguments’ strengths are that it calls upon a god as evidence and a religious appeal to the audience. Every citizen of Athens believes in the existence of Gods therefore, this appeal works well with his argument since he is explaining the way he is because Phythian said this was true. No one would question this part of his claim since they believe in Apollo and the oracles predictions. The weakness is that Chaerephon is dead so his evidence can neither be confirmed nor denied. He …show more content…

He states that “there is good hope that death is a blessing … either the dead are nothing and have no perception of anything, or it is, as we are told a change a relocating for the soul from here to another place. As his time is coming to an end he continuous to say that only god knows what will await him after death and no one knows what actually occurs. This claim is reasonable because no one knows the truth behind death, even though he doesn’t know either that is not enough evidence for him to fear

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He has passion for his beliefs and values, and would rather die than give them up. When presented with the idea of the jury releasing him he states “as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy” (Plato 32). This shows that Socrates does not believe what he has done and what he believes in is wrong; he will continue to do what he had been put on trial for if released. This is the exact opposite of what one would say to appease the jury. Socrates is on trial because some believe what he was doing was wrong, by refusing to acknowledge that he was wrong, this speech contradicts our modern day idea of an apology.

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In the Apology by Plato, Socrates defends himself against his accusers in court, and begins by declaring that he is not an especially great speaker but that he only speaks the truth. In this, he tells his accusers that they should not fear him but only the truth itself. In the depiction of Socrates' last speech, he makes a bold claim that he has been deemed the wisest man in Athens by the god of Delphi ( Plato, ., Jowett, n.d. ). He goes on to explain that while he searched for those that thought themselves wise,

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Euthyphro tries to explain him that he was doing the same as Zeus did to his father and therefore being pious. But Socrates argues that it is just an example and not an explanation. He tries again and says what gods like is pious and what they dislike is not. But Socrates points out the fallacy in that argument that one god might not agree with another to which he replies in his third attempt what all gods like is pious and what they all hate is impious. Here, in this example we can see that how he searches for a concrete and complete definition for being pious.

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(20c) Socrates mentions that it was human wisdom and nothing more that has allowed himself to know what he knows. (20d) Socrates even mentions

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In The Apology by Plato, Socrates is being accused of three things; “he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others” (19b). Socrates begins his defense immediately criticizing his accusers of being dishonest and speaking no truth in their case. He then begs for the jury’s forgiveness for not speaking the correct style of language, being unfamiliar with the type of dialogue used in a law court, since it is his first time at the age of seventy. He explains that this is not the first time accused, but that he has had to defend himself against lying accusations for years. He addresses that his reputation and wisdom all started because of

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Not believing in Gods Socrates did not recognize the gods, which were generally accepted in Athens. As it is known, in the community of that time some traditions and regulations were formed, and if person did not compliance them, this person acts against society. The charge was formulated as follows: "Socrates breaks the law not recognizing the gods, which recognizes the city, but recognizing the believing in some new genius" (literally "new demon"). So if in Athens laws was also traditions, and tradition was to believe in generally accepted gods, not believing in gods Socrates was breaking the law.

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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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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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In this second quote, Socrates is saying that he possesses a certain wisdom given to him by the god to spread his philosophy and belief in the city of Athens. Here is a third piece of evidence to support my point from “ The Apology”. “Afterwards I went to talk to one person after another, sensing how odious I had become to them. I was sad and fearful; but I felt it was necessary to make the god’s work my highest priority.” (Lines 56-58)

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Aphorism 108 Life is a condition that places us and then we have to make sense out of it. Nietzsche’s claim is cultural claim. It’s not an atheist claim and it’s also not a theological claim because Nietzsche actually believed in God. He stated that the 20th century is involved in new ways of thinking as manifest in speaking. God is dead is the end of an epoch where shared values ruled.

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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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Apology: Socrates Assignment In Apology, Socrates intent was not to apologize for his ideas and beliefs to the people of Athens, his purpose was to defend his practices by confronting his accusers, which put him on trial. Socrates charges consisted of inventing new deities, not recognizing the states Gods, and corrupting Athens youth minds. Socrates began his trial by speaking of his old accusers and the famous book The Cloud, acknowledging that people disagreed with him in his teachings. He then continued by turning from his old accusers to the current ones, more specifically Meletus.

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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.

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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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Socrates’s official new charge “asserts that Socrates does injustice by corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel” (24b, p. 73). By looking deeper into the dialogue of The Apology and Euthyphro, one can see how passionately Socrates strives to express to the Athenian people his innocence in teaching the youth and worshiping of the gods. Socrates maintains his innocence in teaching the youth for three reasons. Primarily, there is no proof or evidence from past examples in which Socrates has taught the youth because no one has come out and said so. Socrates brings up a valid point that his so-called ‘teachings’ haven’t changed over time and therefore if he is accused

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