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What Was Socrates Defense Strategies

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Unlike most defendants pleading for their lives, Socrates chose a bold defense strategy during his trial. Faced with accusations of impiety against the pantheon of Athens and corrupting the youth, he could have changed his defense strategy, sought exile, or even silenced his critical voice. However, Socrates, a philosopher renowned for his unwavering commitment to truth-seeking, refused this seemingly “easy” solution. Rather than pleading for mercy or attempting to manipulate the jury's emotions, Socrates used the opportunity to dissect the very accusations against him. He engaged in a rigorous dialectic, dissecting the concept of piety and the role of a philosopher in Athenian society. Socrates’s unwavering commitment to sticking to truth …show more content…

In this paragraph, I am going to give three examples of options Socrates had at his disposal, each offering a seemingly "easy" escape from his fatal sentence. First, Socrates could have changed his defense strategy. While Socrates' current strategy prioritized reason and truth-seeking, it wasn't necessarily the most effective for securing his immediate survival. The Athenian jury system often placed a premium on emotional appeals rather than complex philosophical arguments. Socrates' questioning of traditional beliefs, has been seen as disruptive or disrespectful, angering the jurors. His focus on logic and reason didn’t necessarily resonate with his jury. In other words, Socrates made zero serious attempts to defend himself in the trial. He told the jury that he was not in the wrong and had no intention of changing his behavior. He proceeded to humiliate the jury during the trial. He even went as far as to say that the government should reward him, by asking for meals at the Prytaneum. In The Apology he said, “There can be no more fitting reward than maintenance in the Prytaneum” (Plato

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