The personality of Socrates had an enormous influence on the philosophy of Plato and was depicted in his work Apology. The strength of the spirit, that Socrates demonstrated while implementing his ideas and unveiling the truth hidden behind people’s decorous behavior and hypocritical opinions, commanded Plato’s admiration and Socrates had remained the symbol of pure philosophy for him. The word apology means ‘speaking in defense’ and aimed at vindicating Socrates posthumously from calumnies (Reeve
As stated in Plato's The Apology, Socrates explains that his duty is to question the falseness of other men and expose their ignorance. By doing this, he had gained much approval from the youth of the city, but also viewed with hatred from those he had ashamed. Thus, their contempt towards Socrates resulted in him being on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens, as well as not recognizing the gods of the state, whilst creating his own. During the trial, Socrates attempts to defend himself by comparing
An Account of the Trial of Socrates as outlined in Plato’s Apology This essay is an interpretation of the accusations against Socrates during his trial. Socrates was a Greek philosopher born in 470 BCE. He believed that within philosophical thought was the value of human knowledge. He would rather die than live not being allowed to express his ideas of wisdom and improvement of the soul. In 431BCE, democratic Athens was the political and cultural centre of the period, the Spartans saw its development
Socrates would have been guilty of all three of his accusations during his day and age, however, in today’s day and age Socrates would be innocent of all of his accusations. In Socrates time, he was absolutely guilty for his first charge because the freedom of speech did not exist like it does today. In Plato’s book, The Apology, The first accusation Meletus made against Socrates was that he was corrupting the youth by teaching things that were in contradiction of the government’s law. This is one
In Plato’s Apology, the immediate scene is set around the great philosopher Socrates as he defends himself in court against a range of accusations and assertions that are made by critics of the past as well as those present in the same courtroom as him. Although Socrates does defend himself against the “official” accusations that he was charged with, his main effort is directed at explaining why his accusers don’t like him and why he acts the way he does. Socrates’ main defense before the court arises
Professor George December 11, 2014 Plato’s Apology of Socrates Plato’s Apology is the recollection of Socrates' trial presented before the Athenian Council, in which he is charged with not accepting the gods recognized by the state, introducing ethics in human behavior, and corrupting the youth of Athens. Athens is a democracy, a city in which there is many people who govern politics; therefore it is expected to be as corrupted as the population is. Socrates brings forward the argument that most
Plato’s The Last Days of Socrates and Shonagon’s The Pillow Book, although vastly different in regards to subject matter, style, and tone, both contribute much to what we consider important to us as humans. Plato was a philosopher in Classical Greece and founded the Academy of Athens as the first institution of the Western world. In the Apology of Socrates, Plato makes it clear that he was a devoted young follower of the widely recognized and controversial figure, Socrates. Socrates himself wrote
Plato portrays conflicts between philosophy, or the love of wisdom, and civic life, which is the participation in politics, in his Apology of Socrates and Symposium. In these texts, Plato depicts Socrates as the principal advocate in Athens for philosophical inquiry and how it benefits the human soul. Tensions arise from the fact that philosophy functions at a higher standard than politics; while the pursuit of wisdom concerns itself with justice and improving the soul, politics adhere to laws
Apology was written by pupil Plato as he watched his teacher, and in some ways hero, stand before the jury with two harsh charges pending against him. As Socrates taught Plato, Plato learned many of his ways was there to document this trial. While there is speculation on how true the words of Plato were in the work of Apology, it is thought that because of how much Plato admirers Socrates that the words are probably a fairly accurate account. These charges brought against Socrates were that of corrupting
them. These statements made in the Mission Statement and Values act as rules to live by, in a sense. Looking outside of Connecticut College, sets of values can be defined in terms other than black and white (such as in a Mission Statement). In Plato’s Apology, Plato gives account of