Plato's Apology of Socrates
Plato's Apology of Socrates
As one of the greatest and most influential of all the Greek philosophers, Socrates (469--399 B.C.E.) passionately believed that just behavior was better for human beings than injustice and that morality was justified because it created happiness and well-being. Essentially, Socrates seems to have argued that just behavior, or virtue, was identical to knowledge and that true knowledge of justice would inevitably lead people to choose good over evil and therefore to have truly happy lives, regardless of their material success. Since Socrates believed that knowledge itself was sufficient for happiness, he asserted that no one knowingly behaved unjustly and that ...
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inner reflection" (156). Plato concluded that knowledge meant searching for truths that are independent of the observer and could be taught to others. With this, Plato concluded that an honorable man, such as Socrates, could take no part in Athenian public life without incurring hatred and danger.
In 399 B.C.E., the philosophical tenets of Socrates were put to the ultimate test when he was placed on trial for his beliefs which at times conflicted with those usually supported by the majority of Athenians. Although Socrates, unlike the Sophists, offered no courses and took no fees, his effect on the people of ancient Athens was as upsetting as the relativistic doctrines of the Sophists had been. Indeed, Socrates' refutation of his fellow conversationalists' most treasured beliefs made some of his interlocutors decidedly uncomfortable. Unhappiest of all were the fathers whose sons, after listening to Socrates reduce someone to utter bewilderment, came home to try the same technique on ...
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could be a danger to conventional society gave the playwright Aristophanes the inspiration for his comedy The Clouds of 423 B.C.E., so named from the role played by the chorus. In this play, Socrates is presented as a cynical Sophist who, for the offer of payment, provides instruction in the Protagorean technique of making the weaker argument the stronger. When the protagonist's son is transformed by Socrates' instruction into a rhetorician able to argue that a son has the right to beat his parents, the protagonist ends the comedy by burning down the so-called "Thinking Shop" belonging and supported by Socrates. Thus, with this comedic parable, one can easily understand how Socrates placed ...
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"Plato's Apology of Socrates." Essayworld.com. January 20, 2016. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Platos-Apology-of-Socrates/105381.
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