Around 400 BC Plato, one of Socrates greatest admirers, wrote a dialog of the speech Socrates makes at the trial where he was accused of not recognizing the gods that the state recognized, and for corrupting the youth of Athens. Socrates is brought before a jury to defend his case and uses the method of cross-examination to prove his argument. Throughout the duration of the trial, Socrates uses concrete evidence and his distinctive logical to prove to his accusers that he is innocent. Instead, Socrates establishes a strong argument for his claim that he is essentially one of the most positive influences on the youth while recognizing that the gods do exist. Before Socrates went to trial to prove his innocence, in addition to already believing he was the wisest in all of Athens, he confirmed his assumption by asking the oracle.
Steve Burgoyne Socrates Socrates was not guilty of corrupting the youth. Being the wise intelligent man which he was he would simply teach the youth to look for new divinities in life by thinking for themselves. Most certainly is that not such a crime and Socrates, who was highly respected and looked up to by not only his students but also fellow Athenians did all one can possibly do to prove his innocence. Corruption of the youth of Athens was the main charge Socrates was being indicted on. It was a few men who belittled Socrates that conducted the charge on Socrates.
Plato’s views on the soul are more convincing than Aristotle’s – discuss. Plato and Aristotle were both Greek philosophers who wrote alternate views upon the soul. When discussing Plato and Aristotle we must deduce that Aristotle’s views are likely to revolve around empirical matters whereas Plato’s will be mostly based upon The World of the Forms. Plato wrote about his dualist views upon the soul that state that the soul is ‘imprisoned’ in a body waiting to be freed by knowledge, to Plato, the soul is immortal and lives on when the body dies. Aristotle has a monist approach to the soul, unlike Plato he says that the soul cannot exist without the body.
His position in life as being a good man and act as one, to live a proper and truthful life. The questioning attitude he thought Athens explaining that fundamentally there are logical reasons behind phenomena and events. Through his conversation with the jury, Socrates insists that he is no expert of any field whats so ever and he is not a wise man at all. Socrates follower Chaerphon visited the Oracle who spoke of Socrates being the wisest man in Greece. To prove the Oracle wrong Socrates went searching for a wiser man than he in Athens.
Validity in the Charges of Impiety against Socrates Impiety is commonly defined as a lack of proper concern for the obligations owed to public religious observation. Plato’s Apology consists of a speech made by Socrates, a well-known philosopher, in defense of his life and conduct at his trail. Socrates was accused of being impious through accusations such as corrupting the youth of Athens, not recognizing the gods that are recognized by the state, as well as inventing new deities. The question then becomes, with these accusations in mind, are the charges of impiety against Socrates valid? This question is not easy to answer, and is in fact, quite complex.
Is Socrates a Believable Character? Socrates, as most know, is a man famous for offending Athenian beliefs during 4th century BC. Philosophy was not accepted at this time therefore many believed Socrates rambled on about nonsense. Although this seemed like nonsense to people living in Athens at the time, Socrates still voiced his opinion as his love for philosophy was more important then what was said of him. As history shows, Socrates is a believable character as the Apology written by Plato has many examples showing he truly is philosophical and wise.
Thucydides does not directly support the argument of the “classical model of politics” but his views of Political Realism sort of allude to it. If a government’s main motivation is just for power and it does not care at all about how ethical it is, there is a good chance it will end up becoming corrupt, as the “classical model of politics” suggests. Plato, in The Republic, argues that all of the political systems (democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and timarchy) are inherently corrupt, and that the state should be governed by an elite class of educated philosophical-rulers, who would be trained from birth and selected on the basis of skill, as Plato describes: “those who have the greatest skill in watching over the community.” Plato also advocates, in The Republic, the abolishment of private property and the family among the ruling classes. This has caused many people to say that he was a communist, but many political scholars disregard this view, saying that the text implies that this will only extend to the ruling classes, and that ordinary citizens “will have enough private property to make the regulation of wealth and poverty a concern.” Essentially, Plato’s view goes along with the “classical model of politics” I mentioned above. He believes there are a number of different forms of government and he says that they are all inherently corrupt, which implies that, as mentioned above, each form
He was caught and defined as one of the conspirators. Where plebeians found him to be a conspirator not a writer who he admitted he was. His Flaw was saying his name after he was mentioned to be one of the conspirators and he gets taken away by the plebeians. “” I am Cinna the poet not cinna the conspirator””. (3.3 29+32) The fatal flaw of the third conspirator, Cassius is that he is scared of what will happen to him after he murdered Caesar.
"Socrates Today" Although, Socrates lived thousands of years ago, he can still relate to modern day society. His teachings and wisdom can touch many people in many ways, but only the people that are open to his ideologies can be affected by his teachings. Mordecai Roshwald in "Socrates Today" discusses Socrates current reputation, how it is brought about, how Roshwald wants to alter it, whom Roshwald is addressing and his own personal values, and finally the way he uses in-text persuasiveness to affect people. Roshwald describes Socrates reputation in that he is not valued and potentially hated, since he believed in talking to others. In addition, he believed in having the exchange of ideas between two human beings.
The first charge is that Socrates is corrupting the young. Meletus is being asked questions by Socrates that proves that he is incorrect with his charges and that he isn’t to be taken seriously. Ultimately, in this questioning, Socrates gets to the point that Meletus is trying to tell the court that he, alone, corrupts the youth. He goes on to say that this is the opposite of what usually happens. How can one person corrupt the entire youth by themselves?