First Accusers a. persuading the audience since childhood (18b-c) b. claiming that Socrates is a wise man; teaches about the sky and the earth below and advocates atheism c. They can’t be named except for the comedic writers (Aristophanes) d. Socrates is fighting with shadows as these early accusers won’t testify e. All these accusations are false f. He doesn’t charge money like the others sophists (Gorgias et al) g. His occupation: searching for wisdom (20d) i. Chaerephon and the oracle of Delphi (21a ff) ii. No one is wiser than Socrates (21b) iii. Socrates tests the ‘wise’ or those who think themselves to be so (21b-e) iv. In his systematic investigation he has discovered those with the greatest reputation are most deficient (22a) 1. poets compose through inspiration (22b-c) 2. craftsmen: know things he doesn’t but think themselves To be wise in others spheres (22e) h. Socrates has become unpopular through questioning (23a) i. the god’s meaning: that man among you is wisest who like Socrates understands his wisdom to be worthless (23b) ii. Because of his occupation he’s not able to engage in public affairs (23b-c) iii.
At the age of 18 he became an Athens citizen and had more rights. He learned from many great speakers of his time, but ultimately found that he had a way of thinking all his own. After becoming a teacher of many, Athens started to fear and hate Socrates for the thought that he was “Poisoning their children’s mind”. At the trial of the century the prosecutors, Meletus, Lycon, and Anytus faced Socrates. Socrates spoke to the jurors that he had done nothing wrong and that he leaves his fate in the Athens god and in the people of the jury.
And to find out some answers, we need to go through Plato’s dialogues, “Crito” and “Phaedo”. This conversation between Socrates and his dearest closer friends and fellows, may bring us some of the answers…if we have the good sense of reading it more than once. After been convicted in Athens for corrupting the youth and not believing in Gods, Socrates was given the chance to scape to another city to save his life.
Compare Socrates with the Sophists. Many Athenians had mistaken Socrates for a Sophist. The fact is that Socrates was one of the Sophists keenest critics. That Socrates should have been identified with them was due to his relentless analysis of any and every subject, a technique also used by the Sophists. But between the Sophists and Socrates there was a fundamental difference.
Euthyphro – Plato In Euthyphro, there was dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro about the meaning of piety. Socrates has a particular interest in the subject of piety due to his recent charge of impiety. Socrates is about to be tried before Athenian court to determine whether he is guilty or innocent of the charges against him. The charges are for corrupting the youth, inventing new charges, and not believing in the old ones. He does not feel that the people understand the real meaning of piety and impiety.
One of the charges in the affidavit written by Meletus against Socrates is that he is an evil doer "corrupting the youth" (Grube). Another charge brought against Socrates is that he is making up new Gods and disregarding the old Gods the Athenians believe in (Grube). Socrates starts his defense by addressing the jury and telling them that his accusers had a prepared speech, while Socrates' speech will be completely improvised (Perel). Socrates continued to further disassociate himself from the opponents by telling the jury to forgive him for his conversational tone in his speech, for that is how he best speaks (Perel). Socrates asked the jury to focus on the substance of his defense, not how his defense is delivered.
The Charges against Socrates In Apology from Plato, Socrates is confronted with some charges from two groups of accusers. The first group of accusers says that Socrates is “guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth.” (Plato 19b) Also, they add up that “he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others.” (Plato 19b) The second group of accusers alleges Socrates’ guilt as “guilty of corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other new spiritual things.” (Plato 24b-c) These are the charges against Socrates from Apology. When the first group of accusers charges against Socrates, they identify Socrates as a natural philosopher by “a person who studying things in the sky and below the earth.” (Plato 19b) In Socrates’ time, everything was started and ended by gods because Athenian people told stories of gods and made themselves in terms of gods. In Athenian society, the gods were the most powerful being because they created, fashioned, and ruled the world. However, some Greek philosophers were not happy with it, and they started paying tribute to natural processes when they recognized that the natural processes or elemental processes had been upon the earth.
Sophists were expert teachers of all sorts but they got their bad reputation from rhetoric which their main concern was victory for those they taught. I could argue that both sophists and Socrates used techniques to manipulate words. Sophists using there techniques to prove another wrong ;and Socrates using his techniques to prove that someone who may think they know what something is, actually doesn’t know what “it is”. He instead helps them realize their ignorance and pushes for deeper understanding through questioning and rewording of phrases or words. I
He continued to refute this assertion by making a slightly sarcastic, presumptuous joke at the public’s expense, “Listen then...some of you will think I am jesting, but be sure that all I say is true.” This quote can be perceived as a stab at the ‘inferior argument’ strategy, for which sophists are famous. In Aristophane’s Clouds, Socrates is portrayed as being able to teach such a method, in which the individual that masters it can make even the
However before his death, Socrates continued his trek on philosophy and thinking and tried to save himself through his own works and philosophical justifications. This included most famously, his Socratic Method. He used this method to try and convince the men of Athens that he did not deserve death and that his teachings were in fact legit and led to heightened senses and knowledge. He tries to make them see that he too deserved life and deserved to spread his ideals and theories to anyone who was interested and wanted to experience life on his own personal level and through his own experiences, not simply the experiences in which man was “supposed” to have and learn from. Socrates attempted to open the eyes of all around him, the children because ultimately they are the future and have not been completely brainwashed by society, and the jurors and jailers for their own ultimate gain.