Socrates is quoted as stating, “An unexamined life is a life not worth living” (38 a). Socrates was a founding figure of western philosophy, and a stable for many ideas. He lived in Athens, Greece teaching his students, like Plato, questioning politics, ethical choices, and many other things in Greek society. In the Trial and death of Socrates: Four Dialogues by Plato, it explores the abstract questioning Socrates had towards many of the normal social properties, which led to his trial, resulting in his death. The most important aspects discussed in the dialogues is the questioning of what is pious and impious, what it means to be wise, and good life.
In the first dialogue, Euthyphro, Socrates questions what is the true meaning of piety, to
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He is given the opportunity to choose an escape, and live his life never being able to return back to Athens. He completely opposes the idea and decides to live out the consequences of his trial, ultimately dying. Socrates made it his mission to live a virtuous life, which he did, right to his death. To life a virtuous life it would have gone against his own belief if he did escape his conviction, making this aspect very important in his philosophy. “To do so is right, and one must not give way or retreat or leave one’s post, but both in war and in courts and everywhere else, one must obey the commands of one’s city and country, or persuade as the nature of justice. It is impious to bring violence to bear against your mother or father; it is much more so to use it against your country.” What we say in reply, Crito, that the laws speak the truth, or not?” (TDS pg 51,52). By breaking the law, Socrates would be disobeying the laws as a citizen, like a child disobeying his parent. By escaping he would have been doing an impious act that would affect his standing with the gods. Therefore, Socrates was willing to die if it meant that his actions would still be
Socrates swells Euthyphro’s ego with a sarcastic comment. Euthyphro implies that he is an expert in the field of holiness. Socrates obviously amused by Euthyphro self-proclaimed expertise that he pretends to be unfamiliarity with the topic at hand and asks Euthyphro to teach him what is pious.
Crito has an escape plan in place to break out Socrates. Socrates decides that if he were to escape it would not be morally justified. Socrates discusses why he has a duty to stay and face his charges, as well as why the action of fleeing would be unethical. To Socrates, breaking one law would be an injustice to all laws and would cause great harm to the
By breaking the law his soul would be ruined and a ruined soul is not worth living with. This goes back to when he said that the really important thing is not to live but to live well. Also, when he dies he would enter Hades as an outlaw and will not be well welcomed. Therefore, he believes that he should stay and face his execution because it is better to die than to live with a ruined soul. Socrates uses all of these points to support his main argument which is that escaping jail would be morally incorrect.
Tyler Thomas PHIL 1013 November 10, 2014 Socrates Vs Crito: Whether or Not He Should Escape In the Crito written by Plato, the jury had already sentenced Socrates to death on the charges of corrupting the youth of Athens and for not believing in the Gods of the state. As a choice of punishment, Socrates would have to willingly drink poison, leading to a painful death. It is worth noticing that before Socrates was convicted, he was given a few other option earlier to leave Athens and never return or to even stay in Athens but not speak his crazy beliefs. Socrates for his reasons chose to refuse those options, believing he was innocent and had not done anything wrong. Hearing about Socrates conviction and impending death, Crito who is Socrates’
“I cannot put away the reasons which I have before given: the principles which I have hitherto honored and revered I still honor”. Socrates states this fact while discussing with Crito the issue of wether or not he should escape sentencing in Athens. Should he escape Athens and abandon all of his beliefs, which he has spent his life preaching? or Should he accept his sentencing, and go down for something that he believes in? I agree with Socrates that he should not escape from Athens to continue teaching because, if he did escape, he would be going against his core beliefs and adversely affecting his
Here, Socrates is not stating this purely for sake of upholding law, but there is a fair amount of foresight. He was well known and respected by the public and other city states as a philosopher and teacher. Crito confirmed there was opposition to the senate verdict, and therefore his death would only bring them under greater scrutiny. But if he Socrates escaped, he would have blatantly broken the law, allowing the senate to justify their claims against him or at the very least weaken his support. Additionally, having upheld the law, the social contract, for his entire life, breaking it would be a betrayal to his own
Socrates was sentenced to death by drinking a deadly poison, however, Socrates could have escaped into exile instead he chose become a martyr. In this scene, he has been sentenced to death for corrupting the youths of Athens and for not believing in the gods of their tradition. He is being defiant
When the Athenian philosopher Socrates was being tried in court, he unabashedly stated that he was proud of his life 's work and that the unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates was correct in his view of life, and he died for what he believed in. In court, Socrates claimed that he would be willing to die many times over in order to defend his way of life. Socrates believed that if a person was living their life virtuously, they should never worry about when they would die.
In Apology, Socrates faces possible execution as he stands trial in front of his fellow Athenian men. This jury of men must decide whether Socrates has acted impiously against the gods and if he has corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates claims in his defense that he wants to live a private life, away from public affairs and teachings in Athens. He instead wants to focus on self-examination and learning truths from those in Athens through inquiry. Socrates argues that "a [man] who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if [he] is to survive for even a short time" (32a).
However, Socrates’ method was flawed. There are situations where the laws of a state have to be disobeyed. By using Hitler as an example, King points out that although what Hitler did was legal, it was unjust as it degraded humanity. I do not think Socrates would have given up his life under such circumstances just to avoid causing harm to his state. King makes a better
Breaking this agreement would leave his conscience guilty and make his life not worthwhile. He also believes that if he were to leave it would tarnish his reputation of him, his children, who he wanted to raise in Athens, would also have to bear his reputation which would be ruined if he left. Socrates would rather die knowing that he did not break his agreement with Athens and ruin his reputation and have a clean conscience than flee to another city and live out the rest of his life with the guilt. Socrates also says that if he were to escape it would be hurting the city by undermining the judicial system and giving it no credibility to convict other criminals who would escape just as he did and leaving it susceptible to a state of no order and
Socrates was a greek philosopher who found himself in trouble with his fellow citizens and court for standing his grounds on his new found beliefs from his studies about philosophical virtue, justice, and truth. In “Apology” written by Plato, Socrates defended himself in trial, not with the goal of escaping the death sentence, but with the goal of doing the right thing and standing for his beliefs. With this mindset, Socrates had no intention of kissing up to the Athenians to save his life. Many will argue that Socrates’ speech was not very effective because he did not fight for his life, he just accepted the death sentence that he was punished with. In his speech he said, “But now it’s time to leave, time for me to die and for you to live.”
Socrates bases this view of justice on the worth of living a good life. “And is life worth living for us with that part of us corrupted by unjust actions” (47e) If we corrupt our soul with injustice, our life would not be worth living, therefore one must never commit an injustice. “When one has come to an agreement that is just with someone, one should fulfill it.”(49e) It is this agreement with the Laws that Socrates would be violating, if he were to
Making enemies and becoming the topic of conversation, the Athenians began to view Socrates as a threat to their beliefs and way of life and sought to end it. In order to end this, Socrates was accused of blasphemy (Mod1SlideC7). Socrates’s accusers took him to court and after Socrates did not play their game by asking to be sent into exile, and in the end, he was sentenced to death. After reading the textbook and Plato’s writing influenced by Socrates, I realized that in the period of his life Socrates was indeed truly a threat to the Athens society, because he looked for answers that no one else bothered to find which challenged their culture.
Socrates describe the State as it should always be obeyed, even if the state made decisions that the individual may disagree with. He said that while people may not explicitly sign any contract to obey the laws of the State they live in, their consent to follow the law is assumed. Socrates believed that if you choose to live under a sovereign power, for the benefits that this brings to the individual, then the individual must also completely submit to the law of that State, for the benefit of society. When Socrates was imprisoned and sentenced to death he was visited by a friend who told him that he had the means to help him escape. Socrates explained that if he escaped he would be defying the rule of the State, and if he did so, it would be