Christopher Aguirre
Professor Eric Wickey
PHR 100-002
17 February 2017
The Double Meaning of Death in the Eyes of Socrates
Plato’s Apology was supposed to represent Socrates’ trial for his being a nuisance and corrupting the youth. Socrates defended himself by saying that he was merely performing service to the god that said that he was wiser than anyone else. This defense did not work, and he lost the trial. Socrates remained defiant during the sentencing portion of the trial, which led to him be sentenced to death, and as such he had to face his mortality. Socrates viewed death as not being an unscrupulous entity. In this paper, I will explain his two meanings of death, difference between both meanings, and argue the one I believe in.
At many points throughout the Apology, Socrates insists that death is not bad. As he says, “To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what ones does not know” (pg. 33). However, it is not until page 38 when he begins his discussion of the issue in depth by saying, “Let us reflect in this way, too, that there is good hope that death is a blessing.” When considering death,
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Although his argument was valid (his conclusions followed necessarily from his premises, if we should accept those premises as true), it was not comprehensive. This is because it was based on faulty premises. First, the “death as dreamless sleep” analogy is flawed. If death were like dreamless sleep, it would not seem like a single night because there is no waking up afterwards. The actual experience of sleeping, or even dreamless sleeping, is not actually good, because we are not conscious during it, which renders us powerless to gain pleasure from it throughout it. We only consider it good once we wake up afterwards and feel well rested. However, with death as a dreamless sleep, there is no waking up afterwards, only never-ending
Plato's Apology is the personal defence of a seventy year old man named Socrates. The central theme of the dialogue is wisdom. After having spent a lifetime trying to answer the question himself, Socrates is brought to trial for corrupting the young, disbelieving in the gods that the city believed in, and teaching others to believe in new spiritual things. The account details the events and thought processes that lead Socrates to his final conclusion. Through his exploration of human wisdom, virtue, and integrity, Socrates discovers that there is no reason for a man who has lived a good life to fear death.
The argument in the Apology is that one should never betray one¡¦s own philosophy for any reason, even if the reason is death. Moreover, death should never be a deterrent to a man because no man has true knowledge of death, and ¡§surely it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one knows what one does not know¡¨ (Plato 32). Socrates believes that we have no cause to fear death, and as stated in a previous quote, for the philosopher death was probably a more
Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death. His personal defense is described in works two of his students: Xenophon and Plato. Both of them wrote papers called Apology, which is the Greek word for “defense”. In this essay I used Apology by Plato as the main resource, since it contents a more full account of the trial of Socrates and
In the Apology Socrates is a very simple man he is Plato’s favorite character based on his personality of appearance. To convey his ideas about honesty and rightness. The peculiar of a method applied in Apology is about an argument which Socrates used to expressed by Plato in The Apology (Steven 29p) uses to defend himself in the course of a court-martial. Plato’s Apology is an example of how Socrates speech makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the city, The complaint of Socrates is based on fear people of the man’s thinking which inspires the youth by original ideas and exposure of the ignorance and corruption in the unawareness and dishonesty in the upper circles of the state. Socrates
In this reading Plato tells the story of Socrates and his trial which ultimately lead to his death sentence. Socrates was a 70 year old man at peace with his own mortality yet willing to face his accusers with an almost definite possibility of death to maintain his own integrity and beliefs and morality. He fully understood from the beginning of his trial what the sentence handed down would be yet on a level of honor and courage not seen in abundance in modern society he maintained his stance and delivered a compelling and convincing argument. He openly stated that he knew his actions had offended Meletus and
Whether Socrates is portrayed correctly or not, he certainly was a great man. His contribution to western thought cannot be denied. For even if his teachings were different from what they are known to be at present, his influence on Plato is immense. And so, it is no small matter to describe the tragic passing of such a man as Socrates was and remains for philosophy today. Yet in all the indignation which is expected to arise at the death of Socrates, the panache with which he departs is captured excellently in Plato's “Apology.” Specifically, at the end of the "Apology," Socrates makes a very important statement that has had great impact on philosophy ever since its original proclamation. The
In Plato’s works Apology and Crito there is an attempt by Socrates to defend himself in court and defend his choice to receive the death penalty when found guilty. Although he makes very valid and strong arguments throughout one can only wonder why such a wise person would choose death over life. The following essay will analyze three quotes from Apology and Crito, find the correlation between them, and reveal any flaws that may exsist inside these arguments made by Socrates.
“the hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways – I to die, and
Socrates suggested that if he were to get what he deserved, he should be honored with a great meal for being of such service to the state. He rejected the sentences of prison or exile, offering instead to pay a fine. When the jury rejected his suggestions and sentenced him to death, Socrates accepted the verdict and said that no one but the gods know what happens after death and so it would be foolish to fear what one does not know. He also warned the people who voted against him that by silencing him rather than listening to him, they have harmed themselves much more than they have harmed him.
The portrayal of Socrates, through the book “the trial and death of Socrates” is one that has created a fairly controversial character in Western history. In many ways, Socrates changed the idea of common philosophy in ancient Greece; he transformed their view on philosophy from a study of why the way things are, into a consideration man. Specifically, he analyzed the virtue and health of the human soul. Along side commending Socrates for his strong beliefs, and having the courage to stand by those convictions, Socrates can be commended for many other desirable characteristics. Some of those can include being the first martyr to die for his philosophical beliefs and having the courage to challenge indoctrinated cultural norms is part of
Next, we already have the knowledge that Socrates understands how unwise it is to fear death, but he has a perception of death that grants him serenity and peace about being deceased. He enlightens the jury by explaining, “death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness or a change and migration of the soul from this world to another” (pg. 69). In the majority of cases, humans will innately fear that state of nothingness and uncertainty, however Socrates’ approach differs. Even though this is the worst of the two possibilities when humans die, Socrates views this undisturbed slumber without any dreams or distractions to be a tremendous benefit. Socrates’ ideals mirror that of Ecclesiastes 9:5 which states, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.” This parallels Socrates claiming that he does not fear death even if it is an
Even though Socrates was on his deathbed, he was still teaching and arguing with his students. He wanted his students and friends to understand that it was for the good of society that he dies. I believe Socrates was thinking about the future and how his death would be a lesson for someone else. Socrates was also telling his students that he was not going to disobey the law. Socrates’ students and friends could have taken him to another city. That would have made Socrates a liar about what he was teaching all along. Even though the students and friends were crying and grieving over Socrates’ death, Socrates was not comforting them or fleeing to another city. Socrates was just teaching them his strong belief in justice and loyalty to the government. This was very devastating to his friends.
Socrates is believed to be one of the greatest philosophers of all time and he is credited as being the founder of western philosophy. This paper will explain some of his views to the most fundamental questions of today’s age. These questions will include topics about morality, the human condition, solution, and death. After Socrates’ views on these topics are explained, a critique will be done on his answers. I will start out by explaining exactly who Socrates is, and the time that he lived in. To start out, we will first examine Socrates’ view on morality.
In Plato’s The Republic and The Apology, the topic of justice is examined from multiple angles in an attempt to discover what justice is, as well as why living a just life is desirable. Plato, writing through Socrates, identifies in The Republic what he thought justice was through the creation of an ideal city and an ideal soul. Both the ideal city and the ideal soul have three components which, when all are acting harmoniously, create what Socrates considers to be justice. Before he outlines this city and soul, he listens to the arguments of three men who hold popular ideas of the period. These men act to legitimize Socrates’ arguments because he finds logical errors in all of their opinions. In The Apology, a different, more down-to-Earth, Socrates is presented who, through his self-defense in court, reveals a different, even contradictory, view of the justice presented in The Republic. In this paper, the full argument of justice from The Republic will be examined, as well as the possible inconsistencies between The Republic and The Apology.
Throughout the course of the Phaedo, Socrates argues that the soul is immortal. Because he believes that his soul will live on forever, Socrates claims that he is not afraid to die. Socrates was sentenced to death and due to the fact that he took the poison earlier than when was necessary, many believe that he committed suicide. Contrary to what may be presumed about Socrates’ death, I will argue that he is a martyr and did not commit suicide.