Socrates Fortlow Reflection

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 Apology Socrates was charged and put on trial for impiety, as well as accused of committing many other crimes. I will first explain the most important issues of why Socrates was sent to death. Then I will argue the position that Socrates is innocent, and should not be have been found guilty.

First off, Oedipus and his family had really rough times. Oedipus’ sons killed each other for the throne, his daughter killed herself, he killed himself, so it was a very weird family. To start off, Eteocles Oedipus’ son he was heroic because he saved his family and country from the enemies who tried to kill the people of Thebes. Eteocles of course saves them from the ruthless and ferocious Argive army. “Against our seven gates in a yawning ring the famished spears came onward in the night; but before his jaws were sated with our blood, or pine fire took the garland of our towers, he was thrown back, and as he turned, great Thebes no tender victim for his noisy power rose like a dragon behind him, shouting war.” This shows that the priest and chorus were talking about the war and how Thebes won at the end of the battle and Eteocles died with honor fighting for his country men and family. He was brave because he went into war against his own brother and he was not afraid that in the end of the battle he would probably kill his brother. “For God hates utterly The bray of bragging tongues; and when he beheld their

The problem with Socrates concerns the problem with the role of value and reason. Nietzsche believes that the bulk of philosophers claim that life is a corrupt grievance for mankind. Nietzsche reasoned that these life deniers were decadents of Hellenism, as a symptom of some underlying melancholy. For someone to paint life in such a negative light they must have suffered a great deal through the course of their own life. Furthermore, these no-sayers agreed in various physiological ways and thus adopted the same pessimistic attitudes towards life. Socrates was ugly, alike decadent criminals and by ways of these similarities was decadent as well. Nietzsche also claims ugliness as a physiological symptom of life in its decline supported by studies in phenology.

In “Crimson Shadow,” Socrates takes Darryl under his wing and gives him life lessons, convincing him he does not need a gang in order to live, and helps him get off the street. Socrates decides to help Darryl because he sees that he has no correct guidance in his life and it reminds Socrates how he was before when he killed the two people and went to jail, so he helps Darryl get on the right track so he won’t end up like Socrates. With Socrates mentoring Darryl, he acts like a father figure to Darryl, which is something Darryl never had in his household. Socrates teaches Darryl how to face the truth, even if it was good or bad. Socrates wants Darryl to see that living in this world is tough and with all bad we have done we pay back in different ways and if you want to be forgiven in a way you need to do good whether it is with others or yourself. An example of

In the Dialogue Crito, Socrates employs his Elenchus to examine the notion of justice and one’s obligation to justice. In the setting of the dialogue, Socrates has been condemned to die, and Crito comes with both the hopes and the means for Socrates to escape from prison. When Socrates insists that they should examine whether he should escape or not, the central question turns into whether if it is unjust to disobey laws. Socrates’ ultimate answer is that it is unjust; he makes his argument by first showing that it’s wrong to revenge injustice, then arguing that he has made an agreement with the city’s law for its benefits, and finally reasoning that he

There are times in every mans life where our actions and beliefs collide—these collisions are known as contradictions. There are endless instances in which we are so determined to make a point that we resort to using absurd overstatements, demeaning language, and false accusations in our arguments. This tendency to contradict ourselves often questions our character and morals. Similarly, in The Trial of Socrates (Plato’s Apology), Meletus’ fallacies in reason and his eventual mistake of contradicting himself will clear the accusations placed on Socrates. In this paper, I will argue that Socrates is not guilty of corrupting the youth with the idea of not believing in the Gods but of teaching the youth to think for

The book The Trial and Death of Socrates and the movie The Ox-Bow Incident were stories that resulted in the death of the innocent. In The Trial and Death of Socrates, Socrates is sentenced to death on the charge of corrupting the youth by a democratic trial. This took place in 399 BC in Athens. This is an account of the philosopher’s death written by his student, Plato. In The Ox-Bow Incident, three men are hanged by a mob for the murder of a man. The story takes place in the American West during the 1940s. The film was directed by William A. Wellman. In both these tragedies there is an unfair judgement by a mob, the innocent failing to persuade their accusers of their innocence, and the force of peer pressure.

Note: The conversation occurred over social media, and then was transferred here above some minor grammatical corrections for readability.

Socrates spent his time questioning people about things like virtue, justice, piety and truth. The people Socrates questioned are the people that condemned him to death. Socrates was sentenced to death because people did not like him and they wanted to shut him up for good. There was not any real evidence against Socrates to prove the accusations against him. Socrates was condemned for three major reasons: he told important people exactly what he thought of them, he questioned ideas that had long been the norm, the youth copied his style of questioning for fun, making Athenians think Socrates was teaching the youth to be rebellious. But these reasons were not the charges against him, he was charged with being an atheist and

Athenian citizens, I implore you to understand Socrates guilt within the matter of impiety. Impiety is lacking respect for a god or gods. Actions or words that go against the status quo of religious activity would certainly fall under the category of impious behavior. This includes the unnamed “divine” voice within Socrates head. Those that accused him may not have done so for the right reasons, but it does nothing to prove he is innocent of impiety.

“What kind of things, while not being opposite to something, yet do not admit the opposite” (Phaedo 105 A). What I take Socrates to say here is that something that is not an opposite of something will not admit to the opposite because it stands on itself. For example fire produces heat and snow produces cold. Fire will never admit to being the opposite of cold nor becoming cold because it stands on itself. One might object to this argument and say it contradicts his argument in which states that opposites arise from one another. In this argument we speak of opposites themselves. We also perceive Socrates arguing this through the form of tallness which never admits to shortness. In the company of shortness, tallness either withdraws or vanishes

The accusers, Meletos, Anytos, and Lycon, are all young and trying to make a name for themselves. They begin by telling everyone not to be deceived and to take caution because Socrates is a “clever speaker”. According to Socrates, the difference between him and his accusers is that he speaks the truth. He is on trial for two items, which include, corrupting the youth and impiety. Socrates tells everyone that he has no experience with the court and he will speak the way he is used to by being honest and direct. Socrates explains that his behavior is from the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.      

Being in prison didn’t give Socrates any opportunities to grow as a person because he couldn't, he had to find a way to survive the prison life. Once he got out he still had the prison mentality but tries to put it under control. He knows he has to do good to balance out the wrong he did in his life. That’s when Socrates started to mentor an eleven-year-old boy name Darryl, who has accidentally killed another boy. When they first met Darryl had killed Socrates friend Billy the rooster. Socrates told Darryl “why you kill my friend?” but he heard the fear in the boy’s voice when responding that he didn’t kill anybody.

I remember growing up through the years, and I was always taught that once you die, your soul would float up to heave and that’s how you would live the rest of your days. This was my conception of the self; you would live out your days on earth but ascend to heaven once it was your time. Plato’s conception of the self is different from mine and is very interesting. Plato describes that your soul is immortal and that your body is just an obstacle for your body, that you gain all of this wisdom from when your soul finally leaves your body. This is very different from what I was taught during my childhood, and I think that Plato gives you a different way of thinking towards the body and the soul.