Preview

Virtue Or Corruption In Plato's Apology

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2336 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Virtue Or Corruption In Plato's Apology
In Plato’s Apology and Xenophon’s Apology, Socrates is facing charges for his actions. This opens a slew of questions about the charges against Socrates. Throughout the books, the charges that Socrates faces are failure to know the gods about the city, promoting unfamiliar spiritual ideas, and for corrupting the youth. This varies from book to book as each book talks about the relationship between philosophy and the city and how it plays a role. It dives into the bigger question: does education lead to virtue or corruption?

In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Socrates accused the man of Athens of trampling the evidence. The accusers come into play, and they have been accusing the Socrates for a long time. To make his points truly clear, Socrates calls for diligence and finds out which folks are being persecuted. The folks are being punished because there is envy and slander that is involved. Those folks are on trial themselves and it is the most demanding thing to wrap their heads around it. As a result of this, a defense speech has been made by the men of Athens,
…show more content…
In the text it says, “Where does the slander against me come from, but then it’s very reluctant to turn to something, following investigation of it.” (Plato’s Apology of Socrates, 69 21b). This explanation proves to the point that slander is the source of the accusers, because Socrates is calling for the investigation of it. He is trying to find out where the slander is coming from and how it affects the trial. Before he went to court, he was in the city. In the city, Socrates discovers that he has found Pythia. Pythia is one of many factors that disproves the Oracle at Delphi. This accumulates into one of the charges of promoting unspiritual ideals. This led to a charge of promoting unspiritual ideals because Socrates is talking to anyone who is wiser than him and this in part leads to a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In The Apology by Plato, the accusations that was brought against Socrates during his trial, that he was worshipping new gods, corrupting the young. Even after providing services to the Athens he was being executed by the Athens for influencing young men not to join the Athens. Socrates is one of the few individuals whom one could say has so-shaped the cultural and intellectual development of the world that, without him Socrates had influenced Plato to not to have a career in the political world as an Athens Socrates. Plato was a disciple of Socrates. The apology was an attempt to defend the character of Socrates by showing him in an honest and sympathetic. Plato wanted to preserve Socrates reputation, and to him as a great mentor.…

    • 127 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Socrates, in his conviction from the Athenian jury, was both innocent and guilty as charged. In Plato's Five Dialogues, accounts of events ranging from just prior to Socrates' entry into the courthouse up until his mouthful of hemlock, both points are represented. Socrates' in dealing with moral law was not guilty of the crimes he was accused of by Meletus. Socrates was only guilty as charged because his peers had concluded him as such. The laws didn't find Socrates guilty; Socrates was guilty because his jurors enforced the laws. The law couldn't enforce itself. Socrates was accused of corrupting Athens' youth, not believing in the gods of the city and creating his own gods. In the Euthyphro, Socrates defends himself against the blasphemous charges outside the courthouse to a priest…

    • 1659 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Plato's Apology, Socrates a philosopher is standing trial for charges that are not easily proven. Socrates has two sets of charges brought against him the “old” charges that Socrates claims that have been talked about for a very long time “there are many of these accusers, and they have been accusing me for a long time now.”(Plato 18c) His second set of charges known as the “new’ charges represent more straight forward claims. New charges called onto Socrates is that he is guilty of corrupting the youth as well as not believing in the gods in which the city chooses to believe in. Despite accusation for many of these false crimes Socrates is allowed a chance to argue his position against his accusers, which is what Socrates does best. However…

    • 1096 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Apology is one of the numerous recorded writings about Socrates. It talks about the trail of Socrates who is arrested on the charges corrupting the youth, not believing in the gods of the lord, and for being a Sophist. Socrates is not believed to have written any books; the apology was written by his student Plato who was at his trial. In this paper, I will discuss I will be talking about the charges laid against Socrates and how he defends himself.…

    • 87 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are numerous charges against Socrates in the reading of The Apology. The basic charges against him include impiety, corrupting the youth, and theorizing about unknown topics. He does not believe in the gods that the state does, and therefore seeks for natural explanations to processes that occur in the world around him. He did not recognize the gods and introduced other new divinities. Socrates was charged with corrupting the youth. Due to the constant asking of questions and inquiry, it lead him to try to discover new things about life. Since he looked for natural reason, he began to teach others about his understandings. His followers soon began to imitate his methods and expose other people as unwise which was a threat to the order…

    • 263 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Plato’s Apology: A Defense of Socrates was assumed to serve as Socrates’ trial for his being a fink and shady practices with the youth. Socrates safeguarded himself in a way that he was solely operating assistance to the god that claimed that he was more knowledgeable than everyone else. This defiance didn’t function, and he didn’t win the trial. Socrates continued defending during the ruling allocation of the trial, which lead to him being condemned to death, and aforesaid he was compelled to display his state or condition of being subject to death. Socrates looked at death as not being a dreadful. The information in this paper will clarify how Socrates developed that theory and display why this development is not true.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Was Socrates Guilty

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page

    Is Socrates actually guilty of either of the crimes with which he is charged: impiety and corrupting the youth? Are these crimes dangerous for a political community? Is Socrates, in his Apology, fully persuasive that he and his way of life pose no threat to the city? (To answer these questions, you will need to ask yourself what is the foundation for Athenian or, indeed, any political society.)…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates is arguing here that if he had indeed corrupted the youth and has been doing so for a while, the people who he had corrupted would likely have approached him in anger and in search of revenge. I believe that Socrates’ argument is valid and sound, is a great defense to his…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…

    • 1653 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    To begin, Socrates did not believe in the same gods as Athens, the easiest of his convictions to prove because of his Apology. In his plea, Socrates distracts the jury with stories of disbelievers. As the defense begins, he does not say that he does believe or disbelieve in the gods of Athens, since the easiest answer for an innocent man is “I did not do it.” Instead, he takes a route of disapproval and disbelief that this charge was brought up against him, “Socrates does injustice by not believing in gods, but believing in gods (p.77 27a),” he says in a mocking manner that is meant to make the jury question themselves. He further twists and turns the accusation by saying similar things; is there such thing as one who “believes… in human matters but not humans,” “not believing… in horse matters but believing in horses,” and “not believing in flute players, but believes in flute matter (p.77, 27a-b)?” To finish his point, he makes a final example of the atrocity of the charge against him, “Is there anyone who believes that there are daimonic matters, but does not believe in daimons (p.77, 27c)?” This argument…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Socrate's Conviction

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages

    [ 12 ]. Kagan, Donald, and Gregory Viggiano. "Was Socrates Guilty?" Problems in the History of Ancient Greece: Sources and Interpretation. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2010. N. pag. Print.…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Platos Apology

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages

    People are accused all over the world for crimes they are not guilty of. In the text “Platos Apology” Socrates is accused of a crime which is slander. Socrates believes that teaching is not crime and he shouldn't be prosecuted for such an act.Teaching is not a crime. How can he be accused of something that isn't wrong in society?…

    • 540 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Plato's Apology

    • 4230 Words
    • 17 Pages

    citizens. The Apology is Plato’s account of the speech that Socrates gave in defense of his…

    • 4230 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Apology was written by Plato, and set in the courtroom of Socrates ' trial. Socrates acts as the speaker addressing the jury, though there is one scene where he goes into a dialogue with Meletus. The defense begins with a line that sets the mood for the rest of his speech: "I don 't know, men of Athens, how you were affected by my accusers. I was almost carried away by them, they spoke so persuasively. And yet almost nothing they said is true." (17a) The beginning compares Socrates to the Sophists, arguing there is a difference between what is "truth" and what is "persuasion". He makes a strong point that persuading someone does not constitute it is true. Rather, he will address the rest of his defense in his own manner, rather than in "elegant language" (17c) in order to bring out the "truth".…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In this essay, I explicate connections between Socrates’ descriptions of himself and his role as a citizen and educator in his home city, Athens, as portrayed in Plato’s Apology. The Apology depicts the trial of Socrates, and its entirety is narrated from the point of view of Socrates. Therefore, in the account of this trial, we have a lens through which we can view Socrates’ ideologies and convictions. Additionally, because Socrates is speaking directly to a jury of five hundred and one Athenians, from this dialogue we can interpret how Socrates saw his life and purpose in relation to Athens and her people through his direct interaction with them.…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays