A Cool Guy Analysis

Philosophy is defined as the ultimate quest to help humans seek answers to questions that orbit knowledge, reality and existence. Philosophers begin their study of knowledge by asking questions they may or may not have an answer to. One famous philosopher, Socrates, utilizes this process to question his understanding on the concepts he had already attained knowledge for. At one point during his life, Socrates is proclaimed to be the wisest man alive by the Oracle of Delphi. Upon being declared the wisest man alive, Socrates begins to question everything he thought he knew.

Socrates was a Western Ancient Athenian Greek philosopher who lived from 469 BCE until his death in 399 BCE. He was a student to another philosopher, Sophists, Socrates was different from most Greek philosophers he wanted to get at the truth and find out how one can truly be ‘good’ and moral in life. “To Socrates the soul is identified with the mind; it is the seat of reason and capable of finding the ethical truths, which will restore meaning and value of life” (ADD IN-TEXT CITATION SEMINAR). We continue to use many of Socrates teachings today, such as, ‘The Socratic method’, which is known as asking a question and within these questions you lead it to the answer you wanted to hear, many uses this as a teaching technique and is shown to be highly effective. A great number of Athenians looked up to Socrates and considered him the wise man of Athens, he had many followers whom would ask questions and seek answers. As popularity and following of Socrates grew so did accusations. The charges laid on Socrates by the Athenians were unjust and therefore his death was highly wrong in the eyes of true democracy that Athens was apparently known for. In this paper, I will discuss how Socrates was wrongfully convicted for the corruption of the youth despite having many young followers, introducing new Gods while still being considered an Atheist, and the main reason he was seen as a threat to Athens was that he brought change to the city.

In evaluating Socrates ' success in arguing against Thrasymachus ' account, it is imperative to begin by appreciating Socrates ' intentions and the place of Thrasymachus ' account within that goal. As the literary director of Republic, Plato is well-positioned to articulate any arguments contained in Republic to his advantage, and I suggest that he very much does. Further, although Socrates is but Plato 's literary vehicle in Republic, for the sake of clarity I shall attribute and refer to arguments and views expressed throughout as belonging to Socrates.

was led to court because of some accusations that became serious charges and led Socrates to death at the age of seventy. In this essay, the argument between Socrates and Meletus will be examined based on the accusations of corrupting the youths, believing in other gods instead of gods of Athens and making the weaker argument appear stronger and their refutations that show Socrates was actually accused of being a smart speaker.

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

Socrates is known for his unique practice of Greek philosophy. In The Republic, Socrates discusses building a just city with Glaucon and Adeimantus. Throughout The Republic, the three men decide what classes of people will live within the city, and how each person will be assigned to a class. There would not be a place for Socrates in the just city. Through examining the definitions of a guardian, auxiliary, and money maker, one can justify that Socrates is too complex of a man to be categorized as belonging to one specific group.

The Philosopher In Society by Jacques Maritain focuses on the role that philosophers play in society. Maritain believes that philosophers are important even when they are wrong. He thinks they need to be able to recognize their errors, and to fight against them. He uses the example “A great philosopher in the wrong is like a beacon on the reefs, which says to semen: steer clear of me”. (Maritain, 2) This is a good example, it means a philosopher will crash if he does not steer clear of his errors, he has to stay in “open waters.” Maritain believed that philosophers must never give up searching for the truth even if they never find it. Maritain references Plato when he says that “Plato told us that beautiful things are difficult, and that we should not avoid beautiful dangers”. (Maritain, 2) Maritain believes that disagreements between philosophers are essential to the stability of philosophy, and even called it more stable than science. Maritain says we need philosophy because it is after the truth for its own sake, and not after power. He sees philosophy as contributing to the timeline of history, he defined the primary role of philosophy as a thing, “which is the metaphysical penetration of being.” (Maritain, 4) Maritain believes the greatest threat to modern societies is a weakening of the “sense of truth.” (Maritain, 4) This means if we believe things that aren’t true, our society will be in grave danger. For example, if the entire world doesn't believe in global

In Aristophanes' Clouds and in Plato's Apology we see extensive fictional representations of the historical figure, Socrates, who left us no literary works under his own name. When comparing these two representations, readers often assume, as a result of the nature of the comedic genre, that Aristophanes' portrayal of Socrates is exaggerated and fallacious. On the other hand, Plato's account is often taken more seriously as a result of the philosophical genre and the respected reputation Plato has as wildly influential thinker in Western culture. Nevertheless, there are more congruencies between the two representations than one would initially think. I'll discuss some similarities between the two works that

Purposely difficult and intentionally obsessive, Plato’s Phaedrus is an exceedingly difficult read that defies all conventional logic as a piece of discourse. The text is extremely subjective, open to interpretation and individual creativity as to what or whom the narrative is about. Written by Plato, a close disciple of Socrates, this text is set along the Illissus river where Phaedrus and Socrates meet for a day of speech, debate, rhetoric and okay…flirting. Phaedrus leads of the day and recites a speech by his close friend Lysias, who Phaedrus considers to be a top speechmaker. Socrates then, after chiding by Phaedrus unleashes two speeches of his own that overshadow and refute Lysias claim so boldly that Phaedrus is so taken by the

Socrates uses several different rhetorical strategies while conversing with his student Glaucon in Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave”. He uses these rhetorical strategies in order to strengthen his argument and to effectively convince his reader that his beliefs are correct. Socrates effectively responds to Glaucon’s questions through his usage of allegory, logos, and symbols.

Socrates’ defendants included his disciples Crito and Xenophon. Both rebuked the claim that Socrates was guilty of corruption and impiety, claiming their teacher was merely a thinker who circulated new ideas and always acted in the best interest of Athens; he was a verily a “gadfly” who was concerned with the intellectual health of Athens and all

With reference to Plato’s work entitled Gorgias, this essay will provide a short background to the dialogue, provide a synopsis of the points put forward by Callicles and how Socrates refutes those claims, ending with a final assessment of the dialogue in completion.

Socrates begins refuting Thrasymachus by examining the precision of definitions in Thrasymachus’ premises. As Socrates quickly points out that there is a difference between what rulers believe to be their interest and what is actually their

In Gorgias, named for the Sicilian sophist and rhetorician featured in the dialogue, Socrates speaks with Gorgias concerning the nature of rhetoric as compared with philosophy; also, he speaks with Gorgias’s pupil Polus concerning the tyrant and how he truly is the most unhappiest of all, despite any ill-gotten gains they may have attained. Socrates’ distaste –

In ancient Greece, being a philosopher carried various implications, several of which were unfavorable. In a time when natural philosophers were accused for being non-believers in the traditional deities and sophists were defamed for selling their intellectual services for money, Socrates fit in neither category. Nonetheless, the moment Socrates decided to become an enquirer, or a philosopher of human nature, he was chastised. His enemies, men he had either insulted or embarrassed, sought vengeance and in their process to do so, tried to define him. Accused of being an atheist and a corruptor of the youth, Socrates was viewed harshly by the society he lived in, but, despite this, his true nature revealed itself through his words and Plato’s dialogues. His prosecutors aimed to vilify his name and profession, and ultimately sentence him to death, a goal they eventually completed, but the accusations were not definitive of who he was. Socrates was a philosopher, first and foremost, attempting to find the reasons for various phenomenon, but he was also a self-professed prophet, indirectly given a prophecy from the gods, determined to use dialectic to bring about self-awareness in his fellow citizens. His ideologies, thus, became the building blocks for the philosophers of the generations succeeding him.