Grand Inquisitor And Socrates: The Definition Of Freedom

One of Socrates's three arguments during his trial discusses the question of authority. He uses the analogy of the state government and one's own parents. He argued that our parents brought ourselves into our being and their nurture and education formed us into the individuals we are today. And because of these points, Socrates says that we, the children of our creators, are obligated to obey and respect our parental figures. And although one should respect their parents, Socrates furthers this idea by replacing parents" for the democratic state of Athens. The analogy is that rather than nurture and education, the State provides an environment in which individuals can learn and be protected from outside threat, and to repay the state one should

In 399 B.C., Socrates, a seventy year old man, was brought to trial. He faced several accusations of different sorts. Initially, the court had pronounced Socrates guilty. However, because the law had no penalty ordained for his offense, it was required of Socrates to propose his own penalty, or to take the one suggested by Meletos, the death penalty. When the time had come for Socrates to state his defense, he addressed each of the accusations made against him, one by one, in attempt to absolve himself from wrong doing. The first accusation Socrates chose to contest declared that he was a student of natural philosophy. This meant that Socrates was believed to be one who sought to replace mythical explanations of

A man facing an unjust execution is presented with another option: escape from prison and flee to another providence. Most men would eagerly take this chance to prolong their lives and continue their journey on earth. Most men would do anything to get revenge for the wrong that has been done to them. However, most men are not like Socrates. Socrates did not plead his case by eliciting pity from the jury for an old man and his poor family. He did not beg for a different sentence that would allow him to live. Instead, he let the jury come to its own conclusion while acting with virtue and integrity. He held fast to his principles by remaining in prison to face his execution because that is how a good and just person would behave. Socrates’ decision not to escape in Crito is consistent with his principle that the good and just person never does harm to a large extent because accepting his verdict allows him to reinforce the sanctity of law and to set a prime example for his peers.

The first major component in life is to know that there is no such thing as being completely free. In the world, to be free means, one must have money and to be able to make sacrifices. Additionally, in order for one to earn the freedom they shall defend countries that already spoken as free, to stay free. A great President, Harry Truman, once said, “we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way (Doc 1 A).” This President spoke of freedom, and the problems of the government. President Truman also said, “ the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too often not a free one. One way of life is based upon freedom of

Socrates, up to this point, has been able to swing every argument thrown at him about justice. This is because Socrates questions the ideal of strong stances that include the extremities of stances that include never and always. Socrates has essentially flipped popular stances of justice, pointing out the flaw with their stances on justice; justice, as Socrates sees it, should not involve the harming of another person. Thrasymachus, who seems to be upset over the idea of this rhetoric, decides to argue with Socrates over the matter.

The word freedom has a different meaning to everyone, as it should. However, in the article Two Concepts of Liberty produced by Isaiah Berlin, it identifies that there are two contrasting definitions of this word. Even though most are unfamiliar with these different meanings, we happen to use both of them in our everyday lives. Positive freedom is the absence of rules without any interference. While on the other hand, negative freedom is all about the influence in our lives, and how we choose to self develop. I personally believe that negative freedom is more common today, however, I believe that positive freedom is more important in today’s society.

“Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery.” These are the words of Dr. Wayne Dyer, author and speaker on self-development. Freedom is a very powerful image.

Philosophical attitudes, as Arthur E. Murphy explains, are attitudes where ones should not cease to stop pursuing the truth, which they should wonder about things around them, understand the meaning behind of that existence, perceive the ideas from different perspective, and knows one self’s knowledge. He also points out that the one with philosophy attitudes should be open-minded and responsible. However, we need a certain example to prove whether this explanation is right or not. For that, in this essay, we will use Plato’s The Trial and Death of Socrates, as our example of how this kind of attitudes play in Socrates’ life as it is well-known as intelligently and morally lived one.

Socrates is accused of impiety, corrupting the youth, and not believing in the Gods, his main accuser was Meletus. Meletus said to Socrates, “…you do not believe in Gods at all.” (Apology 26c) But that he believes the sun and moon are stones like the earth, which is the works of a Greek philosopher named Anaxagoras. The people of Athens viewed Socrates as an atheist but Socrates makes a point of saying that he knows nothing, he never confessed to not believing in the Gods, however he was handed the death penalty for teaching children to question everything. Socrates thought, ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ (Apology 38a) meaning living an uneventful life isn’t living at all. He believed a person’s morality and goodness were shown through

Freedom or liberty as a political concept remains a trouble-some notion which continues to be widely disputed. Historically, being 'free' did not refer only to a legal status, but also to a set of character virtues one possesses in becoming a man free of limitations. Within the discourse, there is a general consensus that freedom is contrary to that of constraint. Hence freedom can be thought of as being free from any restraint in pursuing one's desires or choices. Philisophers within the literature of liberty frequently frame their discussion of freedom in terms of the negative and positive distinction. In this essay, discussion will be given to the positive conception of freedom. Positive liberty is a theory that defines freedom as the power

Well this weeks lecture may seem to be more about History then Philosophy at first glance, should one look deeper they would find some great context for the foundation of philosophy. The defense of Socrates is in a way the defense of Philosophy itself and it certainly paints Ancient Athens in a different light then it would typically be. Athens is usually held up to be one of the great historical city's, the foundation of democracy, and Athens did accomplish many great things. Even as a democracy though there are characteristics Athens had that shows that id didn't make as much progress as someone would think, and well the people may have had a say in how Athens was run, there was still no freedom of thought. It makes you thankful that you

History is ripe with stories of great men.  Hundreds of politicians, philosophers, performers, and writers have left a unique stamp on humanity.  But only a select few can be said to have "changed history."  The legendary Athenian, Socrates, was one such figure.  Socrates ushered in an era of philosophical inquiry that still lingers to this day.  In Book Seven of Plato's The Republic, Socrates outlines his perfect regime.  According to Socrates, an enlightened "Philosopher-King" must rule such a regime.  Now suppose this Republic actually came into being, and Socrates was asked to rule it as a Philosopher King.  Would he?  Answering this begs three important questions:  Is Socrates a true philosopher?  Does he have the

Socrates spent most of his life in Athens. During his life he witnessed the rise and glory of Athens and the rapid decline of Athens during the Peloponnesian war. Socrates met and talked with a variety of people such as politicians, statesmen, sophists, poets, architects, and ordinary citizens. He taught philosophy to the youth of Athens, devoted friends, and pupils like Crito. Plato was one of Socrates’ students, and he is considered to be most brilliant student of Socrates. In fact, Plato is the major source of knowledge about Socrates’ life. Socrates questioned and cross-examined Athenians about their moral, religious, and political beliefs. People found it difficult to understand him. His habits were strange, and his arguments were

- Freedom: Not absence of obstacles to getting what we want. Eg: Slave to satisfying those appetite and impulses.

The importance of freedom is best explained by Maslow’s Hierarchy of human needs, a psychological model made that breaks down freedom into the basic necessities of physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-Actualisation. Freedom is divided into two sections one being true freedom which we get by right relationship with God, each other and the environment and which leads us to real happiness. For physiological and security needs we are secure when humanity focuses on a right relationship with each other and when we trust that God will take care of us. Esteem needs are satisfied through the knowledge that we are created in God’s image and we are children of God. The need of self-actualisation Is fulfilled when we are our true self throughout love of God, each other and care of the environment. Our purpose is to love God, each other and be the