Morality and Spirituality in The Book Bhagavad Gita Essay

In the retelling of his trial by his associate, Plato, entitled “The Apology”; Socrates claims in his defense that he only wishes to do good for the polis. I believe that Socrates was innocent of the accusations that were made against him, but he possessed contempt for the court and displayed that in his conceitedness and these actions led to his death.

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.

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

The additional position in which Socrates resides, is that of the good man. As he elaborates himself, a good man is one who acts justly and keeps the good interest of others, as well as himself, always in mind (Plato). So a good man acts according to this mindset, acting justly in his treatment towards others, but also in his treatment of himself. Though he may not see the just treatment of himself as the end towards which his action is intended, such potentially altruistic consideration of the

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 put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own

This perspective of Socrates represented by Plato demonstrates the difference between a man accused of wrong doings and a man who is being condemned. When Socrates is informed of the final decision by the jury he again keeps his composure and states in his defense speech by emphasizing that he is alright with the way he presented himself instead of begging and pleading. Finally, Socrates tells the jury “that there is hope in death and that he will enter into it with no fear”(Yount). His final request is for the jurymen to make sure that his sons grow up in the right way and praises some of the jurors who voted for his innocence.

In the Bhagavad Gita, the fourth discourse which is composed of forty-two verses, Lord Krishna, the narrator guides Arjuna- a warrior who is finding himself pondering about the simple principles of life while he is fighting the war. In the fourth discourse Arjuna learns from Lord Krishna about faith, wisdom sacrifice, ignorance, doubts of the soul, action and inaction, selfless service, and self-realization which ultimately leads to the ultimate truth, which is the path for the spiritual soul to reach its maximum potential here on earth and the afterlife.

Even in the face of death Socrates portrayed these values. Socrates treated his own trial with contempt despite the punishment of being put to death. Furthermore, he declined the proposition to stop his ways of examination with the reward of his life. Firstly, he did not accept the plea because he was willing to consider the fact that death may indeed be better than life, again admitting his own ignorance (Apology,516). However, his reason for not accepting the plea was that he believed “a life without enquiry is not worth living” (Apology, 526). Socrates understood that in order to live the good life for himself it could not be done without examination and rational thought.

Along with reason, another one of Socrates’ essential beliefs was that once virtue was learned, an intentionally unvirtuous thing could never be done. During the course of his exchange with Crito, Socrates says, “We are never intentionally to do wrong… injustice is always an evil and dishonor to him who acts unjustly”. Socrates whole-heartily believed that, once virtue was learned, no man could ever do wrong intentionally. However, had Socrates abandoned Athens, that would have been exactly what he would have done. Looking back on Socrates’ teachings, future scholars would have been hesitant to believe that Socrates actually believed what he was teaching because he was not will to die for what he believed to be right. Socrates, being a virtuous

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

Socrates found his purpose through oracles and dreams by a divine power, “…since I was trying to find out the meaning of the oracle, I was bound to interview everyone who had a reputation for knowledge.” (Apology 22a), from the oracle of Apollo, Socrates believed that his purpose was to philosophize. Socrates would question reputable wise men and try to prove the oracle that he (Socrates) was not the wisest man. After interviewing men with a high reputation, Socrates began to expose them for their ignorance and their deficiency. He also determined that his wisdom was of no value, yet he was the wisest mortal. He also established that there are three levels of wisdom; “real wisdom” (the highest), being “wisest among men” (the middle), “not being wise, but seeming wise, especially to oneself” (the lowest). Even after establishing his purpose and proving the oracle, he felt as if he should still philosophize (Mission from God, pg. 20). Along with morality, Socrates had the belief that our purpose in life was to examine how to live, he thought that we must come

Given the current movement calling for all people to be themselves or “be-you-tiful” the idea of nonconformity has transferred to being an example of conformity itself. In this essay, I will argue that this paradox is also true of the ancient texts The Trial and Death of Socrates and The Gita, despite their conflicting messages on the importance of individuality. In The Trial and Death of Socrates, Socrates seems to take an individualist approach in that people choose to follow their “god”, or conscience, while The Gita argues that people are being guided by truth. The Gita shows this with Arjuna’s devotion to Krishna’s wishes despite his inherent ties to his family. Both Socrates and Arjuna find themselves at odds with their devotion to

One’s main concern in life was doing what is just and pious. He explains that if a man is good he cannot be harmed in either life or death. Socrates conducted his defense in a way that upheld his beliefs on the significance of life. He explains that if he “would much rather die after this kind of defense than live after making the other kind.” 38e. The other kind of defense being one in which he did not obey the gods. Such as if they acquitted him on the terms in which he did not practice philosophy, he stated he would “obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy.” 29d.

Once a person has done this then they can concern themselves with other matters. Stating that you first turn your attention inward and then outward to the larger society could sum up the general message of Socrates.