Plato's Philosophy in Apology

People fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.” Throughout the history of mankind, man has been fascinated with the mystery surrounding death. For many it is a phenomenon which is feared and for others it is a salvation from the misery and suffering of everyday life. In Plato’s “Apology”, Socrates has been sentenced to death and he claims that what “has befallen me is a blessing.” After the conclusion of his trial, he explains that there are two possible outcomes to death. Either death is a final end to one’s existence, or one dies

The Apology and Phaedo by Plato are two different books describing what is like to be a philosopher per Socrates believes. These two books take place in two different scenarios in Socrates’ life, The Apology takes place in a court room where Socrates is to defend himself from false charges brought to him by Meletus who is acting as the prosecutor. Phaedo, on the other hand, takes place in a prison cell post judgment on the day of Socrates execution. Hence, The Apology and Phaedo appeared to display different philosophies: The Apology, Plato presented Socrates as wise for he knows that he knows nothing, hence he is seeking wisdom by questioning those who think they know more or something, just to find that they don’t know anything, therefore Socrates makes it his duty to make them look ignorant/stupid. Phaedo, Socrates focuses primarily on death and the immortality of the soul, hence he is seeking knowledge by devoting his final hours picking the minds of his friends to explain the role of a philosopher, which is preparing for death. Consequently, these two views are really the same, yet presented differently by Socrates, for in one he is defending his freedom and life using philosophy, hence he has only done what the Gods expected of him. From the other view, he resigned to his fate, for as a philosopher, he knows his soul will finally become liberated from the evils and limitations of the body to come to its divine state.

In the year 399 B.C., Socrates was put to trial for impiety and corrupting the youth. During the trial, Socrates had to deliver his defense speech, called an apology, which derives from the Greek word apologia which means to ‘speak in one’s defense’. There are two accounts of Socrates’ apology; Plato’s and Xenophon’s. The main difference between the two accounts is that Plato was present during the trail and paraphrased what was said. Xenophon, on the other hand, was not present but instead based his on Hermogenes’ reports before, during, and after the trail. Although both show Socrates to be incredibly pious, just, and accepting of death, they have many differences.

Philosophers are known to question, analyze and evaluate everything but do not always end with concrete conclusions. Plato’s Euthyphro and Apology, to no surprise, highlight one of such debate: the human characteristics of wisdom. Though Plato was one of the earliest philosophers, the topic of wisdom is still debated by modern philosophers today, contemplating questions such as “What are the classifications of ‘wisdom’?” According to Plato’s two dialogues, the characteristics of wisdom have a strong correlation with the characteristics of “being a good person”. This concept highlights the values of virtue and selflessness and at the same time juxtapose views on virtue while taking into account the different forms of rationality. In this paper, I will highlight how Plato uses his two dialogues to enforce his own opinion about the relationship between being wise and being a good person, and evaluate the inconsistencies within this claim.

He knows that when he is put to death, they will be the ones at a loss of his knowledge and true wisdom. He still believes he has gained no reasons to think that he can lose in death as his acts were not for material gain (28-29). Socrates has shown no fear for being hated by the majority of Athens, yet still finds himself being accused of serious crimes leading to his death.

1. In “Apology,” Socrates compares himself to a gadfly. Why is it that Socrates does this?

However, the philosophical approach is quite the opposite in The Republic, Plato displays Socrates as the main speaker and provides an ultimate approach to how the government should be set up. This is quite the contrast from Socrates’ philosophical approach in The Apology. For example, in book 7, the philosopher/freed prisoner is the wisest person and is all knowing after he leaves the cave. “...In the knowable realm, the form of the good is the last thing to be seen, and it is reached only with difficulty. Once one has seen it...one must conclude that it is the cause of all that is correct and beautiful in anything…” (Plato, 1135) This meaning that wisdom can be reached and once it has been, a person will understand everything. This wisdom is referred to by

Plato’s Apology, is the Greek philosopher Plato’s account of the trial of Socrates. In the Apology, Socrates is confronted with the charges of corrupting the youth of Athens, and of not believing in the Greek gods. The charges were presented by a jury of five hundred Athenians. Throughout the trial, Socrates presents a series of arguments to the jury, proclaiming his innocence.

The Apology is Plato’s version of what Socrates said in the court when facing a public prosecution against the charges of not believing in the city’s gods and corrupting the youths of the city, Athens. He lived during the time of Peloponnesian War, in which Athens was defeated by the hands of Sparta. The term “Apology” is a greek word that means to defense, in the book, Socrates defense his actions and beliefs. From the book, it seems that Socrates led a simple life, kept a distance the politician life and preferred to gather crowds to engage them in conversation about philosophy. He had a great influence among the youths of Athens. In 399 BC Socrates was bought on jury of around 500 Athenians. In Athenian Legal system, all verdicts are based on simple majority vote, has no judges or lawyers, and the court decisions must be reached within 24 hours. The author of Apology, Plato was one of the Socrates admirer, and he devoted himself in teaching Plato philosophy. In this dialogue, Plato has presented his mentor, Socrates as an honest and sympathetic person. Presumably, Plato aimed to defend Socrates in some points. Therefore, I think Plato’s depiction in Socrates trial presents the concept of “Hubris-Ate-Nemesis” of Greek tragedy.

There are many writers, authors, and speakers in this world that are considered among the greats, but perhaps the greatest two of western speculation are Plato and Socrates. These two hand in hand had a huge influence on American Literature and others as well. Perhaps one of the most remarkable writings of Plato, since Socrates never once himself wrote anything down, is his writing of Apology. The writings of Apology showed some of Socrates final moments, how he carried himself, and most importantly what he said. Socrates was perhaps one of the most intellectual and perceptive minds that ever lived this life, and he had many important ideas and most specifically questions. There are many important things to be derived and learned from the writings of Plato, and voice of Socrates. From Plato’s Apology I learned three important things; how to question society, how to defend oneself with poise, and most importantly, “That the unexamined life is not worth living.” according to Socrates.

Socrates believes that one must know that they are not wise in order to possess pure wisdom. This wisdom will enlighten

“The Apology” by Plato is a work written as a speech-like monologue, which later turns dialectic. Socrates, who has been brought upon the courts, proceeds with his defense which is by no means an apology. He believed in practicing and teaching philosophy even if that meant going against the Athenian law. He believed above all that he should not go against his own beliefs. In his defense, Socrates claims that an “unexamined” life is not worth living. What he means by this is that living an unexamined life means living a life without any knowledge and wisdom.

Socrates himself admitted that he was ignorant, but he became the wisest of all men through this self-knowledge. He said “like an empty cup he was open to receive the waters

Both Socrates and Lucretius have similar outlooks on death, but the reasoning as to why they believe death should not be feared are completely different. Socrates states that death is not dreadful because we do not know what is ahead of us and through this concept arises a term called reincarnation. Lucretius, on the other hand, says that the soul does not go anywhere when we die and that everything is materialistic. He goes on to say that death does nothing to us because we once started with nothing. Although both these philosophers have different takes on how death should be perceived, they both are reassuring us that death is not something to be afraid of.

The role of philosophy is about caring for the human soul by living a moral life. Socrates makes it clear that he is not a sophists, men who were known for teaching their students how to make weaker arguments overcome stronger arguments. These