Socrates Religion

One of the charges that Socrates was facing was being impious towards the Gods recognized by the state of Athens and thus being a bad influence, but he did address this accusation in his apology. When someone reads this dialogue they will quickly notice that Socrates was not really apologizing, he was defending his actions trying to prove that he was innocent knowing that he will most likely be found guilty regardless of what he says. From his defence we can develop and have a logical assumption of how he feels towards religion. Although Socrates was found guilty of the charges I still believe that he was innocent of being impious towards the gods and being a negative influence.

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 Phaedo, Socrates makes a number of claims regarding the existence and nature of the afterlife, and the immortality and reincarnation of the soul that can be compared and contrasted with other religious beliefs. I will be contrasting and comparing Socrates beliefs with those that practice Judaism.

The philosopher’s views on religion were unorthodox to say the least. His actions seem to suggest atheism, as he is more interested in debating wisdom than pursuing favor with the gods. Socrates is not adverse to a religious conversation, though, as he stops on the steps of the courthouse to discuss the nature and meaning of piety with Euthyphro. Although he does not speak in favor of the gods, neither does he move to deny spirituality or divinity.

Socrates' belief was that he was called on by the Gods to live his life examining others and himself. He believed the necessity of doing what one thinks is right even in the face of universal opposition, and the need to pursue knowledge even when opposed. "I became completely convinced, to the duty of leading the philosophical life by examining myself and others."¹ Socrates believed that to desert this idea was ridiculous and would make his life absurd. Socrates chose to live a life of truth and not to worry about things that did not matter. For Socrates not to live his life by the plans and requests of Gods it would be disobedient and untrue to the Gods. Socrates was brought to court to defend

Socrates is known to be a very wise man and speaks from the heart. Whenever he talks to a person he questions their answers. By asking several questions to test their knowledge and to see if they know what they’re talking about. He feels that people should think outside the box and theirs more than what the Gods think. People should be able to give out their opinion even if they are right or wrong. But living in Athens everyone believes in the Gods. If you do wrong the Gods will be angry and they will turn their back on you. 
 In the chapter Euthyphro, he was surprise whenever he seen Socrates in the courthouse. Meletus did a lawsuit against Socrate because his been corrupting the youth by teaching them not to believe in gods. They

A final argument that we can make in defense of this thesis is that Socrates does believe in Gods, which would refute any reason for him to corrupt the youth with atheistic ideas. Socrates begins by asking a series of question: “Did ever man, Meletus, believe in the existence of

Socrates made a sensible argument as to why that charge was wrongful and had no base. Meletus claims that Socrates was spreading ‘forbidden knowledge’ amongst his peers that resulted in the instability and danger for their society. It is assumed that Meletus used the charge of being an atheist as grounding for the charge of corrupting the youth. This presupposition of convictions is fallacious, as Socrates just proved that is not an atheist. Also, there was no tangible evidence presented against Socrates in regards to this charge because not one person brought to trial exemplifies his corruptive nature.

While the formal charge against Socrates accuses the philosopher of “corrupting the young, and…not believing in the gods whom the city believes… [emphasis added],” I believe that

Socrates has convinced Euthyphro that the discussion should be corrected by stating that what all the gods hate is impious and what all the gods love is pious. (9d) Socrates comes to question this by asking if the pious is being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods? (10a) Socrates elaborates on this by showing how something that is seen is seen because it is being seen and not that it is being seen because it is something seen. (10b) They follow this logic to show that something loved is not being loved because it is something loved, but rather it is something loved because it is being loved. (10c) Socrates then applies this logic to the pious, showing that the pious is being loved because

Socrates was a moral philosopher who was accused of impiety and was about to be tried for a crime, the nature of which no one seemed to understand. The trial and death of Socrates has four dialogs known as the Euthyphro, the Apology, the Crito, and the Phaedo which describes the process of Socrates’ controversial and insightful trial that raises the questions about human morality. Within the story we learned that the relationship between morality and religion might not be as clear-cut as some might think, Socrates forces the witnesses of his trial as well as ourselves to come to conclusions which result in a paradox that conflicts with the individual beliefs of his audience. In the event in which, Socrates poses a question to himself and Euthyphro, an attempt to answer the question "What is piety?" It has a specific tie to the events in “The Trial and Death of Socrates”, for Socrates had been accused of impiety and was about to be tried for the crime of heresy. The Euthyphro dialogue was written twenty-four centuries ago, and its conclusion is devastating for the whole idea that holiness and morality are very well connected. The idea that, “if God does not make something good by commanding it, but rather instead identifies that which is good, what measurement of morality does he use to make this judgment?” If something is right because god commands it, then it follows that something would be just as right if God instructed differently. If god declares that it is right to

“What exactly is holiness?”—This is a question that was brought up in Plato’s infamous “Euthyphro”, which addresses the question of what is holy and unholy through the interactions and conversation between Socrates and Euthyphro. Before diving into the analysis and evaluation of the conversation that occurs between the two, it is necessary to first develop a background between the characters. Euthyphro can be classified as an arrogant and somewhat idiotic priest who is awaiting a trial to prosecute his own father for the murder of a slave. It is at the entrance of the law courts that Euthyphro encountered Socrates, a well-recognized interpreter of religion and theology. Socrates notices Euthyphro and converses with the man. Socrates has one main goal that he hopes to achieve through this conversation: To discover the definition of the holy. It is from this point onward that the essay will cover analysis of the conversation in greater detail, uncovering the philosophy of holiness.

Socrates is a widely renowned teacher, who has taught and demonstrated a variety of lessons that regard how he views the world. Socrates has described his view on morality, purpose, death, and the ultimate. He has spoken about these views through multiple texts including The Last Days of Socrates and they have been interpreted through the text Socrates by George Rudebusch. Through these worldviews, Socrates has given people the opportunity to expand their wisdom and question the world around them.

“Would you believe in what you believe in if you were the only one who believed?” said Kanye West himself. As a paraphrase this quote means something like would you still believe in what you believe if you were the only one on the planet. The quote is appealing because it makes you think about your beliefs so it has to be interesting. It relates to today’s societal beliefs because of individual beliefs, group beliefs or maybe even a community belief due to the culture of the area. During throughout the essay it should prove why beliefs are important.

How did religion go from the 12 gods on Mount Olympus and their adventures, to the belief in only one God? Back in Ancient Greece, the people believed in many gods, and with these gods came myths. These myths explain nature and why humans act like they do. However, over the centuries the Greeks slowly transitioned from the belief in many gods, polytheism, to the belief in only one God, monotheism. The polytheistic religion of the Greeks had similar myths or beliefs that connect to Christianity; therefore, the Greeks shifted from polytheism to monotheism.