Socrates Vs Socrates

In “Apology,” Socrates takes a bold stance in saying that he does not fear death as most men do, because “no one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man” (33). In the third dialogue, Socrates does not speak of death with glee as he does in the second, most likely for the reason that it would be upset to his dear friend Crito to hear again. However, Socrates’ readiness to shoot down the plan to flee Athens and his ultimate decision to serve out his punishment imply that Socrates’ views on death mist have remained constant and suggest that he was in fact ready to meet death. Just as Socrates welcomes death with open arms at the beginning of his trial, he remains calmly and fearlessly anticipates the execution during his final

“it is time for me to die, and for you to live- though which of us has the better destiny is unclear to everyone, save only to God.” So with this statement, Socrates seems to contradict himself and admits that nobody really knows whether it is better to be alive than dead. This statement also clearly identifies the fact that he believes in a supreme being so there is no way he could believe that there is no life after death. He in fact several times speaks about how his obedience to his God is of the utmost importance. Essentially this whole argument about death with no after life being a favorable outcome is completely preposterous. He would be abandoning his family, friends and his principles further contradicting

2. During his main speech, to explain why he chose to live the life he did at risk of being “in danger of death” 28b, Socrates uses an example from the Iliad in which a young man chose to avenge his friend's death at the risk of immediate destruction as opposed to surviving. 28D paraphrased. This example of a life of integrity allows Socrates to demonstrate that all men should “remain and face danger, without a thought for death or anything else, rather than disgrace.” 28e. It is in this same moment that Socrates explains that were he not to live the life he has lived that he would be disobeying a god.

Socrates suggested that if he were to get what he deserved, he should be honored with a great meal for being of such service to the state. He rejected the sentences of prison or exile, offering instead to pay a fine. When the jury rejected his suggestions and sentenced him to death, Socrates accepted the verdict and said that no one but the gods know what happens after death and so it would be foolish to fear what one does not know. He also warned the people who voted against him that by silencing him rather than listening to him, they have harmed themselves much more than they have harmed him.

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.

There is no doubt to the fact that Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. had similar characteristics—whether it be their willingness to make the public aware or their passion to do what was right to them. But to say that Martin Luther King Jr. is a twentieth century Socrates does not seem fit to par. The way I will attempt for you to understand this will proceed as follows: I will first explain each of our character’s stories, perhaps heavily implicating some of their most distinct characteristics that can be discovered from the text. I will proceed to include their similarities, as well as their differences. Then I will attempt to explain both subjects’ profession/title, and comment on how the two may have similar things they want to

Socrates makes this apparent when he states, “ when the god ordered me, as I thought and believed, to live the life of a philosopher, to examine myself and others, I had to abandon my post of death or anything else” (28). Socrates completely lives his life according to what the gods told him to do, becoming the wisest person on earth and someone who questions everything. This leads him to question the definitions of piety, but doing what the gods told him, would make Socrates the most pious. Even the oracle, the voice of the God Apollo, stated that no one is wiser than Socrates. This should give him leeway in facing death charges and his opinions that go against the grain, which is why he argues this point in his

The original meaning of the word philosophy comes from the Greek roots philo- meaning "love" and -sophos, or "wisdom." When someone studies philosophy they want to understand how and why people do certain things and how to live a good life. In other words, they want to know the meaning of life. Socrates was considered the father of ancient philosophy, and the wisest man in ancient Greece. Although he was eventually condemned for his wisdom, his spoken words are still listened to and followed today. Socrates believed that the purpose of life was both personal and spiritual growth. He establishes this conviction in what is arguably his most renowned statement: "The unexamined life is not worth living." Socrates lived his life to question and

Unfortunately, while in pursuit of the truth, Socrates upset several men, severely enough for them bring charges against him which claimed he did not believe in the true gods, in addition to, disrupting the youth with his extreme views. Once he was found guilty by a narrow margin, Socrates rejected the idea of being exiled or silenced claiming that living without the freedom to examine and pursue the truth was worse than death itself. Plato’s quote that, “An examined life is not worth living.” remains an interesting theory. “Ignorance is bliss.”

From Before Common Era to the 21st Century, humanity has pondered what the true meaning of friendship is. Even today, most people struggle with clearly defining this kind of companionship, just as Socrates does in Plato’s Lysis. In this philosophical dialogue, Socrates and his peers debate potential theories concerning the reasons why people become friends with one another. Several theories are developed, but throughout the dialogue Socrates counters his own arguments in order to achieve further understanding of his inquiry. As they deliberate the true nature of friendship, Plato’s writing parallels his teacher, Socrates’ style because it ends in perplexity. Plato’s own ideas intermingle with Socrates’ in this text while he writes about him in a commendable manner to express the virtue in Socrates’ teachings and philosophies. In the end of the dialogue, Socrates and his peers end their conversation with seemingly indistinct motives for friendship and readers are left with what feels like “aporia” (Lysis 223b). While some people have trouble discovering Socrates’ precise position on friendship, I believe the point of the text is for perplexity to symbolize friendship entirely. Philosophy does not always have a distinct conclusion, just as friendship may not have a clear motivation. In my paper, I will be analyzing each notable theory developed by Socrates in order to uncover Socrates’ beliefs on the desire for friendship.

Plato goes a long way in attempting to distinguish Socrates from the likes of Protagoras, a self admitted sophist. In Protagoras, Socrates is depicted as a street smart, wisdom dispensing young man, brash with confidence and a bit of arrogance that goes a long way when confronted with the old school rhetoric of Protagoras. Plato begins to separate the two at the hip right from the get go. The dialogue between Socrates and his inquisitive friend Hippocrates went a long way to show that Socrates had more questions than answers about Protagoras, the sophist, especially when it came to talk about what it is exactly that he offers. Socrates' companion is eager to hear the words of

Socrates shocked everyone when he said he would choose death over anything else. However, the answer to why he would do that lies in his statement. Socrates knew that, had he choose to go into exile, he would be expected to stop living the way that he was. He would no longer be able to teach others, let alone question and examine his own life. For Socrates, this would be absurd. He believed the entire point of living life was to examine. He felt obligated to live a life where he questioned not only what was going on in his life but also the rights and wrongs that happened. He would rather give up his life than not be able to question what was happening.

Even with the anticipation of death linguring in his path, Socrates remained composed and curious. During his defense, he made it clear that death was nothing to fear, but rather an accepted inevitability of

Socrates goes on to develop criteria necessary for such knowledge which drives onto the ethics of life, or the proper way on behaving. According to Socrates the criteria is to determine whether something is right or wrong and that one shouldn’t concern themselves with the outcome but whether the act was just or unjust, which brings morality into the picture. Socrates believed that in order for morality to exist depended on whether one had knowledge of such definitions. So in essence, virtue is knowledge, if you know what is right, you will do what is right. The necessity and sufficiency for moral behavior hinged upon knowing a Socratic definition. This in the end depicts to us the difference between a life lived with pleasure or utilitarian goals, a life lived honorably. So in reality to practice philosophy is to practice for dying and death, which is the separation of body and soul. The soul referring to matters of ideas and intellect and body to material matters. Philosophy thus teaches us how to care more for our mind than our body and to move away from body because the body is an obstacle to gaining

In contradict to Hedonism, Socrates shares the same view as Thomas Aquinas, who believes only when one practices the most prominent faculty of being a human, which is the practice of wisdom (Aquninas, n.d.), then one can examine oneself and thus understand whether the things he does are meaningful or not. In addition, Socrates believes that when we actualize the faculties of reasoning and rational thinking to answer the abstract question like what is the meaning of our life. Our soul can then be opened to a new horizon and thus achieve happiness in doing things that means something for us. Since the pleasures that result from pursuing virtue and knowledge are of a higher quality than the pleasures resulting from satisfying mere animal desires, which make us human being unique and noble than the other animals. Therefore, only by going through the process of reasoning and thus examining ourselves with the question of how our life should be. Then we can give meaning to our life and thus pursuit the happiness we desire with the practices of