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The Characters Of Socrates And The Greatest Evils

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Socrates believes that he is an individual who had the potential to accomplish extraordinary feats due to his unique set of traits. He claims, “If they were of any use, Crito, the many would be able to do the greatest evils, and so they would also be able to do the greatest goods, and that would be fine. But as it is they can do neither, since they cannot make a man either wise or foolish” (Crito, 44d). Only certain people have the capacity to complete enormous feats, and those people are not average citizens of the state. Instead, they must have qualities that set them apart from the rest of the population. Furthermore, “it is reputed at least that Socrates is distinguished from the many human beings in some way” (The Apology, 34e). …show more content…

One area where Socrates is very open about what he doesn’t know is death. Since, “no one knows whether death does not even happen to be the greatest of all goods for the human being; but people fear it as though they knew well that it is the greatest of evils” (The Apology, 29a). Socrates is emphasizing that people make assumptions about specific aspects of death, but those people don’t actually know what death is like. The majority of people are content to fear death even though there is the possibility that death could be the greatest experience that humans have. Socrates openly claims that he doesn’t know what death is like, but the “wise” men say that death is to be feared. Socrates challenges the beliefs of the many again, “we must not pay much heed to what the many will say to us, but to what the one who knows about just and unjust things will say” (Crito, 48a), It is important to ignore what the majority of people say, and to listen to the person who has a better understanding of justice than oneself as that person possesses more knowledge about the topic than the majority of the people. Socrates belief about extraordinary individuals holds true for people in the more recent history. Adolf Hitler is an example of an extraordinary individual who used their outstanding qualities for evil purposes. Hitler rose to power legally and without seizing it himself. Instead he manipulated President Hindenburg into handing power over. Hitler was a very intelligent

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