The Death of Socrates by Jacques-Louis David 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.

FUTTER, DYLAN. “Socrates Human Wisdom.” Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review 52.1 (2013): 61-79. Humanities International Complete. Print.

When he was face to face with Anytus and Meletus he was very sure that the punishment was going to do him no harm. Socrates was either sentenced to exile, fine, imprisonment, or death he managed to say that it was going to cause him “some distress.” Socrates did not want to get exiled because that meant that he was going to have to move from city to city and have to start all over. He would have to teach his beliefs to a whole new group of individuals. This also meant that he was going to have to leave his children behind. Socrates did not want to get fined because he did not have means to pay it off. Socrates also does not want to get imprisoned because it means that he will not able to practice his beliefs and ideas if he is confinement. “And as long as I draw breath and I am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy” (Apology 29d). Socrates on the other hand preferred to accept the death penalty. If he wasn’t allowed to practice what he believed was right then he would rather die knowing that he did as much as he possible could. “ I had abandoned my post for fear of death or anything else. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils” (Apology 29b). Socrates does contradict himself from the very beginning of the trial. Socrates does not believe that a human can cause any harm because he in

“the hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways – I to die, and

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

Socrates did not want to break any of his principles because he reasoned to think that his moral beliefs were more important than his family. Socrates in his dialogue says, “Think not of life and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first.”(1). His idea seems callous towards his personal relationships in life. However, Socrate’s friend, Crito, pursues him when he says, “But you are choosing the easier part, as I=2 0think, not the better and manlier.”(1). Socrates is given this statement by his friend in order to pursue him to change his mind to escape. However, Socrates insists in following good principles according to his wisdom. His friend was now just understanding why Socrates decided to stay in prison rather than escaping his wrongful death sentence.

Athens could also be seen as a place where they educated their citizens. Socrates understood that he would not be the man who he is today, without Athens. Like anything, a child would not willingly do harm on a parent, especially if they receive love and protection, and no harm in return. This parental versus child relationship is quite similar to the relationship Socrates had with Athens. The people of Athens could have assumed that Socrates would try to escape and that his death sentence would not follow through, but Socrates did not see this as an important factor. He believed that if he escaped, it would hinder the image of Athens because he would not be following their laws, which might influence the citizens to also break the laws of Athens. People with a lot of influence, have a lot of followers, for example, the people of Athens. If Socrates, supposedly the wisest man were to escape from prison and his death sentence, other people might think it is fine to disobey Athens as well. On the other hand, the citizens expected him to escape, but the fact that he stayed in prison to face his death sentence shows how seriously he took subjects like harming others and obeying the state to heart. Another objection to this argument could be, that Socrates was falsely accused and was harmed when he was truly innocent, he did not commit any of the crimes he was accused of, but Socrates still had the opportunity to a fair trial, he just did not use

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’s offering to the jury is to tell the truth, despite not admitting that it is simply his truth and thus not the entire truth, he is not able to convey to the jury the importance of not killing him. A bad citizen would try to undermine the jury by committing perjury and disobeying the decision of the court. He however, wouldn’t even like it if the jury committed perjury on his behalf, “Socrates says what he means on the stand hold honesty above all else, so when he is offered a chance to escape from his execution he does not take it. By refusing to escape, he reiterates how sticking to agreements is important to him. Socrates' commitment to the societal agreement between him and the city where he is allowed to live in

The execution of Socrates is not justified. The charges that were brought against Socrates had taught all his adult life, without molestation, in a state that was well known for its democracy and fairness. The Athenians were not brutal people and executions were rare. Socrates had to drink a poisonous hemlock in order to die, a non-brutal method of death. We must understand Athens past in order to make judgment. I believe that the form of punishment was very extreme in this impressionable city and very uncommon and unalike the portrayed view of the typical Athenian. Socrates

Socrates never had a wealthy and splendorous lifestyle as a kid or growing up. His father was a sculptor and his mother was a midwife. He followed in his father’s footsteps and became a sculptor. Socrates was an exceptional artist, and is most known for his statue of the graces, on the road to Acropolis. This statue of his was so famous that it is said to be admired all the way up to the second century CE. (Mark, 2009) He was a young boy when, Pericles, rose to power, and brought Greece to its golden age. Pericles is often said to being history’s first liberal politician. As he was growing up, Socrates began to notice that Pericles had a lot of views and ideas similar to his. One of these ideas was that they both believed that the masses (everyone that is working class and regular citizens) and not just property owning citizens deserved to be free. As he entered adulthood, Socrates appreciation for liberalism and democracy completely changed. In my opinion, at this moment in his life he started to look at the world and the government in Athens quite differently. He no longer was a child and could now develop and draw his own conclusions on what he saw. (Linder) I think that as he grew older and moved away from the side of his parents he no longer viewed the world the same

And if bodily damage is done by listening to the unwise, is life still worth living? Obviously not, in their opinion. And so Socrates makes a point by saying that one does not, in return, inflict damage upon another. So if injustice is done to himself, he will not commit an injustice in return. This is why Socrates refuses to leave Athens. He was unjustly sentenced to death by the dangerous opinions of the many, but he will not commit the injustice of breaking a law (escaping prison) to encourage them further in their accusations. Would it be just to leave, when Athens had not acquitted him? And the final argument Socrates presents is leaving his home city and becoming a foreigner without rights is not how he would like to live out his old age. If his work in Athens was displeasing, how could the citizens of another city tolerate

A curious question to consider about Socrates is "What is the value of family?" To me, it seems like it is not his first priority. Socrates did indeed leave his family behind. Instead of sacrificing his mind and body to the city for his family, which is as common today as it was then, he sacrificed himself for himself. So who is nobler? The family man, who lives for the love of his family, or Socrates, who lived for himself. Many issues come to thought. One, was Socrates a family man? No, I think not. Two, did he die for his pride or to follow the laws? Can't answer that one, but it seems to be his pride based on him living by his own laws. It may not be this blunt, but I feel like Socrates did not care for his family much. Socrates was not a politically powerful man nor did he die for some great cause that change the way things were. He died for pride. I think Socrates viewed everyone with a mind as their own individual,

They wished for him to formally apologize or the result would be death. The court protested that if he stopped teaching his theory, then the charges against him would be dropped and he would not have the ultimate punishment, being death. Socrates believed that his argument could be sensibly defended without death being the penalty, which is why his apology ceases to apologize for insulting the wise men. He tells the court "if I was bound to be acquitted....you are bound to put me to death, because if I were to escape, all your children would forthwith be utterly corrupted by practicing what Socrates teaches..."(78). Inevitably he dies for protesting the court's wishes to stop teaching his beliefs.

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