Death To Socrates

1 Pages 369 Words

Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates. The “Apology”, pp. 19-41


“Socrates is an evil-doer, and a curious person, who searches into things under the earth and in heaven, and he makes the worse appear the better cause; and he teaches the aforesaid doctrines to others”. (pp. 21) This is the nature of the accusation against Socrates for his work.
Socrates was a philosopher with no real answers only an abundance of questions he shared with the people of his time, that would eventually cost him his life. An example most noted of him testing people with ideas was when he seeked the oracle. It is said that Socrates met with the oracle and asked if any one was wiser then he. With confidence the oracle replied that one was wise her the him. Determined to prove the oracle wrong Socrates met with people of different back rounds that were sought to be wiser then he. While meeting with various groups, including, politicians, poets and other philosophers he realized that even though all are wise in their area of study none knew much more out side of it. However, all claimed to know more then they actually did. Socrates soon realized that neither knowing nor thinking that you know, its indeed wiser the pretending to be.
Socrates taught this to young eager minds all over and taught them to question things that normally would be looked past. He was criticized for teaching young people to question authority , and questioning spiritual and divine agencies. As the book tells us he explained the need for teachers to Callias. His analogy was that if you were to buy horses would you not hire a horse trainer. Same goes for children. Would you not hire some one to teach them? This was the basis of his philosophy.
He went to trial in ancient times and was seen as guilty by his peers and sentence to either exile or to death in which he choose death. With the philosophy that “an examined life is not worth living.” Not his prot�...