Socrates: A Threat To The Athenian Society

Socrates died yesterday at the age of 71 when he was executed because of his religious beliefs. He was known by many people in Greece and was well liked by some as well as hated amongst crowds of people. His views on politics turned many people against him including the Athenian government. Socrates was sentenced to death because he refused to recognize the gods and the government thought he sought to corrupt the youth by teaching them to ask questions to find the answers. The Socratic method is a form of discussion when people ask questions to stimulate thinking and discovering people’s ideas, and his thoughts got him in a lot of trouble.

He knew if the society engaged in war, soldiers would be a necessity to the state. Socrates would not have wanted a citizen to go against his guardians, who were risking their lives protecting the state. His ideal of forbidden speech/literature is similar to the idea of clear and present danger. By limiting what type of speech is allowed in the state, these certain characteristics exhibited were favored by both the United States and Socrates. Therefore, the information available to citizens needed to be controlled by the state.

Socrates unconventional questioning helps the progress of society, and the Athenian people should welcome him, not punish him. To Plato, Socrates is a hero and he considers his service to Athens irreplaceable. Socrates articulates that he is “upon a great and noble horse which was somewhat sluggish because of its size and

Socrates was a man with much influence, he was very intelligent and possesed great wisdom. Everyone would follow and believe his words because of it.

Presenting ideas from justice to a new form of a city, his proposals are not practical and something that everyone can have. Socrates’ political proposals explored the possibilities of changing the views of other and change their knowledge about how to live their life. Socrates present many great ideas that are can possess great potential to change the mind of others. These possibilities could have not turned into something in the world, they were just ideas that were perceived to have the chance to change thought of people. Socrates was not serious about his political proposals because they are not unrealistic.

Janelle Perez Exploratory essay Week 6 Why did Athens wait so long to put Socrates on trial?. Socrates was teaching students for some time before he was put on trial in 399 B.C.E. I think the people of Athens waited to put Socrates on trial because they just lost a war to Sparta and were afraid their democracy was going to be taken away from them. This question interests me because history repeats itself. There have been many democratic countries that were slowly taken away by rising leaders who were against democracy such as when Hitler took control of Germany and made the country a dictatorship.

He is from Athens and helped to develop Athenian art and philosophy during the golden age of Athens around 400 BC. Socrates believes that once, the soul separates from the body, it can obtain true wisdom and understanding of love in the afterlife. Socrates’ worldview was of deep thinking and consisted of rational in his views of gaining true wisdom in afterlife, humility on his journey in obtaining wisdom, peaceful thought patterns, and his wise views to view love for the true beauty of the soul through obtaining a deeper connection. Before Socrates’ trial before the men of Athens, he is with the Oracle (a middle man between man and the gods who sought prophecy) and the Oracle tells him that he is the wisest human on the planet. Socrates responds with humility and says that “the people I mentioned just now may, perhaps, be wise because they possess superhuman wisdom.

After wars, disease, political turmoil and superfluous conflicts, Athens had a weak democracy, little morale, but plenty of blame that needed to be place to ease the nerves of suspicious Athenians. Athens, a polis known for its democracy, technological advancements, and accepting environment was the same city-state who sentenced a great philosopher to death for speaking his mind. Socrates was sentenced to death in a supposedly democratic city state because of the thirty tyrants and the betrayal by Alcibiades were all associates with Socrates, who was used as a scapegoat by the suspicious and conservative citizens of Athens who disliked his annoying habit of questioning others and democracy. Socrates was put to death because he

Through becoming a teacher of the young men who followed him in Athens, Socrates effectively began to enter the public life. He was able to influence others through sharing his conclusions of justice, self-examination, and piety, and by asking relentless questions. Socrates effectively showed that an individual can live a private and a public life, even if Socrates was not directly involved in the policy-making in Athens. An individual can combine these two aspects of life in a productive way allowing her/him to live a full existence. These individuals can become teachers, politicians, and activists who use their focus on justice and piety in their private lives to advocate and create laws that promote true justice for the rest of the

Like many scapegoats, Socrates was blamed and hated for having a different outlook on life. He questioned the status quo of society creating an upheaval that Greek citizens felt they had to handle. In 399 B.C, Socrates was killed with hemlock because he corrupted society with his intense questioning. Due to his wisdom, Socrates became a scapegoat for the Greeks simply because they were not prepared to face the reality of knowledge (Fieser). Similarly, all scapegoats like Socrates are faced with blame, hatred, and punishments in order to keep society from realizing they are actually inferior.

Socrates was a great philosopher of the Greek world. He was quite an atypical and distinctive person. Being different from all the other philosophers of the land, Socrates was teaching his students ideas totally out of the ordinary from what the society believed was right. As a result, he displeased many people so much that they decided to get rid of him. Socrates was put to trial, accused of spoiling the youth of Athens, tried and sentenced to death.

In his innocent eyes, all he did was go out to talk and question the Athenian people. Although at times there may have been youth following him as he went out to question others, they simply were just there to listen. In the event that the youth may have come up with ideas of their own based off of Socrates’s conversations they heard, that is not direct teaching from Socrates. This is like when a parent tells their child not to touch a hot stove, yet the kid goes and touches it anyway. Children have a mind of their own regardless of what they have been told is right or wrong.

Socrates is astute and keen in his own actions and words. He believed his prophecy was true. He thinks that if everyone is wise, there will be no harm to the society but, improvement in the society and people will live in a sanitary lifestyle. "There is a man called Socrates, a wise man, a student of all things in the sky and below the earth, who makes the worse

Socrates is trying to test the point that no individual aspires to do or want things that are bad for this. This is because he states that no individuals yearns to be miserable and unhappy. This, undeniably, is true. However, even though no individual wishes to be miserable and unhappy, people do wish to make other individuals miserable and unhappy. What Socrates fails to see is that countless amounts of individuals wish to do bad deeds and hurt others, however, they themselves do not want to be made unhappy throughout that process.

Socrates, one of the most influential men from the ancient Greek civilisation, this philosopher has influenced the court rooms more than any other. His Socratic method is what has influenced the technique of questioning used throughout every day. Socrates, born 470 BCE to a stone mason and midwife, receiving a basic Athenian education he went on to learn his father’s trade and learnt the craft of stone masonry. Not much is known about his early life as most information recorded about him is in fact in the work of his students plays and books. Socrates never actually wrote a book and according to his students had no intention on it.