1 / 9

The Trial of Socrates: A Philosophical Defense

Explore Socrates' defense against wrongful charges, the value of philosophy, and his unwavering commitment to truth amidst adversity.

lmoon
Download Presentation

The Trial of Socrates: A Philosophical Defense

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Why Philosophy?I Why Philosophy?I

  2. Plato Socrates Aristotle Background Raphael, School of Athens (detail)

  3. Plato, The Apology Part I: The Defense • Rhetoric and Sophistry Socrates’ Explanation of the Charges “Socrates is guilty of being a busybody, in that he inquires into what is beneath the earth and in the sky, turns theweaker argument into the stronger, and teachesothers to do the same.” (29) • The Oracle at Delphi and Socrates’ mission • Socrates’ followers • Trumped-up charges

  4. Part I: The Defense (cont’d) “Socrates is guilty of corrupting the young, and of failing to acknowledge the gods acknowledged by the city, but introducing new spiritual beings instead.” (32) • Socrates and Meletus: “Socratic dialogue” • Who influences the youth for the better? • Intentional harm. • Meletus’ contradiction. • Conviction by slander. • Fear of death? “[T]he fear of death amounts simply to thinking one is wise when one is not.” (35)

  5. Part I: The Defense (cont’d) • Cease and desist? “[S]o long as I draw breath and amable, I shall never give up practicingphilosophy.” (35) • The gadfly analogy • Socrates’ daimon “[A]nyone who truly fights for what isjust, if he is going to survive for even ashort time, must act in a private capacityrather than a public one.” (37) • Not a teacher.

  6. Part I: The Defense (cont’d) • No begging, no pleading. “A juror does not sit to dispense justice as a favour, but to determine where it lies.” (39) Part 2: The Verdict • Guilty! • ‘Let the punishment fit the crime.’ • Free food! • Imprisonment? • Banishment? • Fine?

  7. Part 3: The Sentence “I have been convicted, not for lack of arguments, but for lack of brazen impudence and willingness to address you in such terms as you would most like to be addressed in—that is to say, by weeping and wailing, and doing and saying much else that I claim to be unworthy of me…” (40-1) • Socrates’ prophesy • The daimon’s silence • Death is a blessing

  8. The Value of Philosophy? • “The unexamined life is not worth living.” • Value for the self. • Value for society. • Is Socrates guilty?

More Related