Thursday, October 3, 2019
Plato Apology Essay Example for Free
Plato Apology Essay The Apology is Platoââ¬â¢s accurate depiction of the Socratesââ¬â¢ own defense at the trial provoked by Meletus. However, besides current accusers, Socrates has to speak out to defense against former accusers who have created prejudices of him for long time. Former accusers prosecute Socrates for ââ¬Å"studying things in the sky and below the earthâ⬠and ââ¬Å"[making] the worse into the stronger argumentâ⬠(Plato 18b-c). Moreover, Meletus, who is one of recent accusers, charges Socrates of ââ¬Å"[corrupting] the young and not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in new spiritual thingsâ⬠(Plato 24c). The dialogue between Socrates and the jury as well as Meletus describes the true personality of Socrates and answers the question if Socrates is guilty or innocent of those charges. First, Socrates is accused of studying ââ¬Å"things in the sky and things below the earthâ⬠(Plato 23d). In this time period, Athenian people believe that gods are the ones who create and rule the world. Everyone must believe in and worship with no doubt. Therefore, if anyone tries to study and explain matters in terms of natural phenomenon instead of religious belief, he or she is immediately charged of not believing in gods and receives punishments from whole society. In this case, older accusers believe that what Socrates is doing is as same as other philosophers who trying to oppose religious belief and negatively impact the society. This is reflected by the comedy of Aristophanes depicting Socrates as a person who has ability to ââ¬Å"walk on airâ⬠and present ââ¬Å"a lot of other nonsenseâ⬠matters (Plato 19c). However, Socrates proves that he is not that type of person and he does not have any knowledge of those matters by saying ââ¬Å"I do not speak in contempt of such knowledgeâ⬠and asking if anyone has ever heard him discussing about these subjects (Plato 19d). In fact, Socratesââ¬â¢ occupation is a wisdom searcher who dedicates his life to find wise men and to discuss about virtues (Poage). Therefore, the first accusation is not true, and Socrates is not guilty because Socrates does not ââ¬Å"[study] things in the sky and things below earthâ⬠to oppose the trust of gods. Second, the earlier accusers prosecute Socrates for ââ¬Å"[making] the worse into the stronger argumentâ⬠as many Sophists do (Plato 18b-c). The accusers claim that Socrates is one of many Sophists who are ââ¬Å"very good speakers. Indeed, they [have] reputations for being able to convince a crowd that up [is] down, that day [is] night, that the wrong answer could be the right answer, that good [is] bad and bad is good, even that injustice is justice and justice would be made to appear as injusticeâ⬠(Pecorino). Furthermore, Sophists are paid for delivering speech and only care about winning debates and lawsuits more than anything else. Thus, most of them are feared and hated by Athenian people. Nevertheless, Socrates distinguish himself from Sophists by giving evidence that he ââ¬Å"live[s]in great poverty because of [his] service to the godâ⬠(Plato 23b). While Sophists such as Gorgias of Leontini, Producs of Ceos, and Hippias of Elis charge fee for their services, Socrates never asks or receive money from anyone whom he approaches and asks questions regarding to wisdom and virtue. Unlike Sophists who are wealth and famous, Socrates is so poor because of his free service. In addition, Socratesââ¬â¢ intention is to help other people understand virtue and become wiser rather than teaching them how to become good speakers as Sophists do. Therefore, Socrates is not guilty of ââ¬Å"[making] the worse into the stronger argumentâ⬠(Plato 18b-c). Another charged brought by later accusers against Socrates is ââ¬Å"corrupting the youngâ⬠(Plato 23d). Socrates teaches his young men be wiser and think about themselves. This annoys the Athenian government and officials because they think those young could break the laws and create rumor among the society. Hence, Meletus prosecutes Socrates for teaching the young to go against the government and emphasizes that all the Athenians make the young become better except Socrates (Plato 25b). In order to reverse that accusation, Socrates uses example of horse breeders who are trained and have experience to take care of horses and make them better while the majority lacking of skills and knowledge cannot. As a result, it is impossible for all the Athenians to know what benefits the young. Only Socrates who has knowledge and skills is able to teach the best for the young. Moreover, Socrates indicates that no one wants to harm oneself; neither does Socrates. If he intentionally corrupts the young, he is putting himself at risk because ââ¬Å"the wicked people do some harm to their closest neighbors while good people do them goodâ⬠(Plato 25e). Therefore, it is impossible for Socrates to teach the young in the way to harm him. After Socrates disproves Metelusââ¬â¢ charge, he criticizes Metelusââ¬â¢ prosecuting procedure. If Socrates harms the young unintentionally, Metelus has to ââ¬Å"get hold of [Socrates] privately, instruct and exhort [Socrates]â⬠(Plato 26). In contrast, Meletus brings Socrates straight to the court ââ¬Å"where the law requires one to bring those who are in need of punishment, not of instructionâ⬠(Plato 26). As a result, Socrates again shows that he is not guilty. The last accusation brought against Socrates is ââ¬Å"not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other new spiritual thingsâ⬠(Plato 24c). In order to prove that Socrates does not trust in gods, Meletus states that Socrates ââ¬Å"says that the sun is stone, and the moon earthâ⬠(Plato 26d). If Socrates does say this statement, he denies the presence of Apollo the god of the sun and the presence of Selene the goddess of the moon. Nevertheless, Socrates claims that Anaxagoras of Clazomenae is actually the one who said those matters. Moreover, Socrates catches Meletusââ¬â¢s contradiction when he claims that Socrates does not trust in gods. To make Meletus admit his contradiction, Socrates asks Meletus ââ¬Å"[d]oes any man believe in spiritual activities who does not believe in spirits? â⬠and Meletus answers there is no one (Plato 27c). Socrates believes in the Oracle of Delphi which is related to spiritual activities, and everyone in Athens including Meletus knows that. This means that Meletus agrees that Socrates also believe in spirits which are ââ¬Å"either gods or the children of godsâ⬠(Plato 27d). Now, Meletus contradicts himself by saying Socrates believe in gods. Consequently, Socrates successfully shows Meletusââ¬â¢s false and prove that he not guilty of the charge. In conclusion, Socrates is not guilty of the charges from the earlier accusers as well as the recent ones. Socrates provides many evidences and uses his excellent argument skill to prove that he is innocent, but the jury still is not convinced and sentences him to death. What Socrates does is not harmful to anyone in Athens; he only try to question about wisdom and discuss about ethics in order to find the answer for the Oracle. Socrates teaches his students to realize that they are not wise as they thought and show them the way to better themselves by seeking more wisdom. Unfortunately, jealous people and conservative culture does not understand his divine destiny and fallaciously accuse him like a criminal. Works Cited Pecorino, Philip A. An Introduction to Philosophy: An Online Textbook. Study Web. n. d. Web. 13 July 2013. Plato. Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. , 2002. Print. Poage, Nathan. Apology Outline. Behavioral Social Sciences Department. Houston Community College. n. d. Web. 13 July 2013.
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