The Apology by Plato and Socrates Profession of Ignorance - Essay Example

Philosophy Introduction Athens was a rich and cultured Among its citizens were astronomers, mathematicians, artists and thinkers. Athens bred the philosopher Socrates, who taught the need for moral responsibility and virtue. His teachings did not make much impact during his lifetime but later became a central part of moral and religious thinking The extract on which this research is based is made from ‘the Apology’ by Plato which comprises of Socrates’ defense in reply to the charges laid on him. It is not easy to give an account of the real Socrates with total confidence because he wrote nothing and we are dependent on sources which are not all unbiased. Plato’s apology presents to us a speech delivered by Socrates in his own defense at his trial. Apology here is not a statement of regret requesting pardon, but it is a formal statement of justification or defense.The charges leveled against Socrates was that “he was failing to acknowledge the city’s Gods, introducing new divinities and corrupting its youth “ (Plato: The last days of Socrates. 2003. p.33). These were serious charges but Socrates did not make efforts to defend himself. It is said that he had bred insubordination and utter contempt for authority. It seemed evident that Socrates could do nothing for his own defense without compromising his principles, he is held out as a person whose “ high moral principles is confronted step by step with a situation from where there is no escape” (Plato: The last days of Socrates. 2003. p.38). Socrates views on death are clear. He believed that once a person has taken a stand, based on the call of his conscience on what he felt was best to him morally, then he is constrained to hold his post and face the situation, irrespective “of death or anything else before dishonour” (Plato: The last days of Socrates. 2003. p.54). Socrates having been condemned to death, still believes that a good man can suffer no evil. His philosophy was that no man knowingly does wrong and that men did evil only out of ignorance. But his opponents believed that men did wrong despite knowing what was morally correct, which is not very difficult to believe. Socrates has himself said that he is not a processor of knowledge that others lacked and everyone knows what is morally correct and what is not yet crimes are committed. So here it seems that Socrates is contradicting himself. Before his conviction he claimed that people should look to death with confidence. If the contrary is true, they will be considered unwise, as they think they know what is evil, when in fact they know nothing of it. This shows that this man is not afraid to die. Socrates has said that if he lays claims to any superior knowledge, it is in this, that, he does not have “any real knowledge of what awaits us in Hades” (Plato: The last days of Socrates. 2003. p.55), and also he is aware of the fact that he no knowledge of the death experience . One would think that he is a self made martyr. But by accepting his death he has given a valuable lesson to the whole world on morality and virtue. He is an example of a man who lived and died by his own philosophy. Socrates never considered himself a teacher in the usual sense, but only an assistant at the birth of knowledge, an intellectual midwife. He has said that even if he were to be given a reprieve based on the condition that he stop philosophizing, he would still continue till his last heart beat, since it is the moral duty of philosophers to educate the young and old that it is not only their bodies that need nourishment but also their souls through moral living and regard for fellow human beings, and not just amassing wealth and leading pleasurable lives to the exclusion of all norms of virtuous living. “Wealth does not bring goodness, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both to the individual and to the State.” (Plato: The last days of Socrates. 2003. p.56). He goes no further to say that death is defined as the travails of the soul from one place to another, or the total loss of consciousness or extermination of the person. If the former is taken to be true, then the travels would be to join with the great warriors like Palamedes and Ajax who also were done to death by unjust trials which would truly be a great and wonderful experience. It would also mean meeting Orpheus and Musaeus and Homer, a experience for which Socrates was willing to die “ten times over.” (Plato: The last days of Socrates 2003. p.69). Again, if it were the total loss of consciousness or eternal sleep, this would also be welcome, since it is not every night that people sleep soundlessly and without dreams. To gain eternal, peaceful and dreamless sleep is indeed a gratifying experience which everybody cannot lay claims to. Therefore, whichever way we humans look at it, death, as we know about is a pleasurable and peaceful transition from life to afterlife in Hades. Once a person dies, he lays claim to immortality in afterlife and cannot be put to death in the manner Socrates was being put to death by the jury. He felt that the envy of the world has led to the death of many good men and this process will continue till many more die. A man who is good for anything need not account the chances of living or dying. The whole concentration should be on whether he is actually doing things the right way or the not so right way. This differentiates a good man from a bad man. For wherever a man’s place is, he should not think of death or of anything else, but of disgrace. Why are people scared of death? It is not death that we fear but the ugliness that men fear. We fear to leave the good things behind. Socrates thought of himself to be a good and morally knowledgeable man but then again the contradiction here is; despite his conviction that his fellow Athenians were ignorant, Socrates did not see himself as a possessor of knowledge. In his mind, his only wisdom lay in the fact that he realized that he didn’t know anything, while they, although ignorant thought, that they were wise. Conclusion Socrates’s profession of ignorance is partly to be thought on that he saw his philosophical function as a complete involvement in the search of truth along with his followers, and not as a complete and coherent philosophical system. Though Socrates has given his defenses to his accusers, in the end in his apology he has said to his judges to cheer on his death. He is himself not afraid nor unhappy over such an end to his life. He knew that he has lived a life based on truth- that no evil can happen to a good man, during his lifetime or after his death, for which reason he was not angry with his perpetrators. He also requested his jury that after his death, if his sons were to seek materialistic pleasures before goodness, then they should also be ridiculed just as Socrates had ridiculed the evil in society, and if his sons felt themselves to be exalted and forgot to do important things in life, and felt themselves good for certain things when actually they were good for nothing, then they should also be rebuked just as Socrates had rebuked them. This was the only request Socrates asked from his jury members. Although Socrates lived thousands of years ago, his influence in everyday life is felt even today in our daily lives as materialistic pursuits take precedence over human values and principles . Works Cited Tredennick, Hugh., and Tarrant, Harold. Plato: The last days of Socrates. England: Penguin Books. 2003. p.33 to 69. Read More