Socrates Apology - Essay Example

? Socrates’ Apology Socrates was a Greek Athenian thinker, famous for his work on philosophy,including some plays and also as the tutor of pupils like Plato. The Apology is a document written by Plato in which he has noted down the apology Socrates made when he was put on trial due to certain accusations put against him. There is also another version written by Xenophon, but it is not considered as authentic since he was not present during the time of the trial even though Plato was. In fact, Plato himself was mentioned twice by Socrates in his apology. We cannot be sure of Xenophon’s text because it is all a result of word of mouth, but then he has added some more background information, too. Yet another account of the trial is given by Aristophanes, a comic playwright. The philosopher was a member of the sub-council – the Council of Five Hundred – that ruled over the Assembly. His morals, way of thinking did not create much of a fuss at first. He did all that he thought was right, nothing more and then a time came when Athens was under attack and Sparta won the battle. The Greeks were humiliated and angry, especially when Socrates did not seem to approve of their form of government. He was considered as a critic of the then governmental system of Greece and due to this and other things he was accused against, he was put on trial by Anytus, Lycon and Meletus – the latter being the prosecutor who was mostly responsible for putting Socrates on trial. "Socrates does injustice and is meddlesome, by investigating the things under the earth and the heavenly things, and by making the weaker speech the stronger, and by teaching others these same things" (Plato, West and West 66). The above were the charges placed against Socrates and he had to plead innocent or guilty for them. In simple words, Socrates’ thoughts were not similar to the thoughts the Greeks generally had. He believed that the gods knew everything, were present everywhere, one could not hide anything or anyone from them. The majority of the Greeks thought that the gods were partially present, that they knew some things and remained unaware about others. Their concepts of gods was different and it was not that much of a problem until Socrates actually refused to follow an order regarding to agreeing to allowing something illegal to happen. He had taken a vow and believed that the gods would know he had done wrong and for this he was being put on trial, for going against what they thought was god’s will when, in fact, it was just their own. The wording of this charge of impiety makes one assume that Socrates did not believe in the gods which were worshipped by the people of Athens, but also that he did not believe in the authority of gods at all. When, in fact, that was not the case and Socrates proves them wrong at several points in his apology. Socrates relates an incident in which Chaerephon, a friend of his and also quite a famous personality in the city, went to the Oracle of Delphi and actually questioned whether anyone was wiser than Socrates and the reply was in negative. The philosopher believed this to be a paradox in itself since he did not consider himself to be the wisest person, but thought it to be true, too, so he spent his entire life trying to prove the Oracle of Delphi correct. On questioning a few of the prominent Athenians who were thought to be wise, Socrates only managed to conclude that, indeed, he was the wisest of all of them. This was because he was aware of the fact that he was still ignorant of many things of life, whilst the others thought they were intelligent enough, they did not think that there might be room for further improvement, etc. and that was the paradox itself. The fact that he knew he was ignorant and the others did not proved that he was the Oracle was right. This point did seem to humiliate the respected men and only managed to turn them against him though. But it also shows that Socrates wanted the Oracle to be right and if he did not believe in any gods, he would not have devoted his life trying to prove the Oracle right. Later onwards, there is a cross questioning session between Metelus and Socrates in which the former accuses the later of being an atheist, and in the same breath says he is responsible for creating new gods. Over here, too, Socrates uses his quick mind to prove himself innocent of the charge. If was, indeed, an unbeliever, then he could not have possibly introduced new gods, that was just contradictory in itself. Either he was a believer but did not worship the same gods as others, but he was being accused of not believing in any gods at all and this proved Metelus wrong. Another reason for bringing Socrates to court was that he was accused of feeding wrong ideas to the youth. He had his own pupils who he shared his ideas with and when he even mentioned them to the young population, he must have had an influence on them. But the point is that whether he did or not, it was not his fault. He just spoke about what he believed in, he did not force anyone to listen to him. In fact, he did not even ask for money from his pupils despite him not being well off at all. His way of thinking was different from the rest, more liberal maybe even because of the political conditions of the time he was growing in. Pericles was a great and prominent Greek statesman of his time, but what he also was was liberal, promoting arts and literature. It is possible that Socrates may have been influenced by his line of thought though this is rarely considered when the fairness or unfairness of Socrates’ trial is discussed. But, accusing Socrates for changing someone’s minds due to his ideas was not really something he should have been into trial for. The ‘apology’ made by Socrates to the court is not the apology one would naturally assume to be, he is not admitting he is wrong and asking to make amends for his mistake. During those times in Greece, by apology they meant that a person is defending his own beliefs and thoughts and even actions. Over here, Socrates is defending his actions; he is trying to prove himself as innocent of all the charges pressed against him. Unfortunately though, Socrates is voted guilty. Despite the fact he repeatedly proves himself to be innocent; he still loses his case, which did not even have any grounds in the first place. The man’s beliefs, his actions were just that – his own, and it was just a matter of perception. Some might have agreed with his teachings, some – quite obviously – did not, but this did not mean that they could sentence him to death. Even though he is given several chances of escaping from his prison, he refuses to do so, knowing that the story, his story being told to the future generations, years later would bring about more of an impact to their minds than if he escaped. The fact that he had to drink hemlock and walk around till he became numb and eventually died would prove to the people that one should remain adamant at what one believes in and not give in even when facing the possibility of death. Works Cited Plato, Thomas G. West and Grace Starry West. 4 Texts on Socrates. Cornell University Press, 1998. Read More