Socrates Apology - Essay Example

of the Philosophy of the Teacher 7 November Socrates Apology There is no denying the fact that every year hundreds if not thousands of Americans stand witness to the malpractices and wrongs that are blatantly carried on in the institutions and organizations they work at, and choose to remain quiet for the fear of being persecuted for their honesty. Yet, in all ages and times there happened to be people that did not shun away the onus of exposing the wrongs and misdeeds that they came across in the society, even when threatened with dire consequences.

In the very same vein, Socrates in Plato’s Apology chooses to act a whistleblower to the lies prevalent in the society of his times. It goes without saying that the whistleblowers like Socrates give voice to the collective conscience of the societies they live in and happen to be the primary harbingers of all the truth and goodness prevailing in them. In Apology Socrates is brought to trial for corrupting the youth and not believing in God. Socrates responds to this trial by enunciating his point in a factual and straight forward manner, thereby declaring that though he happened to be a man of limited wisdom, yet he considered it to be his duty to question and test the veracity of the dominant dictums and dogmas prevalent in the society of his times, without being afraid or apprehensive of the eventual consequences of his so called audacity.

Thereby in doing so Socrates sounds somewhat like the whistleblowers in the current times for a whistleblower is a person that exposes and reveals the facts regarding malpractices and evils prevailing in one’s vicinity or place of work, thereby exposing oneself to dire consequences, for the larger social good. In the Apology, Socrates position is akin to a whistleblower because he dares to speak truth in the face of the people who are not only responsible for his trial, but also carry the power of life and death over him.

Irrespective of and in total disregard to the difficult consequences that Socrates may have to contend with for questioning the established truth of his times, Socrates chooses to unravel the falsity and hypocrisy inherent in the set social and religious beliefs of his times for the benefit of the people who cherish and seek truth. However, Socrates is also unlike a whistleblower in the sense that a whistleblower discloses factual information that acts as an evidence of illegality of the acts he speaks against.

However, in Apology, Socrates rather than presenting factual evidence that corroborates his assertions instead resorts to a philosophical discourse to challenge his detractors. There is no denying the fact that whistleblowers like Socrates are of immense importance and relevance to the societies in all ages and times. It is a reality that any society comprises of both good and evil practices and the enhancement of truth, justice and goodness in a society is to a large extent dependent on the commitment of that society to expose and punish evil.

Yet, many a times a majority of people fail to expose untruth and evil even when they see it with their own eyes because they are not willing to step out of their comfort zones to uphold and strengthen the truth. Hence, the free and progressive societies based on the rule of law need whistleblowers like Socrates who are willing to stand and point out when the system is infested with falsity and corruption. Societies who cherish freedom and justice do need people who do not hesitate from exposing themselves to persecution and harm, so as to reveal facts that are pivotal to the larger good of the society.

For in a society where wrong doing is not countered by the sense of fairness of a few courageous people like Socrates do get vulnerable to evil and rote. Thereby whistleblowers are good for the society. Hence, if the evil and corrupt practices are not countered in a society by the stiff resistance of the willing few, the evil may get well entrenched in the very foundations of that society. In a historical context, social progress to a large extent had been imminent on the courage shown by the whistleblowers who dare to unravel truth even at personal risk.

For not all are willing to pay the price of speaking truth, thereby the few who dare to do so need to be respected and protected by the society so that the truth and goodness may eventually prevail.