NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Who is real Socrates: the humble man or the heroic figure? Plato's Apology portrays Socrates as the person of definite kind of personality this is a self-assured man, generous, indifferent towards the successes of human living. He was sure that a divine spirit directs and inspires him, and that a clear mind is the primary condition providing for virtuous life of human. If the last point is not taken into consideration, Socrates resembles the Christian martyr or a Puritan.
The last part of his speech, discussing the afterlife, expresses his assurance that the immortality exists and proves that uncertainty that had been revealed by him was false. He is not concerned with the fear of tortures that he may experience after the death like the Christians are. He is sure that his afterlife will be happy. His philosophy contained the reasons for the faith in immortality. Historical evidences and the witnesses of the people that lived at the same time with Socrates make evident that he was a person of integrity, sincere and self-confident.
That is why it seems to be wrong to judge him as the humble or heroic personality. He was a complex personality, so the features revealed by him can be both inherent to his character. It doesnt mean that he reveals contradictory features at once; it means that he was all-rounder and he could accept several viewpoints. Of course, as a wise man and a philosopher, he couldnt stand himself out of the crowd, due to the relativity of the criteria that distinguish between an ordinary man and an outstanding figure. At the same time, he couldnt ignore that his achievements and ideas were valuable for the humans, and the historical experience also proved this idea. While considering his speeches that are reflected in Plato's Apology, it becomes evident that all ideas expressed by him are sincere and reasonable, and they fully and completely confine themselves to his personality.
Roger Duke, speaking about Socrates and his personality in his article on Apology gives the following characteristic to this person: Socrates's primary concern in life was arete 'excellence', not in the Sophistic sense of practical efficiency in public life, but as moral excellence of soul, that is, virtue. Socrates in fact seems to have been the first philosopher to see the soul as the moral essence of the individual, improved by virtue and ruined by its opposite, rather than as a morally neutral life principle, which was the earlier view of the soul. Socrates's concern for morality involved not only the private sphere of a man's life, but also the public, as illustrated by his two involvements in politics. Both instances reveal him resisting injustice, on the one hand, of the democracy and, on the other, of the oligarchic Thirty.
At is has been mentioned above, Socrates was a person of integrity, for whom his own life was a philosophical question for consideration, and the problem of the meaning of life and death was the major philosophical problem. It should be taken into consideration that Socrates didnt distinguish between the philosophy and the real life, and he cannot be accused in dividing philosophy into several independent segments as well. His world view was earthy and living and, at the same time, expressing the essence of the spiritual life of the Antic world. Apology is considered by the scientists and philosophers to be a historical perspective of Socrates personality.
It represents the reproduction of the speech that was made by Socrates on his trial to defend his position. Of course, the work cannot be regarded as the stenographic report, but the facts that engraved on Plato's memory after several years of the trial, when he recollected his memories and wrote them down. Plato was present at the court and it is clear that everything that was written by him in Apology is in the first place his memories and his impressions of what happened during the trial. But it is also evident that Plato intended to create a historical writing, so the readers may assume that his description of Socrates and his speeches are relevant. This is the reason to accept all the ideas and estimations that were given by Socrates as those that are inherent to him and his meaning. It is evident that Socrates is logical in his argumentation.
He speaks, trying to comment all his accusations and he never contradicts to the ideas that were expressed by him earlier. At first he starts with the accusation that he tends to rhetoric, and he accuses his opponents of the same. He proves that the only kind of rhetoric he uses is telling the truth. He also adds that his opponents should assume this manner, as it is habitual to him to be sincere and he doesnt use any decorations that are used by his opponents to make his guilt be more evident.
It is known that he was older than 70 at that time, and he never took part in such trials, so he stands against the manner of speaking that is customary to trial cases, and he insisted on telling the truth and representing it as it is. He goes on with refuting the arguments of his opponents one by one, and his arguments look logic and reasonable. There is an assumption that once Delphian oracle was asked if there had been a man wiser than Socrates and oracle answered that there had not been any such man. Socrates states that he was puzzled by this estimation, as he didnt consider himself to be the wisest man, however the God cannot lie. That is why he addressed people that were considered to be wise men to find out whether he could convince the God that He had been mistaken. At first, Socrates addressed to the politician, who seemed to be wise to him and many other people around.
But it appeared that this man wasnt wise at all and Socrates explained the truth to him. He states that this became the reason for accusing him for the major part of his opponents. After that Socrates addressed to the poets and asked them to explain him the abstracts from their writings, but they couldnt do it. So, he came to the conclusion that the poets create their writing not due to the wisdom, but due to the temporary inspiration. At last he went to speak to craftspeople, but those people also disappointed him. He stated that his research activity turned many people into his enemies.
At last, Socrates comes to the conclusion that it is the God who is the wisest, and the words of God dont mean that Socrates is the wisest man among the others. He states that these words mean that those people are wise who understand that their wisdom worth nothing, like Socrates does. This statement proves that Socrates didnt intend to place himself to a prior position compared to the people around. The accusation stated that Socrates denied the gods that are worshipped by all the people and the state, and that he invented his own gods and spread his own religion among young people. So, the last part of Apology is devoted to religion and religious viewpoints of Socrates. He remembers that when he had been a soldier, he never abandoned his action station.
He states that he is now placed among the people as he was placed on the position of soldiers, and the God gave himself a task to serve Him on the place he occupies at that moment. He also adds that abandoning this place now would be shameful for him as for the soldier to abandon the battlefield. The fear of death is not wise, as Socrates states. He argues that nobody knows if the death is blessing for humans compared to their earth living.
He compares the worth of living and the worth of philosophy for him, and he says that if he would be forced to choose living without continuing his philosophical researches, he would reject it, as his philosophical studies are considered to be the task that is given to him by God, and he states his mission is to go on this studying and to share his knowledge with the people around him. Socrates states that he defends himself not for his sake, but for the sake of his opponents. He regards himself to be a gadfly that forces the state and people think over their actions and sense of living. All above-mentioned proves the idea that Socrates didnt intend to represent himself as a humble or heroic person. He just sincerely expressed his ideas and opinions that were inherent to his complex personality and philosophical outlook.
Free research essays on topics related to: plato apology, telling the truth, socrates, socrates states, opponents
Research essay sample on Telling The Truth Plato Apology
