Platos Apology - Assignment Example

In Plato’s Apology, Socrates repeatedly says that his entire life can be understood as a fulfillment of a divine mission, that is, as if it were guided by God. Explain how this statement appears to make sense. Socrates statement about him fulfilling a divine mission can be understood in light of the Oracle of Delphi. It should be noted that one of the charges on Socrates was that he was a busybody, a humbug who inquires about the earth and sky. Socrates also inquires the politicians, the poets, and craftsmen to see of they were truly wise. Socrates wanted to find out and to prove that an ignorant man could be the wisest one in town, thus the questionings of the politicians, poets, and craftsmen. This life mission according to Socrates was guided by god. How should we understand this fulfillment of a divine mission? The answer is the Oracle. Chaerephon, Socrates’ loyal friend went to the oracle and inquired the god Apollo if there was anyone wiser than Socrates; the Oracle’s answer was none. Socrates took this as a riddle and wanted to solve the paradox that an ignorant could be the wisest. And so this was his divine mission in light of the Oracle of Delphi’s pronouncement. Among Socrates’s main contributions, the Socratic method—the elenchus—occupies a special place. Explain the nature and character of this method. The Socratic Method or the Elenchus is a Socratic technique of exposing false beliefs and eliciting truth. It is a discussion or dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). It is typically involves two speakers discussing a central issue by series of questions, one leading the discussion and the other answering the questions or agreeing to certain assumptions laid before him for his acceptance or rejection. The best way to win in the discussion or debate is to make the opponent contradict himself in a way that proves the point of the inquirer. How is the elenchus manifested in the dialogue, the Euthyphro? In the dialogue Euthyphro, this method is manifested in the main part of the dialogue which is the argument of the definition of piety. Here Socrates asks Euthphro to put forth a definition of piety which Socrates rejected because it was not a definition but an example of piety. The second definition by Euthyphro was criticized by Socrates. The third definition by Euthyphro was an amendment from the second. Here Socrates made Euthyphro contradict himself without him realizing. Discuss the relationship between this method and Socrates’ confession of ignorance and skepticism. Socrates often used the Elenchus in bringing out insufficiencies and contradictions of the opinion of others. Whenever these insufficiencies and inconsistencies are manifested, Socrates himself will admit that he know nothing about the insufficiencies and professed his ignorance and skepticism, like he always did with interlocutors (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). This made him wiser than the others who claimed to have knowledge when in fact they know not anything. Can you recognize some of the advantages of applying this method in the contemporary world? This method finds application in the modern world and proves to be of advantage. In law schools, the Elenchus let students investigate the intricate contours of often difficult legal issues and it let students the critical thinking skills they need to become a lawyer. In psychotherapy, the method can be used to clarify the meaning of feelings and its consequences. It can also be used to gradually open out the power to seeing inner nature of things, or explore alternative plans and actions. What are the accusations leveled against Socrates at this trial? There are two types of charges Socrates faced in this trial, the long standing ones based on gossip and slander, that he was a criminal, a busybody, and a curious person who examines into the earth and the sky, and the formal charges that he is guilty of corrupting the minds of the young by teaching them, and that he was an atheist, invented new gods and denied the existence of the old gods (Euthyphro). Explain how Aristophanes’s characterization of Socrates in the Clouds may have played a role in the accusations brought forward by the prosecution. In the apology Socrates says that if he is convicted, it will be because Aristophanes, a Greek comedy writer, corrupted the minds of the young by mocking Socrates in his play The Clouds. In the play, Aristophanes misrepresented Socrates character projecting him as an atheist who denies the existence of gods or god’s concern to humans. Also in the play Socrates was portrayed as an impious inquirer of nature, a humbug, who corrupted the minds of the young by teaching them how to defeat a better argument over a worse argument and inspiring ambitious young men to achieve material progress. He was portrayed as mocking the gods, teaching how to get away with debts, and how to beat parents to submission. This unfair characterization of Socrates in the play clearly contributed to the accusations brought to him by his accusers (Clouds, Seduction). The play indeed poisoned the minds of the audience led them into thinking that Socrates was exactly as what he was portrayed in the play. What philosophical and political implications do you recognize in the fact that a man such as Socrates should have been accused, convicted, and executed? The fact that a man like Socrates was accused, convicted, and executed implied politically that democratic rule can be at times unreliable and undesirable (Trial of Socrates). “His speech, which has won readers to his side for more than two millennia, does not succeed in winning him acquittal” (Apology (Plato)). At his time Socrates was a man considered wise and intellectual which won him admiration from others but it did not prevent others to envy him to the point of destroying him. Today, you can make friends and connections if you are wise and intelligent but at the same time you are accumulating for yourself enemies. Are there similar cases in history? I can think of Jesus Christ as having the same case with Socrates. Christ was accused and convicted with charges he never did. His teachings infuriated the religious leaders at his time because they were not only different but his teaching drew a lot of crowd. The religious leaders feared many will follow him and consequently they will lose followers and power over the people. Christ Jesus was executed as a criminal along with robbers. Explain what is meant by the "Socratic problem". The Socratic problem is basically a question of who Socrates really was. Socrates did not leave anything about himself, his teachings, and his works in writing. There are various people who wrote about him whose accounts differ significantly in crucial respects. This created a complexity because we cannot determine exactly what is the accurate representation and portrayal of the historical Socrates and his thoughts. In this context, discuss the sources of information about Socrates and how they characterize him. Aristophanes, an ancient Greek playwright, is the earliest existing source of information about Socrates. He wrote the comedy entitled Clouds where he characterized Socrates as an atheist who mocks the gods and a sophist who demands a regular fee from his students of rhetoric. The next source of information is the soldier - historian Xenophon. He is a practical man who has almost an imperceptible ability to recognize philosophical issues. He has witnessed the Socrates who is practical and a helpful advisor. So Socrates appears in his works as such. Plato was the third primary source of information about Socrates. Most of what we know of Socrates comes from Plato’s writing. However, it is widely believed that only some of Plato’s dialogues are unmediated representations of Socrates’ thoughts. In Xenophon’s Symposium, it is stated that the students paid Socrates for teaching them wisdom, while in Plato’s dialogues had Socrates denying of receiving any payment or accepting money from the students for teaching. Yet, Plato and Xenophon both presented Socrates as a noble man unfairly tried by the Athenians. What are some possible reasons why Socrates chose not to leave anything in writing? Maybe he was aware with the limitations of writing, that a dialectic method was more effective in teaching. Maybe he believed that conversation was better than writing. Or probably he did not want his teachings to be exploited by other, claimed it for themselves for glory and recognition. Or as Andres Melo puts it, he just chose not to write anything (Melo 3). Explain Socrates’s view of the role of language in the quest for self-understanding. According to Socrates, language is an imitation. It is like a picture which is not perfect. So language can be true or false. If it is false then the reality it portrays maybe false. The sound and form of the syllables should fit to the object or thing named so that it matches the nature or reality of the thing or object for each have their own nature and reality. How does an analysis of language supposedly lead to a clear understanding of right conduct? An analysis of language will lead to a clear understanding of right conduct because it will unearth the meaning of the words used as to reflect the true meaning of the form. Since language can be true or false, it is better to know the things or objects named with respect to themselves rather than with there names. The analysis of language, its meaning and representation, will give way to understanding the clear meaning and definition of right conduct. Reference List Apology (Plato). Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 6, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apology_(Plato) Chaerephon. Retrieved December 15, 2007 from http://socrates.clarke.edu/aplg0220.htm Clouds. Ablemedia. Retrieved December 15, 2007 from http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/netshots/clouds.htm Euthyphro. Internet Classics Archive. Retrieved December 15, 2007 from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/euthyfro.html Melo, Andres. Reflections; Considerations as to why Socrates wrote nothing. Retrieved December 15, 2007, from http://amelo14.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/reflections-considerations-as-to-why-socrates-wrote-nothing/ Merriam – Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved December 15, 2007 from http://m-w.com/dictionary/dialectic Socrates, Content and Topics. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from http://www.san.beck.org/SOCRATES4-What.html Socrates. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved December 15, 2006 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/ Socratic Method. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved December 6, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_method The Seductions of Socrates. First Things. Retrieved December 15, 2004 from http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2205 Trial of Socrates. Wikipedia. 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