Socrates on Obedience and Justice - Assignment Example

Socrates' Views Regarding Obedience and Justice Socrates is being accused of three claims: the first is his studies on things in the sky and below the earth, making arguments that have no substance to override stronger ones, and teaching people for a fee. With this claim, he defends himself by stating that the prosecutors hearing his case were liars and that he would prove that. He requested to be given some time to speak the same way he speaks in the market. Because he has never been to court, he urged the jury to consider his position (Plato 4-6).

That is to say, he did not want to be prosecuted based on his speeches, but on whether his cause was just to warrant prosecution or unjust to the same effect. Upon making his defense against those accusing him, Socrates went forward to respond to the charges that were being leveled against him. To begin with, Meletus indicated that Socrates was an evil-doer in that he was found corrupting young people, did not believe in the state gods, and had introduced personal divinities. To defend himself, Socrates asked Meletus to offer himself in order to respond to some questions he wanted to ask him.

Socrates was particularly skillful in his questions, which resulted in Meletus not only contradicting himself but also making accusations that were totally meaningless. His statements meant that Socrates was the only person in Athens who was affecting the young people. At the same time, Socrates admitted that no one would deliberately make people worse and at the same time, live with them. From this point of view, it is difficult to say whether Socrates was making or turning the people worse, or whether Socrates was doing so involuntarily.

In either case, Socrates was not responsible for any crime; therefore, ought not to be punished. Meletus's opposition to Socrates was based somehow on grounds of religion because he simply did not confide his faith in the gods associated with the state. In fact, when interrogated about it, Meletus insisted that Socrates was an atheist. Of course, the charge was ridiculous, and Socrates made that clear by indicating that Meletus had disagreed with his earlier statement that Socrates had introduced new divinities and yet did not confide his faith in any supreme being (Plato 3-7).

In reality, Socrates, whilst not accepting the widely accepted conceptions of religion, was a religious person. Socrates had a deep belief in the religious meaning of the world and life, along with a strong belief in God as a source of moral obligations. Socrates, for many generations, has been considered a hero and even classified as a person whose martyrdom contributed much to justice and freedom in the world. In all his defenses, Socrates, in any way did not contradict himself.

In fact, when Socrates was informed of his final judgment he kept his composure and even closed his defense by indicating that he would still have defended himself in a similar way, then by pleading and begging for the jurors’ mercy and sympathy. Plato is once again portraying his predecessor in an honorable way as Socrates stays true to his own principles. His views were based on his understanding of justice. Not what one says but what is likely to come with what has been said. In his own words, it was the public disapproval of him that he believed would bring about his downfall, and not what he did.