Trevor Jones 2/13/15
Thoughts and Reflection on "The Apology of Socrates"
Source: Plato
The Reality Behind the Accusations Brought Upon Socrates
In The Apology, written by Plato, Socrates is brought before a trial and judge who seek to execute him on the charge of corrupting the minds of the young, and believing in deities of his own invention instead of the gods recognized by the State. After the Oracle of Delphi proclaims Socrates to be the wisest man in the world, Socrates believes it his duty to determine what the oracle meant by this, because the oracle cannot lie. Socrates proceeds by interviewing what is known to be the wisest men in the world, ranging from politicians, to poets, to craftsmen and more, but still found himself to be wiser than all of them. Socrates possesses wisdom because he does not "pretend to knowledge when he is entirely ignorant". This means that Socrates accept his stupidity instead of believing that he knows what he is talking about. This is what truly makes him wise. I believe that this makes Socrates valuable to society, because he now knows what makes a man wise, and it is not knowing everything about everything, it is the ability to accept your stupidity. I believe that Socrates believes in God because he is devoted to seek out what the oracle has said to him, because the oracles words are in fact, divine. When Socrates talks about plain speaking at the bottom of page 53, he is referring to his lack of concealment for his words, or openly speaking what comes to his mind. By this, he is not filtering his true opinion because he believes it to be correct. After this, Socrates proceeds to confront Metelus' accusation of corrupting the minds of the young. According to Socrates, it is preposterous to think that he is the only one in all of Athens that can have a bad influence on the children, and that would mean that everyone but Socrates must have a good impact on the children. This accusation by Metelus is in fact false because it is impossible that Socrates can be the only person to have a bad influence on the young.
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