Last Days of Socrates essays

Last Days of Socrates essays Socrates was called The Hero of Western Philosophy. He had an inner conscience. He would hold gatherings in market places and his main aim was to improve the social and political structure of the country. He adopted the method of questioning and he would use the two steps to his method of questioning which was pleading ignorance and cross questioning. These two methods were used by him for the examination of basic moral concepts which were the virtues of piety, wisdom, temperance, courage, and justice. He would say I know that I know nothing. This was also called dialectic or elanchus.He also envisioned a perfect state called Republic where the rulers of the city would be philosophers. He also said that Truth lies beyond the shadows of our everyday experiences and only a philosopher could show how incapable we are and only he could rule a state. He felt that knowledge and life experiences make a person virtuous and just. The trial of Socrates was a major incident in Greek history. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth of Athens and not worshipping the gods of the state. During his trial, he denied all accusations and attempted to defend himself by proving his innocence using reason. He was judged to be guilty and given a death sentence. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by drinking hemlock (172). Meanwhile, Socrates was also given an option of escaping the death sentence. He was asked to recant his beliefs and by doing this, he could have escaped the death penalty. But, since Socrates choose truth, he didnt prefer the option of escaping the death sentence. Instead he preferred death I am not going to alter my conduct, even if I have to die a hundred deaths (83). Socrates felt that verdicts must be carried out; irrespective of the fact that they we ...