Socrates Summary – Which Greek Philosopher Was Sentenced To Death By Poison?

Accusations made against Socrates:? corrupting of youth, allowing them to question authority not respecting traditional gods introducing new gods He was ugly so people thought he was evil Socrates Life: 469BC- 399BC Born: 469 B. C. Birthplace: Athens, Greece Died: 399 B.

C. (execution by poison) Best Known As: The great Greek philosopher who drank hemlock Socrates is the ancient Greek thinker who laid the early foundations for Western philosophical thought. His "Socratic Method" involved asking probing questions in a give-and-take which would eventually lead to the truth.Socrates was born in Athens and fought as a foot soldier in the Peloponnesian War with Sparta, but in later years became a devotee of philosophy and argument.

He spent years in the public places of Athens, engaging his fellow citizens in philosophical discussions and urging them to greater self-analysis. Socrates's iconoclastic attitude didn't sit well with everyone, and at age 70 he was charged with heresy and corruption of local youth. Convicted, he carried out the death sentence by drinking hemlock, becoming one of history's earliest martyrs of conscience.There was a strong religious side to Socrates's character and thought which constantly revealed itself in spite of his penchant for exposing the ridiculous conclusions to which uncritical acceptance of the ancient myths might lead. His words and actions in the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Symposium reveal a deep reverence for Athenian religious customs and a sincere regard for divinity. Indeed, it was a divine voice which Socrates claimed to hear within himself on important occasions in his life.

It was not a voice which gave him positive instructions, but instead warned him when he was about to go astray.He recounts, in his defense before the Athenian court, the story of his friend Chaerephon, who was told by the Delphic Oracle that Socrates was the wisest of men. That statement puzzled Socrates, he says, for no one was more aware of the extent of his own ignorance than he himself, but he determined to see the truth of the god's words. After questioning those who had a reputation for wisdom and who considered themselves, wise, he concluded that he was wiser than they because he could recognize his ignorance while they, who were equally ignorant, thought themselves wise.

He thus confirmed the truth of the god's statement. Why his death was so memorable: It concreted his beliefs. He didn’t run away, he stuck to his teachings and made people really see how dedicated and how he believed what he taught. He had the chance to escape but didn’t.

Through his death, he made his teachings indefinite, they would never be corrupted. He accepted his death so willingly. He somewhat welcomed death. He was brave and not distressed, he was very noble. He could have escaped but he stuck to his beliefs.

Socrates was staunch in his beliefs.He believed in civil obedience Socrates' death is described at the end of Plato's Phaedo. Socrates turned down the pleas of Crito to attempt an escape from prison. After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb.

After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt.

Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body. Additionally, in Why Socrates Died: Dispelling the Myths, Robin Waterfield adds another interpretation of Socrates' last words. He suggests that Socrates was a voluntary scapegoat; his death was the purifying remedy for Athens’ misfortunes. In this view, the token of appreciation for Asclepius would represent a cure for the ailments of Athens His trial: why, charges, verdict, outcomeProbably one of the more unjust of them all, but then again I think he was even the choice to drink poison or go into exile, he chose poison. Corrupting the youth I believe was the charge. Socrates was put to death after Athens was released and he was ACCUSED of impiety and professing falsehood to the youth, corrupting them and making appear the worst cause as being the best.

And, to speak truly, he wasn't an atheist at all, though he did not conceived the divine as they did; this, he even established it logically and prove Meletus to have falsely accused him.But, in his usual manner, he did not bother about flattering the assembly as the others did, even speaking of them as being ignorant and declaring that the right judgement should be that of sending him where they send their helpful and older men, to be certain that he can continue to reflect and help the Athenians without having also to bother about food or the like. They reacted to his speech very fiercely and violently; they condemn him to death, for the humiliation he brought them so often and the words he held and that they couldn't refute.According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded that none was wiser.

Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a paradox, because he believed he possessed no wisdom whatsoever. He proceeded to test the riddle by approaching men considered wise by the people of Athens—statesmen, poets, and artisans—in order to refute the Oracle's pronouncement.Questioning them, however, Socrates concluded that, while each man thought he knew a great deal and was wise, in fact they knew very little and were not wise at all. Socrates realized that the Oracle was correct, in that while so-called wise men thought themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not wise at all which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his own ignorance.

Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing.Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggests a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spends as Athens' benefactor. [15] He was, nevertheless, found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock. Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards.

He chose to stay for several reasons: He believed such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has. If he fled Athens his teaching would fare no better in another country as he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their displeasure. Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harm the state, an act contrary to Socratic principle.After drinking the poison, he was instructed to walk around until his legs felt numb.

After he lay down, the man who administered the poison pinched his foot. Socrates could no longer feel his legs. The numbness slowly crept up his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his death, Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius.

Please, don't forget to pay the debt. " Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely Socrates' last words meant that death is the cure—and freedom, of the soul from the body. Significance of his deathHe states that although people have judged him and sentenced him to death, their opinions and verdicts will have no bearing on him once his body has perished. They cannot harm the most pure, true, and everlasting essence of his existence.

Meaning of 2 quotes attributed to socrates. “Death may be the greatest of all human blessings” escape, living in the afterlife, the only thing we know will happen for sure. We aren't made to live forever. Our bodies break and break down. Our minds slow to some degree. Our friends and family begin to die, leaving us alone.

And I see in my Mom how difficult it is to watch the entire world and society change until you feel like you are an alien in your own world. Death begins to look like a safe harbor, a resting place, a huge pain pill! I think he understood that the end was actually a fresh start and that underneath our superficial selfs, which pays attention to this and that, there is another self more really us than I. And the more you become aware of the unknown self -- if you become aware of it -- the more you realize that it is inseparably connected with everything else that is.You are a function of this total galaxy, bounded by the Milky Way, and this galaxy is a function of all other galaxies. You are that vast thing that you see far, far off with great telescopes.

You look and look, and one day you are going to wake up and say, "Why, that's me! " And in knowing that, you know that you never die. You are the eternal thing that comes and goes that appears -- now as John Jones, now as Mary Smith, now as Betty Brown -- and so it goes, forever and ever and ever. “Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others” Part of the ‘golden rule’People tend to treat someone the same way you treat them out of a rule of thumb. It's common courtesy for you to return treatments to the person who dealt them.

I prefer to be nice to people. Any form of the dictum, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. ’ In some form this is found in almost all religions and ethical systems. Kant's moral philosophy is centred on the enterprise of making a version of the rule compulsory for rational agents. The rule is sometimes parodied as, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto themselves. Normative ethics involves arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct.

In a sense, it is a search for an ideal litmus test of proper behavior. The Golden Rule is a classic example of a normative principle: We should do to others what we would want others to do to us. Since I do not want my neighbor to steal my car, then it is wrong for me to steal her car. Since I would want people to feed me if I was starving, then I should help feed starving people. Using this same reasoning, I can theoretically determine whether any possible action is right or wrong.So, based on the Golden Rule, it would also be wrong for me to lie to, harass, victimize, assault, or kill others.

The Golden Rule is an example of a normative theory that establishes a single principle against which we judge all actions. Other normative theories focus on a set of foundational principles, or a set of good character traits. The key assumption in normative ethics is that there is only one ultimate criterion of moral conduct, whether it is a single rule or a set of principles. Three trategies will be noted here: (1) virtue theories, (2) duty theories, and (3) consequentialist theories.

Who were the sophists Sophists were travelling intellectuals who claimed they knew all the answers, they would use rhetoric to manipulate people to adopt their views.They would teach people how to be wise for a fee. They were relativists who thought that wisdom depended on the political power of who was talking. They charged a large fee. A group of philosophers with similar beliefs and methods. They taught people how to be successful in politics.

The 5th century B. C. ophists, a name based on the Greek word for wisdom, are familiar to us mostly from the writings of Aristophanes, Plato, and Xenophon, who opposed them. Sophists taught valuable skills, especially rhetoric, for a price.

Although Plato shows Socrates opposing the sophists, and not charging for his instruction, Aristophanes portrays Socrates as a greedy master of their craft, in his Clouds. Although Plato is considered the most reliable source on Socrates and he says Socrates was not a sophist, opinions differ on whether Socrates was essentially different from the (other) sophists.