Possibly no trial in the annals of Western Legal Tradition has intrigued legal scholars and the academic community in general more than the Trial of Socrates. A 1988 article in Time Magazine said this:
In its impact on the minds and emotions of Western man, it is an event that can be compared only to the Passion and death of Jesus. After a lifetime devoted to the pursuit of truth and virtue, Socrates, at age 70, is put on trial, charged with dishonoring the gods and corrupting the youth of Athens. The sage makes an eloquent plea in self-defense but is nonetheless found guilty and condemned to die (Elson, 1988, 66).
This paper will discuss the charges against him and his defense against those charges. To understand the impact of the trial, it is necessary to know a little bit about Socrates, the man, and his deeds and actions that led to the trial.
Living from approximately 470 to 399 BCE, Socrates had an uneventful early life and around the age of 40 began putting some of his studies to use (Stone, 1988, 22). He was intrigued by the philosophy of Sophistry that attempted to categorize all knowledge into systems, but believed in the idea of oral arguing instead of writing down his thoughts. He also believed in a system of gaining knowledge by constant questioning
We only know of Socrates through second-hand information (hearsay, if you will) from the works of one of his students, Plato. Plato describes Socrates' theory of learning as one of challenging all accepted beliefs and engaging in self-examination. Such an attitude was popular with the young men of Athens, since it led to many intriguing methods of thinking.
Among the many things Plato tells us is that Socrates was obedient to the laws of Athens, but he generally steered clear of politics, restrained by what he believed to be "divine warning." In general, he tried to come up with objective definitions of vague co
...