Happiness

At the heart of his happiness was also a humility, a knowledge that there was much that he did not know and that it was his calling in life to teach other people that they also did not know very much and should stop pretending that they did. As long as he followed that calling, even unto death by poison, he would be happy.

Even if one agrees with this basic proposition, it must first be determined that Socrates was indeed happy. And before that, one must define happiness. For purposes of this paper, happiness is equated not with a smile or a fleeting pleasant feeling but with a much deeper and more continuous peace of mind and spirit. Happiness is the sense that one is doing the right thing and is will

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t others think and transcends worry about the consequences of such a life: I go about the world, obedient to the god, and search and make enquiry into the wisdom of any one . . . who appears to be wise; and if he is not wise, then in vindication of the oracle I show him that he is not wise; and my occupation quite absorbs me, and I have no time to give either to any public matter of interest or to any concern of my own, but I am in utter poverty by reason of my devotion to the god (Plato 72). Socrates is saying that he is obeying God, or the god, or the Oracle, rather than defying or denying God, when he sets out every day to prove the Oracle right when it was declared that no man was wiser than Socrates. In that sense, then, he is not a traitor to any of the foundations of the state--its laws, its gods, its courts, or its people--but has instead dedicated his life (and, ultimately, his death) to the preservation of all that is good and true in his society and in himself. Socrates believes he is not a danger to society but instead is a "gift" from God to the city and people of Athens. He argues not for his own sake, but for the sake of Athenians "that you may not sin against the God by condemning me, who am his gift to you." H
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Apology Socrates, , God Plato, Denise Peterfreund, God God, York Heritage, god plato, California Wadsworth, peace mind, York McGraw-Hill, service name truth, city people, name truth, socrates seek, service name, truth matter, search truth, true calling, external approval,
Approximate Word count = 1446
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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