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Socrates The Apology

m acting on his curiosity and "persuading you all, old and young alike, not to take thought for your persons and your properties, but first and chiefly to care about the greatest improvement of the soul" (Apology 18). His method of response is to expose the slanderous motives of the enemies he has always had in Athens (Apology 6). For example, he warns that "Meletus [his main accuser] is a doer of evil . . . and is too ready at bringing other men to trial from a pretended zeal and interest about matters in which he really never had the smallest interest" (Apology 12). The logical inconsistencies in Meletus's charges are one aspect of Socrates' analysis. As Socrates points out, Meletus says that "Socrates is guilty of not believing in the gods, and yet of believing in them--but this surely is a piece of fun" (Apology 15). Socrates continues:

You are a liar, Meletus, not believed even by yourself. For I cannot help thinking, O men of Athens, that Meletus is reckless and impudent, and that he has written this indictment in a spirit of mere wantonness and youthful bravado. . . . He said to himself: I shall see whether this wise Socrates will discover my ingenious contradiction, or whether I shall be able to deceive him and the rest of them (Apology 15).

Exposing Meletus' contradiction argues the need to protect Socrates, who, far from admitting he is a threat to Athens, is instead "a sort of gad-fly, given to the State by the God, and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. And as you will not easily find another like me, I would advise you to spare me" (Apology 19-20).

Socrates's insistence on being acquitted not despite but because of his engagement with Athenian youth exposes the implications of challenging state authority, which cannot sustain its legitimacy merely by enforcing that authority with its power. Nor would Socrates' silence or exile cure that conditio...

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Socrates The Apology. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 05:10, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1682156.html