Ashton Cook &

Charles Ball

Period: 3A Due: Nov. 24, 2013

*SACRATES

Freedom of Speech

Socrates: Also Listed In: Philosophers

• Famous as: Greek Philosopher

• Nationality: Greek

• Born on: 469 BC

• Born in: Athens

• Place of death: Athens

• Father: Sophroniscus

• Mother: Phaenarete

• Spouse: Xanthippe

• Children: Menexenus, Lamprocles, Sophroniscus

• Discoveries / inventions: Socratic Method

• Works & Achievements: His ideas and views led the foundation of Western Philosophy. His approach Socratic

Method formulated the present Scientific method.

*Interesting Facts

• After Socrates' fleeting and quite jokey request for the death punishment to be commuted, the jury votes to put Socrates to

death. This time, the margin is greater (over 2\3) in contrast to the thin margin that found Socrates guilty.

• He tells those that punished him that they will hereafter be accused for setting a wise guy to death.

• He finishes his address to those who voted against him with a strict prophecy. Though they may have managed to silence him in the

hopes that they can remain to live free of criticism, he will be changed by even more critics who until now have kept silent.

• Socrates warns his accusers that in order to live free of criticism, one must behave fit rather than stop the gates of one's critics.

• The conclusion Socrates reaches, then, is that the good man has nothing to fear either in this life or the next.

*Trial of Socrates

469 BC: Socrates was born.

432 BC: Fought in the battle of Potidaea.

424 BC: Fought in the Battle of Delium.

406 BC: Opposed the trial of the Generals of the Battle of Arginusae.

404 BC: He refused the order of Thirty Tyrants to bring a certain Leon of Salamis from his home.

399 BC: He died due to consuming poison.

Timeline Of Socrates

• Socrates is guilty of crime in refusing to recognize the gods acknowledged by the state, and importing strange divinities of his own; he is further guilty of corrupting the young."

• Socrates was arrested and charged with worshiping false gods and corrupting young minds.

*Socrates Perceived

Justice

He was charged with corrupting the youth of Athens and with . "failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges" and "introducing new deities." these were essentially trumped up charges and some think that Socrates tried to get votes for his execution so that he would be martyred for his philosophies. Plato said that Socrates was viewed as an annoyance in Athens and this might explain the corrupting the youth aspect

The reasons he fell out of favor with the Athenians are debated but it could be that some didn't like his philosophy and i remember reading somewhere that the leader of Athens at the time was not particularly fond of Socrates.

The account of Socrates death is recorded by Plato and Xenophon.

*Actions Taken In Protest

producing a counter argument to Thrasymachus' claim that justice is the advantage of the stronger, Socrates bases his argument enourmously on sentimentality and prejudice. He assumes that the virtues which are supposedly functioning in the realm of ideas can also work propably in the World. For example, in Socrates' view, a doctor does not seek his own advantage, but the advantage of his patients. Yet, this view reflects the perfect ideal of a doctor in Socrates' belief of ideas in a dream world. With a modern perspective, one can fairly see that Socrates' refutation has some complexities which clash severely with the real experiences of the Ancient Greek. Socrates' image of the doctor ignores the inherent human desire or fragility to obtaining the power for his advantage. Socrates confuses the crafts with the craftsmen occasionally.

Failure

* A young man asked Socrates, an ancient Greek philosopher, the secret of Success. Socrates told the young man to meet him near the river the next morning. They met.

Socrates asked the young man to walk with him toward the river.

When the water got up to their necks, Socrates took the young man by surprise and ducked him into the water. The man struggled to get out but Socrates was strong and kept him under water until he started turning blue.

The young man struggled hard and finally managed to get up. The first thing he did was to gasp and take a deep breath.

*Success

Thoreau and Socrates start Civil Disobedience and Crito with basically the same premise. They both believe that humans are essentially moral beings. Thoreau says that people if left to their own ends will act justly, and should be treated accordingly by the law. Socrates says essentially the same thing, he says that "no one wants to commit injustice" for its own sake, many people end up doing so anyway. Socrates says that the citizens of a government have entered into an agreement to abide by its laws in exchange for protection. He also says that if one believes these laws to be unjust, one can always leave, but if one agrees to abide by the laws they have a duty to be subjected to punishment if they break these laws. Thoreau on the other hand says that it is the duty of the people not to abide by a law if they perceive it to be unjust, and if they claim to be opposed to it and nevertheless abide by it, they are a hypocrite. The reason that Socrates and Thoreau can arrive at such disparate conclusions from essentially the same premise. is that the ancient Greek idea of justice is not on idea of morality or conscience, it is based on honor and shame. All wrongs are reflected back by society (or the "majority"), the reason Socrates does not escape of jail is not because he believes it is wrong, but because he would lose all social status, and be cast out of Athens, never to return. Thoreau believes however that right and wrong do not come from what the "majority" believes to be shameful, but from a sense from within. Thoreau believes that each individual has a moral obligation to decide right from wrong for himself, and to act according to that without regard for law, shame, honor, or punishment.

*Thoreau’s Concept VS. Socrates

* In the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King Jr. says that ‘academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience’. Socrates asserts multiple times in “Crito” that he is a man who follows the Law. His entire motif behind not escaping from the prison when he could is that he is obliged to not disrespect the law. You can logically want change and not be civilly disobedient [as was the case with 'the white moderates' from the letter], as well as be civilly disobedient and not want change. Socrates is an example of the second case. In “The Apology” Socrates questions the social order because he believes it is not right. Socrates says ‘When you wished to try the generals, who did not rescue their men after the battle, in a body which was against the law, as you all came to think afterwards, my tribe held the presidency.

*Socrates Civil Disobedience

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates

• http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/socratesaccount.html

• http://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/INTRO_TEXT/Chapter%202%20GREEKS/Socrates_Trial.htm

• http://www.socraticmethod.net/socratic_essay_nature_of_human_evil.htm

• http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/socrates-259.php

• http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1562204#ixzz2lJrcPs2k

• http://www.studymode.com/essays/Socrates'-Failure-In-Refuting-Thrasymachus-1464370.html

• http://academictips.org/blogs/the-secret-of-success/

*Work Sites