Philosophy of Socrates
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Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES
PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
1PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES
“the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being, you will be persuaded by
me still less when I say these things. This is the way it is, as I affirm, men1;”
This particular quotation from the Apology of Socrates is indicative of the spirit of
enquiry and the quest for truth that Socrates had lived throughout his life and something which
he had propagated for the Greeks to follow as well. Socrates had made such a statement since he
had envisaged that it was through the method of seeking knowledge could human beings could
develop their faculties and through it, the Greek race in entirety could benefit as well and
maintain its erstwhile glory. In this essay the focus of the discussion shall be on two basic thesis
statements, one shall be dealing with the significance of the chosen statement, which has been
quoted above and the second shall be dealing with the applicability of the inherent philosophy of
the quoted portion in the larger social context. For the purpose of answering the thesis statements
certain key questions shall be answered which shall be dealing with
- the meaning being implied by the chosen statement and the reasons being asserted by
Socrates in the piece of writing
- the implications of the claims made being true on them being taken for granted as the
truth
- the possible objections that might be raised against the claims made by Socrates in the
chosen basic document, the Apology of Socrates
- the most possible rebuttal that might be chosen by Socrates to reply to such objections
For the purpose of answering to the questions, other scholarly materials shall also be used
apart from the chosen basic reference, the Apology of Socrates, in order to do justice to the
formation of the arguments with a critical undertone.
1 Plato, and John Burnet. Plato's Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates and Crito. Clarendon Press, 1977.
“the unexamined life is not worth living for a human being, you will be persuaded by
me still less when I say these things. This is the way it is, as I affirm, men1;”
This particular quotation from the Apology of Socrates is indicative of the spirit of
enquiry and the quest for truth that Socrates had lived throughout his life and something which
he had propagated for the Greeks to follow as well. Socrates had made such a statement since he
had envisaged that it was through the method of seeking knowledge could human beings could
develop their faculties and through it, the Greek race in entirety could benefit as well and
maintain its erstwhile glory. In this essay the focus of the discussion shall be on two basic thesis
statements, one shall be dealing with the significance of the chosen statement, which has been
quoted above and the second shall be dealing with the applicability of the inherent philosophy of
the quoted portion in the larger social context. For the purpose of answering the thesis statements
certain key questions shall be answered which shall be dealing with
- the meaning being implied by the chosen statement and the reasons being asserted by
Socrates in the piece of writing
- the implications of the claims made being true on them being taken for granted as the
truth
- the possible objections that might be raised against the claims made by Socrates in the
chosen basic document, the Apology of Socrates
- the most possible rebuttal that might be chosen by Socrates to reply to such objections
For the purpose of answering to the questions, other scholarly materials shall also be used
apart from the chosen basic reference, the Apology of Socrates, in order to do justice to the
formation of the arguments with a critical undertone.
1 Plato, and John Burnet. Plato's Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates and Crito. Clarendon Press, 1977.
2PHILOSOPHY OF SOCRATES
With regard to the answering of the question dealing with the meaning being implied by the
chosen statement and the reasons being asserted by Socrates in the piece of writing titled the
Apology of Socrates, it can be said that Socrates was trying to imply that the practice of self
introspection and the gathering of more knowledge and wisdom must be cultivated more by the
Greeks in order to maintain the greatness of the civilization that the Greeks were, which
unfortunately the Greeks had tended to given up on2. The insular position which the Greeks had
rendered themselves into could be discerned from the fact that the Greeks were too much
engrossed in wars amongst themselves, the Peloponnesian war for example among the Greek
City States had caused not only caused huge financial losses for the Greek City States but had
also caused the political integrity among the Greeks to get liquidated rendering the vulnerable to
the foreign invasion and eventually the once Great Civilization, the Greek Civilization had
eventually experienced a downfall. The Greek race had grown quite egoistic and were
overwhelmed with the idea that non were greater than them which was a false assumption as the
world beyond the archipelago forming Greece had developed way more advanced mechanisms
of warfare and had also revamped upon building up the economic set up and that had given the
other empires quite a lot of advantage over the mighty Greek empire. The basic idea that
Socrates was hinting at was that Greece needed wise political leadership who shall be
knowledgeable and wise at the same time to deal with the situation of political and economic
crisis that Greece had been goaded into, and for that Greece needed to reconcile itself to the truth
that prevailed in the world and its potential to jeopardize the stability of the mighty Greek
civilization3.
2 Sacks, David, Oswyn Murray, and Lisa R. Brody. Encyclopedia of the ancient Greek world. Infobase Publishing,
2014.
3 Sacks, David, Oswyn Murray, and Lisa R. Brody. Encyclopedia of the ancient Greek world. Infobase Publishing,
2014.
With regard to the answering of the question dealing with the meaning being implied by the
chosen statement and the reasons being asserted by Socrates in the piece of writing titled the
Apology of Socrates, it can be said that Socrates was trying to imply that the practice of self
introspection and the gathering of more knowledge and wisdom must be cultivated more by the
Greeks in order to maintain the greatness of the civilization that the Greeks were, which
unfortunately the Greeks had tended to given up on2. The insular position which the Greeks had
rendered themselves into could be discerned from the fact that the Greeks were too much
engrossed in wars amongst themselves, the Peloponnesian war for example among the Greek
City States had caused not only caused huge financial losses for the Greek City States but had
also caused the political integrity among the Greeks to get liquidated rendering the vulnerable to
the foreign invasion and eventually the once Great Civilization, the Greek Civilization had
eventually experienced a downfall. The Greek race had grown quite egoistic and were
overwhelmed with the idea that non were greater than them which was a false assumption as the
world beyond the archipelago forming Greece had developed way more advanced mechanisms
of warfare and had also revamped upon building up the economic set up and that had given the
other empires quite a lot of advantage over the mighty Greek empire. The basic idea that
Socrates was hinting at was that Greece needed wise political leadership who shall be
knowledgeable and wise at the same time to deal with the situation of political and economic
crisis that Greece had been goaded into, and for that Greece needed to reconcile itself to the truth
that prevailed in the world and its potential to jeopardize the stability of the mighty Greek
civilization3.
2 Sacks, David, Oswyn Murray, and Lisa R. Brody. Encyclopedia of the ancient Greek world. Infobase Publishing,
2014.
3 Sacks, David, Oswyn Murray, and Lisa R. Brody. Encyclopedia of the ancient Greek world. Infobase Publishing,
2014.
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