Later In Life Socrates example essay topic

Introduction The wise and inquisitive Socrates was both a philosopher and a martyr, not just in his words but in his actions as well. Socrates was so adamant about his principles that he wouldn't deny them to save his own life. A lesser man left in his shoes would have done anything to stop the fate that he faced. Socrates practiced what he preached through and through and for the most part only taught good morals. The next four pages consist of the life of Socrates, his contributions to the world, his family life, appearance, events leading to his death and his death. You should see how strict the Greek government was.

Most of all this paper should teach you what kind of a person Socrates was and what kind of a person you are. 2 Socrates What is known about Socrates stems from the works of his pupil Plato and the historian Xenophon. Since both men were about 45 years younger than Socrates, the only first hand knowledge they had of him was from the last 10 to 12 years of his life. Some believe that since Xenophon and Socrates weren't close, the information that he had of Socrates was drawn from Plato. Since Socrates never wrote anything down and didn't leave anything behind, the accuracy of his history is questionable. Socrates was born in Athens, Greece in 469 B.C. where he lived all of his life.

His father was a wealthy sculptor named Sophroniscus and friend to the family of Aristides, the founder of the Delian League from which the empire arose. His mother was said to be a "midwife" (which implies nothing about her place in society) named Phaenarete. Although Socrates was known as a great fighting man, his appearance wasn't pretty. He was short and stout, big nostrils on a small stubby nose, and prominent eyes. Despite his appearance, those who knew him were aware that his true beauty was on the 3 inside.

It was said, that he had great self-control and endurance, along with unparalleled intelligence, and sophistication. As a youth Socrates was the pupil of Archelaus and studied scientific theories of Anaxagoras. Later in life Socrates abandoned physical studies and focused on the building of moral character. He believed that to do wrong is to damage the soul and that it is worse to do wrong than to be wronged, so you should never do wrong to right a wrong. During the Peloponnesian War Socrates served as a hoplite, at Samos and a great many other stations.

Socrates focused on the political problems in Athens after the war, but took no part in the politics believing that it would interfere with his principles. Despite his convictions towards politics he served on the legislative council in 406 through 405. When Socrates retired from his active life he settled down as a stonemason to take care of his wife Xanthippe and his two kids. When his father passed away he inherited his modest fortune, and began giving his undivided attention to his philosophies. He even invented a new way of teaching very unique among others, called the Socratic Method which is a system of asking questions, unlike the traditional teaching of students the way things are.

For the remainder of his life, Socrates devoted his time to "free-wheeling discussion" with the youth of Athens. One of Socrates' theories was that virtue is knowledge and that in full knowledge nobody could possibly do wrong, and so he figured that nobody purposely does wrong. He also figured that if you are an expert in a 4 subject you should be able to define it, in other words, if you know something then you should be able to give a perfect definition of it. The definition that you give should be able to universally cover the subject, these precise definitions are known as universals. Socrates often found himself questioning men on their feelings about right and wrong, among other things. The object of all his questioning, was to test the predictions of the oracle of Apollo in Delphi, who pronounced him the wisest of all men.

He often sought to find what he called "the god" of falsehood; or those men who believed themselves to be wise. When put to the test, they could not prove to him their wisdom. Socrates felt that he had to admit that he was wiser than others, because he was aware of his own ignorance. Socrates believed that he had a mission from God to make his fellowmen aware of their ignorance and of the importance of knowing what was good for the soul. Due to his mission of enlightenment, he suffered great poverty. He had no shirt, no shoes, his coat was the same and he did it all out of his own free-will at the price of spiritual independence.

Unlike other philosophers of the time, Socrates refused payment for his work. It is due to this that his pupils were usually fanatic about him and always wanted to attended his lectures. Their parents on the other hand weren't particularly fond of him due to the fact that they were used to traditional ways of thinking and teaching. The result of this was poverty, and later, his execution. In 399 B.C. at a ripe old age of 70 Socrates was accused of "impiety". The 3 5 counts that were charged against him, were corruption of the city's youth and neglect of the city's gods whom they worshiped and the "practice of religious novelties" (Encyclopedia Britannica).

He was convicted by a 280 to 220 vote against him (a total of 60 votes against him). The result was the death penalty, in which the accused had to drink a poison called hemlock. The standard waiting time for such an execution was 24 hours of the trial, but since there was an absence of the sacred ship sent yearly to Delos, he was forced to wait a month. During Socrates's tay in prison, he conversed with friends in his usual manner and seemed quite content. On one such occasion, his friend Crito planned for his escape from prison, but Socrates wouldn't hear of it. He believed that since his verdict had been that of a legitimate court, even though it was of false pretenses, must be obeyed, and so it was.

Since he was seeing the bigger picture (the afterlife) he had no reason to worry about his fate. Conclusion Socrates proved himself to be a wise man, a modest man and most of all a man of his word. He probably could have spared his life for a little while longer, had he gone with Crito, but rather than go against his morals and principles, he accepted his undue punishment. He not only gave up his life by drinking poison, but also by devoting all of his time to teaching. Socrates may have been one of the greatest philosophers of all time and definitely the most famous. Looking at what Socrates did with his life you need to ask yourself, what kind a person you are. 6

Bibliography

1. "Socrates". Academic American Encyclopedia. 19982.
Socrates". The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1997, Vol.