PHIL 101 APUS Socrates Trial and Moral Principles Discussion Replies

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Respond to two discussion post:

First post

In the Apology, Socrates repeatedly claims that only execution will stop him from doing philosophy (see 29c-d, 30c, and 34e). However, he does offer to pay a fine, one that Plato and others greatly increased (38b). (a) Why do you believe he would be sentenced to death, and (b) what moral principle does Socrates draw upon in defending his stand on never stopping what he was doing?

I believe the reasoning behind his death sentence was due to being found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens. During his defense speech he even admits to doing so, although he did not label it as ‘corrupting’ himself he agreed that if that is what they called it then yes, he was doing it. He also had no intention of stopping his actions which also contributed to his death sentence as that would be the only way to stop him.

Socrates’ primary moral principle that he used to justify his actions was that the only thing one has to concern themselves with when performing an action was to question whether they are acting justly or not. He believed what he was doing was just, and if he were to stop he would be essentially dishonoring himself. Even after the court delivered his death sentence to him, he remained calm and decided that death would be better than going against his beliefs. 

second post

Good evening, Professor and class! I hope everyone is doing wonderful this week!

I was so heavily invested in everything that I read this week. Reading the assignment at the beginning of the week confused me at first, but after doing some reading, I was so excited to create my response. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall during his defense, because I could feel the tension in the room while reading the Apology.

Socrates is such an enigma, and I believe that his mindset was so far-fetched to some people that it was considered straight blasphemy! It seemed outlandish! He was a crazy man! His defense convinced me.

It seems to me that people who he angered were close-minded individuals who lacked the ability to at least attempt to think differently from how they had their whole life, and they didn’t like being challenged on their wisdom, because to them they were wise! To go so far as to say that he “corrupted the youth of Athens” is I think a reach, or perhaps it was because I did find his defense convincing. He wanted to get people to think for themselves, and not think based on how society or the state had told people how to think. He did say he was a “Midwife of ideas,” and that everyone is born with their knowledge and that they just need to “re-collect” it. He was only helping to bring this to the surface of people’s minds. He was passionate about his teachings, and did not seek out any reward for this, hence, why he never charged a penny and chose to interact and converse with individuals of his own free will.

He challenged people in a thought-provoking way which made people question their morals and beliefs, rather than telling them how they should act, how to think, and how to live their life. Even though they tried to discredit him and label him as evil, I think they partially feared him and the amount of influence he had over society. Especially the youth, because they were the next generation that would take over. He made it very apparent that being faced with the death penalty, it would not get him to stop spreading knowledge and giving insight to the people. I find that very commendable. He was a man devoted to his cause, even while looking death right in the eyes. He had a run-down appearance and didn’t seek out money, so what was there to gain? He seemed to seek out knowledge that was greater than himself because he never claimed to be the wisest. It was human interpretation of others who believed him to be the wisest. He was breaking societal norms and giving people a spark, which allowed them to think freely for themselves.