The Trial of Socrates

Such an attitude was familiar with the young men of Athens, since it lead to umpteen intriguing methods of thinking.

Among the many things Plato tells us is that Socrates was obedient to the laws of Athens, but he generally steered sack up of politics, restrained by what he believed to be "divine warning." In general, he tried to come up with objective definitions of weak concepts like "justice," "love," and "virtue" (Cartledge, 1995, 60). He believed that "virtue is knowledge," and those who know the remediate will act rightly. In 399 BCE, this speculative attitude led to the leading citizens of Athens putting him on trial.

First, he was supercharged with neglecting the gods of the state by questioning their histories and powers. Second, he was charged with creating a new God, the "daemonion" which he described as the "inner vocalize of reason." Third, he was charged with corrupting the morals of the young by convincing them to turn against the principles of democracy (Stone, 1988, 214).

His student, Plato, described the trial and stopping point of Socrates in his books the Apology, the Crito, and the Phaedo. The reasoning of the charge was that if Socrates was Alcibiades' teacher, and if Alcibiades defied the Gods, Socrates was responsible (Stone, 1988, 144). Socrates defends this by questioning his accuser, a Greek named Meletus. First he asked him if the charge

Socrates' self defense starts off by him stating how the early prejudices against him arose. He was lampooned in the theater (chiefly in Aristophanes' play, The Clouds). In addition, there has been this habit of consistently questioning all he met.

The reason for this constant questioning is a mysterious voice by the oracle of the god Apollo at Delphi. The oracle had tell that Socrates was the wisest of men. Socrates felt that this could not be true since he knew how carnal he was. So he set about to disprove the oracle. He looked for someone wiser than himself. He examined the politicians, then the poets and playwrights and finally the artisans. none of them had any articulated scientific knowledge to support their actions (Stone, 1988, 128-154).

of agnosticism meant he was an atheist. Does not an atheist believe there argon no Gods? Then how can he be incriminate of defiling something he does not believe in? This was a rigorously syllogistic argument, valid but dangerous (Stone, 1988, 71).

Elson, J. (1988, January 25). Book Reviews: "Gadfly's transgression: The Trial of Socrates, by I.F. Stone, TIME, 66.

Cartledge, P. (1995, February 1). Athenian identity and civic ideology. floor Today, 45: 58(2).

When the Death Penalty was announced, Socrates d
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