In The Apology!. Socrates discusses the Dellphic oracle's claim that no one is wiser than Socrates!. Recount, in some detail, Socrates' understanding of that claim!. Do you agree!? Why or why not!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
| Question Home |
Position:Home>Philosophy> The Apology. Please Help!?Question: The Apology!. Please Help!!? In The Apology!. Socrates discusses the Dellphic oracle's claim that no one is wiser than Socrates!. Recount, in some detail, Socrates' understanding of that claim!. Do you agree!? Why or why not!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: this is what started socrates to challenge everyone in athens!. he believed that he wasn't wiser than anyone, in fact that everyone else was wiser than him!. when the oracle told him this, he was baffled, and decided to prove the oracle wrong by moving from citizen to citizen and asking them questions he was "sure" they'd have the right answer to, thus proving them wiser than Socrates becuase socrates claimed to not know anything!. what he found is that no one else knows anything either!. but he continued to preach that he is not wise while continuing to uncover the ignorance of everyone else around him (thus pissing everyone off)!. the oracle's claim that no man is wiser than socrates seemed false to socrates, but is true in the sense that socrates thought no one knew anything, and so everyone was at least as wise as Socrates as everyone (including socrates) is ignorant!. you should say that you agree though because in proving that no one knows anything socrates can be called wise, in retrospect!.Www@QuestionHome@Com First, the oracle did not tell this to him directly!. The oracle told it to someone else, who told it to Socrates!. Socrates is stunned by the oracle's remark because he (Socrates) believes that all he knows is that he knows nothing!. This is why Socrates never teaches anything - he doesn't believe he has anything to teach!. So, instead, he goes around asking people questions!. The oracle has given him visions or dreams in the past that tell him what NOT to do, but never what to do!. Socrates claims in court that the oracle at NO time tried to stop him from saying anything in court, and Socrates defends himself on this ground (as well as on other grounds)!. I can't really agree or disagree because I wasn't there in Athens at the time, in order to meet the people there, in order to form any opinion about who would be the wisest!.Www@QuestionHome@Com According to Plato's Apology, Socrates' life as the "gadfly" of Athens began when his friend Chaerephon asked the oracle at Delphi if anyone was wiser than Socrates; the Oracle responded that none was wiser!. Socrates believed that what the Oracle had said was a riddle, because he believed that he possessed no wisdom whatsoever!. He proceeded to test the riddle through approaching men who were considered to be wise by the people of Athens, such as statesmen, poets, and artisans, in order to refute the pronouncement of the Oracle!. But questioning them, Socrates came to the conclusion that while each man thought he knew a great deal and was very wise, they in fact knew very little and were not really wise at all!. Socrates realized that the Oracle was correct in that while so-called wise men thought themselves wise and yet were not, he himself knew he was not wise at all which, paradoxically, made him the wiser one since he was the only person aware of his own ignorance!. Socrates' paradoxical wisdom made the prominent Athenians he publicly questioned look foolish, turning them against him and leading to accusations of wrongdoing!. Socrates defended his role as a gadfly until the end: at his trial, when Socrates was asked to propose his own punishment, he suggests a wage paid by the government and free dinners for the rest of his life instead, to finance the time he spends as Athens' benefactor!.[7] He was nevertheless found guilty of corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and sentenced to death by drinking a mixture containing poison hemlock!. According to Xenophon's story, Socrates purposefully gave a defiant defense to the jury because "he believed he would be better off dead"!. Xenophon goes on to describe a defense by Socrates that explains the rigors of old age, and how Socrates would be glad to circumvent them by being sentenced to death!. It is also understood that Socrates also wished to die because he "actually believed the right time had come for him to die"!. Xenophon and Plato agree that Socrates had an opportunity to escape, as his followers were able to bribe the prison guards!. He chose to stay for several reasons: He believed that such a flight would indicate a fear of death, which he believed no true philosopher has!. If he fled Athens his teaching would fare no better in another country as he would continue questioning all he met and undoubtedly incur their displeasure!. Having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens and judged guilty by its jury!. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harming the state, an act contrary to Socratic principle!.Www@QuestionHome@Com no clue, sorryWww@QuestionHome@Com |