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Apology Group Essay 1

Page history last edited by Brock Baker 15 years ago

Apology Group Essay 1

 

  1. Introductory Sentence / Major Idea
  2. Evidence (with footnotes) – (should include evidence to the contrary as well so you can analyze and debunk in the next part).
  3. C.Analysis of Evidence & Relation to thesis
  4. D.Concluding Sentence

Comments (2)

Heather Crumplen said

at 12:09 pm on Mar 24, 2009

BODY PARAGRAPH 3

The final charge against Socrates is that he teaches other people to live the way he does and think the way he does, and ends up corrupting them. Socrates has the strongest defense against his charge. He begins by telling the jury that he never teaches anyone; the young people who follow him around simply listen to him examining people and then try to imitate him. Therefore he isn’t really teaching anyone, and it is their choice if they would like to follow him around (23c). Socrates then goes on to question the validity of the charge by saying that Meletus (the man who has charged Socrates) is the real criminal because he is “playing at serious things and brings people to trial in a light hearted way, pretending to be serious and full of tender concern about things that matter to him not at all” (24c). Socrates is saying that Meletus is trying to make a criminal for something fun and innocent – young people following him around and watching what he does. Socrates is also saying that Meletus does not actually care about the youth being “corrupted” and the charge is just a personal attack on Socrates. This clearly demonstrates to the jury that Socrates is being put on trial based on ridiculous charges, and the accusations do not belong in a court. Another way Socrates defends this charge is by questioning his corruption of the youth. He asks why he has not been harmed by the youth that have been corrupting him, and why their families are not angry if he was doing it intentionally. This brings up a very good point and proves that the charge is more of a personal conflict, because Meletus appears to be one of the only people who is actually angry about it. It is evident that Socrates should not have been convicted based on these feeble charges.

Mark P said

at 12:26 pm on Mar 24, 2009

The Apology Response P2
In The Apology, Socrates denies their charges with a practiced skill; leaving no room for someone to retain the belief that he is an Atheist or a busybody of any kind. He uses his own method of questioning to punch holes in the opposition’s argument and prove they are false:

“Now in the name of the very gods we’re talking about, Meletus, explain it a little more clearly to me and to these people here. I really don’t get it. Do you say I teach people to believe that certain gods exist - not, however the gods the city believes in, but different ones, so that I myself do believe in gods and am not altogether an atheist, I am not a criminal in that sense-but your complaint is that they are different? Or do you say I don’t believe in gods at all, and teach other people that?
‘That’s what I say, that you do not believe in gods at all’
Meletus, this is truly amazing! What are you trying to say? Don’t I believe that the sun and the moon are gods, the way most people do? ‘No he doesn’t, gentlemen of the jury! He says that the sun is a stone and that the moon is earth!’” (26b-d).

Here we can see that Socrates’ method to prove arguments, in such that he proves that he is not an Atheist, but his gods are simply not the ones of Athenian custom. He is therefore not guilty of the charge of Atheism given by the jury. Not only does he disprove the accusation of godlessness, but he also refutes how the jury convicts him of being a busybody, albeit in a more roundabout way. Throughout the course of his defense, he does not deny himself running around town, but he does not admit to causing havoc, notable in the section where he argues against being a corrupter of youth.

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