The Relationship Between Socrates' Behavior and Philosophy

Introduction paragraph

Introduction paragraph

A: Topic: Socrates always adheres to his principles

Although it seems that Socrates' behavior has nothing to do with his thoughts, he has never left his own ideas.

B: Primary source: Socrates believes that injustice should not be used to repay injustice as many believe, because one should never take unfair action.(Pluto,p6)

C: problem: What is the connection between Socrates’ “Apology” and “Crito”?

Why does Socrates’ behavior and his thoughts seem inconsistent?

D: thesis statement: Socrates is loyal to his principles and tries to respect the choices of country from the beginning to the end, using the sapiential death to explore deeper philosophy.

Plato's “Apology” and “Crito” articles have a causal relationship in the timeline. In “Apology”, Socrates' behavior is explained in “Crito”. He just wants to stick to his own principles and try to correct the lack of Athens politics. In the defense, we can clearly see that Socrates deliberately angered the court and the jury. He is aiming at death. In the three rounds of defense, both the judge and the jury have a sensible trial, which is obviously unjust. But in prison, Socrates has always respected the justice of his heart and refused to escape. He is very clear about his principles. Anyone who does bad things should be punished, and even if the punishment is unfair, it should be accepted and should not be retaliated. When these two articles are linked together, they establish the authority of Athens politics. No matter whether the trial is fair or not, no one can shake the deterrence of Athens politics.

As for why it seems that Socrates' behavior is inconsistent with his principles, because the Athenian period of Athens politics was still in its infancy. If we look at Athens politics with our current position, Socrates' behavior is indeed inconsistent with his thoughts. But at the time, there was no clear provision of what words should be used in court. And the external expression is secondary. Socrates' purpose is to die. His behavior is only to accomplish the purpose. He still does not regret when he is in prison. He still believes that he is principled and will not give up by any advice.

Point 1: Socrates’ behavior is loyal to his own principles and his exploration of philosophy.

Explanation: In the trial of Socrates, Socrates did not believe in the original god, advocating the new god as the reason for his accused going to court. In the defense he never thought that he was wrong, and always insisted on a kind of mind called self. Once he compromises, it is against his original intention.

Body paragraph

Primary proof: “At present I am not able to abandon the arguments I previously made, now that this misfortune has befallen me, but they appear about the same to me, and I defer to and honor the ones I did previously.” (Pluto,Crito,p3)

Second proof: “Socrates’ new idea about justice, the self, and human excellence. All ran counter to current common sense, but seemed to him so true and important that he would not deny or compromise them, even to save his life” (Brumbaugh,p227)

Point 2: Socrates respects the decisions of his country from beginning to end, he will not do things that are sorry for the country.

Explanation: Although Socrates rebelled against the judges in the trial, it was not illegal because the crimes of speech in the Socratic Athens law were vague. The state gave Socrates the power to choose. Since Socrates chose to die, he believed that it was unjust to flee without the permission of the state. As a member of the state, the decision of the state must be respected. If he ran away, the law of the country would become awkward.

Primary proof: If a person's point of view is correct, he must fulfill those views. If we do not get the consent of the laws of Athens to arbitrarily harm our country by means of retaliation, then Athens law will question us in the law of the country, harm the country, and deprive a country's law of deterrence.(Pluto,Crito,p6-7)

Second proof: After the first trial of Socrates, according to the law of Athens, Socrates had the right to choose to pay a fine of 30 minae instead of death. (Bonner, p177)

Point 3: Socrate using the death to explore deeper philosophy.

Explanation: In Socrates' view, the value of death is much higher than the value of living. After death, he can go to another world to teach and continue to adhere to his own beliefs, and the death of Socrates does have a profound impact on future generations.

Primary proof: Socrates play a argued ridiculous analogy during the apology: "If Athens makes a slow-moving horse, I am like a gadfly. I will hold you all over the place, wake you up, explain you, accuse you. ... I want you to know that if you kill someone like me, then the damage done to yourself will outweigh the damage to me.”(Pluto,Apology,P13-14)

Second proof: Socrates clarified that the respect of justice and conscience must be higher than the limit of respect for expediency and authority. In the process of pursuit and uncompromising, Socrates successfully persuaded Western philosophy.(Brumbaugh,p237)