My Socrates Paper

Here is a copy of my Socrates paper that I gave my presentation on today.

Socrates: The Man, the Myth, and the Immortal Presence

It seems that the goal of Socrates’s life was to attain virtue, both of the mind and the soul. However, most of what we know of Socrates comes from the the works of others. Socrates himself never wrote anything down. He considered the pursuit of knowledge as an interactive process. In Phaedrus, for example, Socrates explains his beliefs about writing by recounting a story set in ancient Egypt, in which he describes writing as an invention that "will enable [people] to hear many things without being properly taught, and they will imagine that they have come to know much while for the most part they will know nothing."1 Of course, ironically, we only know what Socrates’s reasons for never writing anything may have been because of what the Socrates character claims in Plato’s writings. Regardless of the enigmatic elements surrounding Socrates, he is often credited responsibility for laying much of the foundation for Western ideas, thoughts, and philosophy. The final words in Ovid’s Metamorphoses are, "I shall have life." Ovid’s proclamation that through writing, he would gain immortality has, thus far, proven to be true as his voice and his thoughts are still being read now, thousands of years later. Likewise, Socrates has attained immortality through writing, though in his case through the writing of others. The story that we know of Socrates’s life and death is proof that there is more than one way for a person to become immortalized, and stands as a prominent reminder of one way in which the past possesses the present.

In the modern day there is a recipe which we use to construct the history of Socrates’s life. First, we start out with a cup of Plato, who may have divulged some personal information in the many dialogues he wrote with Socrates as the main character. Second, we add a teaspoon of Xenophon, who wrote two dialogues featuring Socrates, a character portrayed as only caring about ethical issues. Third, we add a pinch of Aristophanes, who parodies Socrates by portraying him as a caricature of impracticality. Fourth, we add one tablespoon of Aristotle, whose time at the academy may have given him insight into Socrates’s beliefs. Finally, everything is to be taken with a grain of salt. It seems apparent that Aristophanes’s portrayal of Socrates would not have been accurate, although it may give some insight into how much of Athenian society may have pictured Socrates, as a nagging gadfly whose only purpose was to prove others wrong without providing an alternative. There is still scholarly debate about how accurate the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon are in their depiction of Socrates, and how much Socrates’s character is pushing Platonic or Xenophonic ideas. Aristotle may have been more reliable in his recounting of the views of Socrates, but his tenure at the academy did not coincide with Socrates’s life and he never divulged any personal information about Socrates in his writings. It seems that there is more than enough to prove that Socrates existed. However, it also remains possible that Socrates was something more abstract, and that the Socratic method, Socratic irony, and much of the foundation of western philosophy is attributed to an idea rather than a man.

The story of Socrates’s death that we have become familiar with has a definite heroic quality to it. Socrates method of proving the ignorance of the cities intellectuals may have made him a few enemies and he was eventually charged and found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens in front of a 500 person jury by a small majority of 60. His accusers argued for him to be put to death. When Socrates was given the opportunity to argue for an alternative punishment, he defiantly proclaimed that he should be rewarded, then finally settled on arguing for a minuscule penalty of one Mina, and that his friends were even willing to pay up to 30 Minae for him. Socrates was sentenced to drink hemlock, a poison which would lead to his death. In his trial, Socrates affirmed his belief that the truth should be sought even in the face of universal opposition. According to Plato’s Apology, Socrates had the opportunity to escape but chose, being truly loyal to the city of Athens, to stay and face his sentence. As his friends cried, Socrates stoically drank the poison and questioned his friends’ tears. In Plato’s Gorgias, Socrates’s character, as if he knew what was to come, foreshadows his actions, "but if I came to my end because of a deficiency in flattering oratory, I know that you’d see me bear my death with ease. For no one who isn’t totally bereft of reason and courage is afraid to die; doing what’s unjust is what he’s afraid of."2 After his death, public opinion began to heavily favor Socrates. With his death, Socrates’s life was scrutinized by his peers and through their writings he attained both influence and immortality.

Socrates led a life and upheld beliefs that would be considered admirable by most people in modern society. The pursuit of knowledge was his quest, which he faithfully followed despite poverty until his death. Although it was claimed that an oracle said that there was no man wiser than Socrates, he remained humble, employing Socratic Irony by saying the only difference between him and other men is that he realized that he knew nothing. He believed that self-improvement was the most important task a person could undertake and he was fiercely loyal to the things he loved (the ideals of Athens, virtue, knowledge.) It has even been said that Socrates was a valiant soldier on the battlefield.

One doesn’t have to look far to find stories, events, and lives similar to that of Socrates. The life of perhaps the most well-known figure in Western culture, Jesus, shares many remarkable similarities to Socrates. While Jesus, like Socrates, personally didn’t write anything down, he was immortalized through the writing of others. The inconsistencies found in the gospels give people reason to be skeptical about the portrayal of the Jesus, just as the ulterior motives of Plato, Xenophon, and Aristophanes give us reason to be skeptical of their portrayal of Socrates. Both were described as humble but influential figures . Although the existence of both is generally accepted, however unlikely it may be, it can be argued that both were inventions to help serve a need of their respective societies. In the fictitious story about Jesus, The Last Temptation of Christ, Nikos Kazantzakis helps explain a reason why something like this could have happened in a conversation between Jesus and Paul, in which Paul says that it is the idea of the crucifixion and the resurrection that is important, not whether it actually happened or not, because the belief in it is what helps people3. Ultimately, both became martyrs whose popularity skyrocketed after death.

In modern culture, numerous examples of "Socratic stories" can be seen in the popular forms of entertainment and media. Any movie which ends with a martyr who dies in the name of a greater cause can be argued to be similar to, maybe even inspired by, the life of Socrates. One example is the movie Braveheart. The main character of the movie, William Wallace, shares many of the same character traits that Socrates has been described to have possessed. Both are virtuous, intelligent, strong-willed, and honorable on and off the battlefield. William Wallace’s betrayal and trial can be seen to be similar to Socrates’s "betrayal" by his fellow Athenian accusers and subsequent trial. There is even a scene where William Wallace is given a poison which will dull his body’s feeling before he is tortured, reminiscent to Socrates’s consumption of hemlock, which also has a numbing effect. Wallace’s declaration that he cannot drink the poison because he must keep his wits, and later refusal to bow to the will of the English during his torture aligns with Socrates’s notion that one sometimes must do what is right, even in the face of universal opposition. Both William Wallace and Socrates ultimately died for ideas greater than themselves, William Wallace for freedom and Socrates for justice, and by doing so helped to change the collective sentiment of the people around them.

The life of Jesus and the movie Braveheart are just a couple examples of the kind of influence Socrates has had on Western culture, however, Socrates has really had a much more profound impact on the world than those two things. It would be difficult to imagine a person like Ghandi, for example, without the foundational framework of thought attributed to Socrates. Socrates’s life and his ideas play a role in the psyche of the average modern person on a daily basis. The things people see as good, virtuous, noble, and honorable all stem from Socrates’ mission in life, serving as a reminder of how the past is always a part of the present.



Works Cited

Plato. Phaedrus. Translated by Alexander Nehamas and Paul Woodruff. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc, 1995.
Plato, Gorgias. Translated by Donald J. Zeyl. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Inc, 1987.
Plato, Apology. Wikisource, The Free Library, 2007.
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/socr.htm#links
http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/greek/philosopher/trial_death_socrates.html
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/socrates.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrates
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/SOCRATES.HTM
http://www.geocities.com/b_d_muller/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_Jesus
http://www.abu.nb.ca/Courses/GrPhil/Socrates.htm