Good, Brief, Humorless Good Points,
Was Socrates wise to stay in Athens to die? Examine firstly the context
of the word wise , Socrates wasn't wise in the sense of preserving his own life
as he stayed to die. He was encouraged and given the chance to escape
by his friend Crito, but Socrates did not want to escape . Why?
Socrates was a wise man. He believed in absolutes, and pursued the
knowledge of man's source of goodness and virtue. He believed that the
repayment of evil with evil was wrong. In short, Socrates was a very moral person.
He stayed in Athens because he said that he had lived by the laws of the country
for all his life. He had enjoyed the privileges of a civilized society, and that he had
been treated as any other citizen would have come to expect. Now that the laws
didn't suit him, was it fit for him to ignore them? Crito, in vain, tries to dissuade him.
English: The School of Athens (detail). Fresco, St...
Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1st c...
Sanzio 01 SocratesSocrates compares the laws of the state to a father/mentor figure:
The state says that all of the laws and statutes have protected him and raised him.
His parents were married by the law, and the same saw to it that he was educated.
Now the state says 'Is it alright for you, who thinks so much of virtue, to destroy us?'
Socrates is wise to see that he would be contradicting not only himself, but he would
betray the examples he was trying to set to his followers.
The impact of Socrate's teachings on the world were greatly increased
by his decision. Socrates had no education, therefore none of his own teachings
were ever written. His followers have carried on his messages and lessons
into later times. Would Socrate's teachings...