The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato

The Trial and Death of Socrates by Plato

In 399 B.C., Socrates was tried for religious and political crimes: refusing to recognise the gods of Athens, introducing new deities, and corrupting the youth. The verdict was guilty as charged, the penalty - death by poisoning.

Despite growing up in Greece's Golden Age of liberalism and democracy, Socrates was not a democrat. Influencing young men with his idea that people needed direction from wise men rather than self-government, was likely perceived as a threat to the cherished Athenian republic. Socrates likened himself to a gadfly stinging the lazy horse of Athens and did this with zeal, believing his God-assigned purpose was to expose false wisdom as ignorance. Awareness of one's ignorance was a key first step towards true wisdom or virtue, he declared, emphasising that although he, too, was ignorant, he knew it. And that, he argued, was the reason the oracle of Delphi proclaimed there was no man wiser than Socrates. Little wonder, then, that egos were pricked and enemies made.

Socrates did not record any of his work, and it was left to some of his young disciples - Plato, being the most famous - to give an account of their master's dialogues with Athenians from all walks of life. The Trial and Death of Socrates is a collection of four such dialogues - Euthyphron, Apology, Crito and Phaedo - covering the period from just before Socrates' trial through his last few days in prison, to his courageous death. The reader makes contact with the Socratic method of debate known as elenchus - an unwavering and incisive form of cross-examination that involved a series of questions and answers. For Socrates, definitions and rational, syllogistic argument were key tools in discussing and dissecting subjects such as piety, virtue, the immortality of the soul and the difference between right and wrong.

A misfit in his time, Socrates was arguably the world's first martyr for free speech, and one that passed on an enduring legacy of questioning societal norms.

Born to a politically connected and aristocratic family between 428 and 423 B.C., Plato received a good standard of education at an early age, and was able to immerse himself in the intellectual community of Ancient Athens. His most notable contemporary and mentor was Socrates, an eccentric but highly capable philosopher who was to feature as a principle character in most of Plato's scholarly writings. Owing to his high standard of education in art, mathematics, rhetoric and philosophy, Plato was able to assemble a comprehensive philosophy of his own via his favoured form of writing which was the dialogue. In total, over thirty of these Platonic dialogues have survived the passage of time - and together they form the backbone of Ancient Greek philosophy. After enjoying success as a writer and academic, Plato in 385 B.C. founded The Academy. This school was to unite the most capable thinkers of Greece, and would help to advance learning throughout Greek society's Golden Age. It was in the Academy that Plato would instruct and apprentice Aristotle, who was to go on to gain renown as a philosopher and scholar. Owing to his reputation Plato was hired by Dion, whose nephew Dionysus II was the rightful ruler of Sicily - Dion wished his nephew to receive a good education in the art of sound and wise governance. However Dionysus II became suspicious and accused both Plato and Dion of conspiracy - after some time spent under arrest, Plato returned to his homeland. In his late period, Plato continued to tutor and mentor the best young minds of Athens, and he would perish around 348 B.C. having lived beyond the age of eighty. Today Plato's legacy remains lauded: the philosopher ably used logic and reason to imbue insight on democratic governance, while developing a cohesive philosophy on topics such as art, metaphysics, justice and the 'Theory of Forms' - his iconic take on how ideas related to reality.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780460004572
ISBN 10	0460004573
Title	The Trial and Death of Socrates
Author	Plato
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Orion Publishing Co
Year published	1954-10-01
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.