Socrates Last Days

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The Last Days of Socrates

One of the most influential thinkers who lived between 469-399 B.C was Socrates. His commitment to truth and careful reasoning transformed the Athenian people and the many philosophers after him. His influence on the later philosophers led to an admiration for his willingness to explore an argument and having the courage to follow to a conclusion. Socrates wanted nothing more than to guide the people of Athens towards both moral and intellectual improvement, by seeking out wisdom and right conduct. In doing this, he often used the method now known as, Socratic dialogue or dialectic. Socrates brought out the knowledge people claimed they possesed by asking a series of questions and examining the insinuations of their …show more content…
The Sophists were those who specialized in one field of study, and instilled their knowledge in others. Socrates did not agree with the Sophists, or the Athenian political and religious institutions, which encouraged him to pass on his wisdom and knowledge to the Athenian youth. Corrupting the minds of the Athenian youth was one of the charges Socrates was tried for. He encouraged his students down his path of reason. He did this not to take control of their thoughts, but for the improvement of the soul. Within his teachings, Socrates went against the gods the state acknowledged. This lead to his second charge of, failing to acknowledge the gods that the city acknowledges and introducing new deities. The courts referred to this charge as impiety. Socrates spoke about his own thought of a supernatural phenomena, which led the people of Athens to believe he was introducing a new type of god to those he taught. This assumption was blasphemy in the eyes of the Athenian people because they began to think, not only is he teaching against the gods the city recognizes, but also introducing a new one. Socrates is best known for his use of, Socratic dialogue. Socratic dialogue is the process in which Socrates would investigate the minds of people to fully gain a precise understanding of a topic at hand. His method of investigating frustrated the Athenian people, and for that he was charged. Socrates always managed to turn the worse argument, into the stronger one.
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