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Ancient Philosophy: The Apology written by Plato

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see attachment for instructions and essay topics. select 1 essay topic from the attachment and write on it. ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY Length: 5 pages Select one of the following topics and discuss concisely: 1. In the “Encomium of Helen” and “That nothing Exists,” Gorgias offers an account of the function of speech that Plato has Socrates contest. Can Gorgias offer his theory coherently? Could Socrates be confident that his standard of good speech is secure? 2. What, in your considered opinion, makes the work of early Greek philosophers different from other types of wise discourse more or less contemporary to them? 3. In his sketch of Socrates “defending” himself in Apology is Plato attempting to renovate philosophy? If so, how?
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Running head: Philosophy
In his sketch of Socrates “defending” himself in Apology is Plato attempting to renovate philosophy? If so, how
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Platos Apology and the new philosophy
The Apology written by Plato, who was a student of Socrates, is the documentation of a forensic oratory in which Socrates defends himself in the Greek court against many of his accusers. The literature presents to the reader who the accusers believed to be the real Socrates, and who Socrates explains to them he really was. Socrates never regarded himself as a philosopher, neither as a teacher but as an educator (Glen, 2010). In the latter, he was tasked with the functions of arousing, persuading and rebuking. This is clearly depicted in his defense where he corrects on the jury members by clearly noting that, Aristophanes' Clouds has completely ruined his reputation by following the teachings of some of the jurors who are regarded as wise but are not, is reputation is beyond any cure (Glen, 2010). He also notes that many other political followers, linked with the jury risk accusation, for instance Anytus and his political followers.
In the oratory, Plato seems to renovate philosophy and somehow open the mind for some of his other students. Wisdom, as noted is presented as a subjective topic that in many instances is taken lightly and defined merely as the acquisition of knowledge (Popper, n.d). Socrates confirms this in his defense, where he notes that he is wise because he knows that he knows nothing and endeavors to find wisdom. Thus, he has the wisdom, the basis of knowledge, but he clearly challenges the intuition most people have, believing in themselves as the real references to wisdom (Popper, n.d). Wisdom according to Socrates is not measured in regards to the riches, but the ethical and moral responsibilities depicted in the living. In the contemporary world, the presence of various superpowers and the recognized military powers in reads to Socrates would not be regarded as wisdom; the wisdom would only be depicted on how the super powers interacted with the rest of the world, as knowledge which leads to great technological innovations is only a basis to wisdom.
In The Apology, Socrates begins by stating the charges that are placed against him. He notes that he has always been busy trying to think and understand things he is not supposed to (Eleazer & Alexander, 2006). He then goes on to argue that he was not a self –professed character who claims to be a know it all. He is clearly petrified of the Oracles answer that no one was wiser than the him, yet he did not consider himself as wise, either in small or great quantities (Eleazer & Alexander, 2006). The Apology thus leads to two major generalizations: Someone can be regarded as wise if the party believes that they are not wise and one can be regarded as wise if they do not now anything. Some of the illustrations to the theories include, the belief that an unwise person can clearly discern that he is not wise; however he cannot instantly become wise, by merely recognizing a fact about himself (Howard, 2008: Popper, n.d). However, Socrates did not truly believe he was unwise, as he does not disregard the oracle, however he still believes he was unwise the reason he goes ahead to investigate and uncover the wisdom, if he labeled himself as wise, this could have withdrawn his wisdom (Howard, 2008).
From The Apology, contemporary philosophers learn the need for the existence of a transcendental motivation, mostly in the search for the truth (Howard, 12008). Unlike today, most of the traditional sophists of Soctaratarian time were motivated by the fact that they empowered the society and not from the consultations they get in their dispersion of knowledge. They were motivated by the existence of fair society and Socrates had received a calling from the gods to do what he was doing. Delphi the god had disclosed to one of Socrates friends that Socrates was the wisest person in the world. This set Socrates into task to find out if there was anyone wiser than him (Howard, 2008). Thus t...
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