POLITICAL THOUGHT

Political Thought

Political Thought

Introduction

Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher. He helped to shape Greek beliefs. The ideas he created are present in our culture today. Socrates was born in 470 B.C. He grew up during the Golden Age of Athens. This was a time period when Greece was very powerful. His family lived near Athens.

The philosophy before Socrates was primarily concerned with matters relating to the existence of the world and what it is. The Socrates believed that the sins are only a result of ignorance. If people only knew what is right, then what he found it difficult to follow. The Socrates was off the opinion that rulers should be one of those men who know how to govern, and not necessarily those who are elected (Sherman, 2005).

Socrates, arguably, considered the father of modern Western thought. The trial and sentenced to death, many interpreted as a failure of democracy, which eventually drowns those voices are different. Some new academic views, however, puts the trial of Socrates was perfectly legal but that Socrates himself was the one who caused his death.

The infamous trial of Socrates has been interpreted by many as one of the earliest and most dramatic failures of justice that resulted in the death sentence of the "father of Western thought." Socrates was accused of "disrespect" and "corruption of youth", in 399 BC, although many historians believe that the accusations were "invented" by the biased fellow citizens (Curren & Randall, 2000).

Socrates was unafraid to challenge the beliefs and knowledge of others in his pursuit of truth and his goal of revealing this truth and the correct methods by which to achieve knowledge of the truth to others. His challenging intellectual demeanor eventually got him into trouble after the Athenians had lost the Peloponnesian War to the Spartans and Athenian democracy was crumbling at the end of the fifth century. Socrates was put on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens, charges that he vigorously denied and showed to be absurd in his trial, recorded by Plato in the Apology. Nevertheless Socrates was convicted and sentenced to die, which he could avoid by exile. Athenian to the end, Socrates chose to end his life by drinking the hemlock provided by the executioner, discoursing with his disciples on life and death to the very end.

Discussion

Socrates Apology

The infamous trial of Socrates has been interpreted by many as one of the earliest and most dramatic failures of justice which led to the death sentence of the "father of Western thought. Socrates was accused of disrespect and corruption of youth in 399 BC although many historians believed that the accusations were invented by a biased fellow. Recently, Paul Cartledge, a professor at the University of Cambridge, appeared saying that the trial was legally correct and that Socrates was guilty when he was accused. Indeed, the professor believed that Socrates has caused his death. In his new book, “Ancient Greek Political Thought in Practice”, where the Cartledge said many politicians and historians use ...