Socrates :: essays research papers

Socrates     Socrates, as known by Renault, was a beautiful creature. Not physicallybeautiful, just internally and fundamentally beautiful. It was he who saidWhen you assume the show of any virtue, you open a credit account, which one dayyou will have to join or go broke (pp. 398). jibe to Renault, Socratestaught children free of charge. He often walked and talked with children and childly men in the market. They discussed, or more accurately argued in a calmmanner, various issues ranging from the sciences to religion. Socrates, however,usually avoided the subject of government whenever possible. Socrates believedhis role in life was to teach a sensitive understanding of virtues, it was thesevirtues that revolved around much(prenominal) of the controversies. The citizens thoughtthat Socrates poisoned the minds of children. Causing them to lose compliments forparents and elders. It was said that he did not believe in conventional godseither. This is shown by Strymon on pp. 181 and 182, "I theorise the in your owncircle of friends, what we have heard is nothing out of the way. Where theteacher (Socrates) does not even worship the immortal gods, but sets the asidefor his new divinities, one can hardly expect in the pupil much reverence forage and kinship in mere men." Parents blamed the lack of respect for elders onSocrates. In truth Renault says that he was only giving them guidance so thatthey may guide themselves and be free of petty problems. This guidance andadvice caused these young men to re-think their attitudes. Indeed Alexias,Xenophon, and especially Plato were all changed by Socrates. They roll in the haydSocrates like a mother or father pp. 392, "In a word," said Xenophon, "We lovehim." This love for Socrates was often misinterpreted as love being lost forfamily, through argument. Parents were so afraid of losing children to him theymade laws. One law stated that Socrates could not declaim to anyone under thirtyyears of age. Socrates defied this law, and was not punished. However after awhile all his defiances and warnings caught up with him. He was given thechoice of banishment or death. He chose death. Many of his students wanted tofree him, but Socrates made the choice against it. In the end Socrates isholding the glass of Hemlock saying farewell with his students, and friends.     According to The Encyclopedia, Socrates was born around 470 BC and diedaround 399 BC. He greatly impacted Western Philosophy through his influence onPlato. Socrates was born in capital of Greece the son of a sculptor.