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Philosophy Analysis of The Apology by Socrates

Philosophy Analysis of The Apology by Socrates

In The Apology, Socrates talks positively about an instance in which he committed an act of civil disobedience, but in The Crito he argues that civil disobedience is not an acceptable option. These two claims are irreconcilable. Although Socrates claims that civil disobedience is never alright, he insists he would practice philosophy even if it were against Athens’ law. Although Socrates gives himself an out when he says that one must either accept the law or argue that it’s unjust, I do not think this allows him to use his argument to practice philosophy if there were such a law against it. He may argue against a law that outlawed philosophy, but practicing philosophy would be breaking the state’s law and therefore committing an act of civil disobedience, which he denounces in The Crito. As part of examining our lives through the practice of philosophy, we must be able to perform acts of civil disobedience when necessary. When Socrates says that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology 38a), he forces himself to agree to the principles behind civil disobedience.

Socrates believes that philosophy is the root of the human soul, and without it life is not worth living. I think this is an accurate claim, and that this is Socrates’ principle of life. Without the practice of philosophy, and the questioning of virtue, the world would become a stagnant environment, never evolving from past cultures and past ideals. I agree with his principle, and therefore I cannot agree with his other claims against civil disobedience. Socrates says “…it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for man…” (Apology 38a). If he believes in this statement, then Socrates claims against civil disobedience cannot be held in high regard. Without civil disobedience, we are missing a crucial part of the examined life. He says that discussing virtue is the “greatest good” and without it “life is not worth living.” Socrates claims against him were that he “is guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse argument into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others”...

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