SUMMARY of the Apology of SOCRATES (written by Plato)

In today's lesson we are going to offer a Summary Socrates' Apology, a work written by Plato (If you. C.). Work in which Plato captures the speech that his teacher, Socrates, delivered in defense when a court of the Athens of Critias he accused him of corrupting the youth, of impiety and trying to introduce other gods.

In this youthful work, Plato captures part of the Socrates thought (who did not write anything) and recounts the course of the trial that sentenced him to die by ingesting a glass of hemlock. For this, the work is divided into three main parts: 1.Accusation. 2. Acceptance and grief. 3. The prophecy. If you want to know more about this work, keep reading this article by a PROFESSOR. We will explain everything to you!

Index

1. Who is Socrates?
2. Summary of the Apology of Socrates
3. Part One / Introduction: Accusation and Defense
4. Summary of Socrates' Apology: Part Two (Acceptance and Penalty)
5. Part Three of the Apology of Socrates: The Prophecy

Before entering the study of Socrates' Apology, we must explain who this philosopher. Socrates was born into a humble family (his father was a sculptor and his mother was a midwife) from Athens in 470 BC. C., which is why he received a basic education and, before standing out as a philosopher, worked as a bricklayer and fought in the Battle of Potidaea (432 BC) C.). However, he also stood out as a disciple of the philosopher Arquelao (S.V a. C.) and, little by little, he excelled as a speaker, creating around him a small group of disciples like Plato.

In parallel, he also became an uncomfortable character for the tyranny of Critias and in the year 399 a. C. he was sentenced to death (ingesting hemlock) for corrupting the youth, for impiety and trying to introduce other gods. Undoubtedly, his trial was a political trial and, despite the fact that everything was prepared for his escape, he refused.

In this way, Socrates died at the age of 71, leaving for posterity an immense philosophical legacy. (theSocratic School or Platonic Academy) that broke with the prevailing philosophical line in Athens, thesophism from Protagoras or Gorgias, which, established that knowledge was transmitted from sages to disciples. Thus, the figure of Socrates broke in to question the imposed philosophy and influence great thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle.

Socrates' ApologyIt is a work written by Plato, disciple of Socrates, where the apology / speech that Socrates gave to defend himself before a court that tried him for corrupting the youth (next to him was a large group of followers), out of impiety and trying to introduce other gods (because he had a personal vision of the religion).

Thus, the future of the judgment is related to us through three big blocks thematic:

1. Accusation
2. Acceptance and grief
3. The prophecy

According to Plato, this trial was carried out as a result of several anonymous and three known accusations, which led him definitively to trial: Meleto (poet), Anito (political) and Licon (speaker). All of them false and based on slander. Finally, Socrates accepted his death sentence, displaying one of his maxims: being loyal to the government system and respecting its laws.

Likewise, it should be noted that in this work Plato reflects part of the Socrates philosophical thought, since, he did not write anything because he considered that philosophy was built dialoguing and that writing it wasted time to make the true philosophy, which blurred its essence and ended up being obsolete.

In this way, what is known as the Socratic problem: We do not know 100% what is true, what is a lie and what is attributed to Socrates by third parties.

The apology begins with a Socrates speaking the following words:

“I do not know, Athenians, the impression that the speech of my accusers will have made on you. With regard to myself, I confess that I have unknown myself; so persuasive has been the way of saying it. However, I can assure you, they have not said a single word that is true "

Therefore, in this part Plato exposes us what is the theme of his work and contextualize the reader, informing him of who are those who accuse the teacher of him and the crimes attributed to him. In addition, the passionate defense that Socrates did in front of a large number of Athenians. Which was based on three points

• The crimes for which he is convicted are wrong.
• It is an unfair trial.
• He is not afraid of death.

"It is necessary that I begin my defense to try to eradicate from your minds that defamation that has fed you for so long, and I must do so in as little time as I have been granted.”

Despite his defense, Socrates fails to convince the judges and is declared guilty by 281 votes compared to 220 who defend his innocence.

Finally, we are told that he himself proposes that his sentence be commuted to a fine of 100 drachmas and that, in the face of the jury's refusal, he accepts the pain from him, but making it clear that the Athenians themselves will regret having condemned him to death.

As the philosopher himself states:

“I was neither surprised nor indignant, O Athenians, this condemnation that you have just sealed with your vote. Among many other reasons, because it has not been unexpected; rather it surprises me that there has been such a high number of votes in my favor; I did not suspect that it would be resolved like that, but I expected many more votes against me. You can see that the results would have been upset if only thirty more people had voted for my acquittal (…) You will take away, Athenians, the bad reputation of having killed Socrates "

After receiving the sentence, Socrates, addresses those who have voted in his trial by way of prophecy:

• He tells those who voted in favor of his conviction to analyze his own life and that Zeus will inflict a harsher punishment than his.
• He defines those who voted against his conviction as friends or true judges and tells them that they voted against because they knew how to see that he was making a correct defense.

Finally, establishes that he abandons life without rancor and defines his death as a simple "moving place”. Ending the work with the following sentence:

"I have nothing else to say. It is time to leave: I to die, you to live. Who is going to do better business, you or me? Dark thing is for everyone, except, if anything, for the god. "

If you want to read more articles similar to Socrates' Apology: Summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Philosophy.

• Antiseri and Reale. History of Philosophy. Vol. 1. Ed. Herder. 2010.
• Plato. Socrates' Apology. Gredos. 2003.