Socrates Stand on Democracy Essay Example for Free

Socrates Stand on Democracy Essay Having emphasized upon me the advantages of democracy, I have always believed that it is the best system to implement in a country. Ignoring the flaws and weaknesses of this type of system, I thought that the benefits outweigh all costs. I assume that giving the power to the people is better than having one person rule the state. However, in Plato’s account on the life of his mentor Socrates, we are able to see both sides of the spectrum: the pros and cons of democracy which are accounted in Plato’s dialogues, the Apology and the Crito. Socrates, having been accused of impiety, is brought to trial in front of the jury of Athens. In his defense, he points out the flaws of a democratic system, but he has an underlying intention to improve it. Thus, despite his criticisms on the use of rhetoric, involvement in politics, and the opinions of the majority, Socrates generally takes a pro-democracy approach on his purpose of being in Athens, the importance of examining truth and life, and the significance of respecting the law. Socrates is known in Athens for his dialectic approach of questioning and examining the ideas of the people. He has unintentionally annoyed many Athenian citizens which has made him infamous. This has led other people, such as Meletus, to press charges against him. In his defense, Socrates sets himself apart from others who bring their family and friends as a kind of an appeal to the jurymen. Through tears and emotional plea, they beg to be acquitted. However, Socrates does not intend to present such acts as he places greater significance to his, the jury’s, and the city’s reputations. He considers it shameful to try to win approval through emotional appeal rather than the truth as it brings dishonor to the city (37). Socrates points out then that it is the role of a juryman not to acquit someone who seems favorable, but â€Å"to judge according to Reusi 2 law†¦ [which] he has sworn to do† (37). It is the jury’s responsibility to give verdict based on truth and logic. Through the oath that they have taken, the jurymen have pledged to accept this duty; therefore, to favor someone is against the law. Socrates criticizes how the public has taken advantage of the use of rhetoric to win arguments in any way possible; such as appealing to emotions which has dominated and influenced the community and its decisions. These statements highlight the nti-democratic notion of Socrates; he reproaches the majority of the citizens who have based their judgments on faulty premises. Moreover, he connotes that it is more important to listen to the persuasive arguments of â€Å"the one† that uses truth and logic, rather than the pathetic acts of â€Å"the many†. However, beneath the criticisms, Socrates tries to enlighten the members of the jury, who have a stake at public decisions, of their purposes as jurymen of the state. He reminds them of their sworn duties, and encourages them not to give in to emotional appeal, as this per se is an attack to democracy and to the law that makes the city. Additionally, Socrates explains to the jury why despite his continuous efforts to meddle on personal matters, he has never pursued on occupying political positions. This, he says, is due to the â€Å"spiritual† (34) voice that speaks to him only when he is about to do something he is not supposed to do. He believes that if he had taken part in politics, he would not have survived through the years, because he would debate against the authority or the public, and stop the unlawful actions in the state (34). Socrates upholds that â€Å"a man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time† (34). He points out that in order to live a just and peaceful life, it is better for a man to stay away from â€Å"public† activities where unlawful events usually take place. It is more important to live a â€Å"private† life, â€Å"fight[ing] for justice† at its core by dealing in â€Å"private affairs† (34). Reusi 3 Socrates is considered as taking an anti-democratic stand when he has chosen not to get involved with the government, considering that the government is the people. Yet, he implies that the people would not favor anyone that opposes injustice which seems to be the common dealings in politics. He believes that he would â€Å"have died long ago† (34), although this is not his ultimate concern. What he truly cares about is â€Å"not to do anything unjust or impious† (32). Despite his criticisms on politics, Socrates is essentially reminding the people, especially those in authority, to serve a just and virtuous life. Outwardly stating the current situation of the government, he aims to provide the people a portrait of the shallow kind of democracy that they have come to maintain. Socrates seeks to prompt the majority to uphold the true sense of democracy, of fighting for justice and living life accordingly. Furthermore, Socrates uses his dialectical approach with his friend Crito in examining the contrast between the knowledge of â€Å"the one† and the pseudo-knowledge of â€Å"the many†. He uses an analogy of a man involved in physical activities, whom must listen to the advice of the true expert in his training, rather than the opinions thrown by other people who barely know anything about these activities. Anyone who places a higher regard to the thoughts of the majority, rather than to the knowledge of the one who possess it, puts himself on greater â€Å"harm† (47). Socrates adds that if we disobey the one who seeks to improve us, â€Å"we shall harm and corrupt that part of ourselves that is improved by just actions and destroyed by unjust actions† (48). This is antidemocratic in a way that it explicitly denotes the greater relevance of â€Å"the one† as opposed to the false opinions of â€Å"the many†. Democracy is based upon the judgment of the majority; however, if they collectively agree on faulty decisions, it brings destruction to the state and corruption to its citizens. As Socrates puts it, â€Å"we should not then think so much of what the majority will say about us, but what he will say who understands justice and injustice, the one, that is, and the truth Reusi 4 itself† (48). Despite his arguments, he suggests that the majority learns to listen to the one who possess true wisdom, so as to strengthen the grounds of democracy. The united opinions of the many can be given greater significance when it is based on the wisdom of the one who seeks â€Å"to improve† the city. In spite of the anti-democracy view of Socrates regarding rhetoric, politics, and the majority, he presents a pro-democratic stand on his true purpose of being in Athens. He addresses the jury that it would be a mistake to condemn him since he has been brought to the city of Athens according to the god’s will. He compares himself to a â€Å"gadfly† that tries to wake the â€Å"great and noble horse† that has become inactive and lazy (33). This, Socrates believes, is his purpose for being placed in the city by the god. He â€Å"never [ceases] to rouse each and every one† of the citizens, to convince and to criticize them all the time (33). In this passage, Socrates shows how much he cares for the city as he, a â€Å"gadfly†, tries to motivate the â€Å"noble† city of Athens to reach its full potential. By this, Socrates expresses a pro-democratic attitude as he believes that by his consistent approach to its citizens, he hopes to keep the city active, knowing that it has many capabilities that have not been fully developed. Moreover, Socrates states that he will continue to follow the god rather than the demands of the public for him to cease his quest of constant dialectic. He adds that with every Athenian he meets, Socrates would cross-examine him. He would denote that by being a citizen of the â€Å"noblest† city with high regards for both â€Å"wisdom and power†, it is a shameful thing to put such high importance on material possessions and status while disregarding â€Å"wisdom or truth, or the best possible state of [the] soul† (32). He would reprimand those who were proven to value superficial things instead of the more important ones. Socrates maintains that â€Å"the unexamined life is not worth living for men† (39). He motivates the citizens to examine the truth and virtue Reusi 5 as he affirms that â€Å"the most important thing is not life, but the good life† (48). This is very prodemocratic in a sense that the city aims to accomplish this highest form of living, which can be achieved only if each citizen is able to reflect upon himself, and realize his own way of living. He stresses the importance of not indulging oneself with material desires, but focusing only on the â€Å"best possible state of [the] soul† (32). Once every citizen is able to live a life worthy of the â€Å"noble† city of Athens can the city fully establish a strong democracy that highlights â€Å"wisdom†, justice, and â€Å"truth† (32). Lastly, in Crito’s attempt to persuade Socrates to escape the city and his death, Socrates has emphasized the significance of respecting the law. He imagines being faced by the law, ordering him that he must either convince his city according to what is just, or submit himself in any given circumstance in accord to the position assigned to him by his country (51). Therefore, it is wicked to bring harm to one’s own country even â€Å"after being wronged not by†¦ the law, but by men† (54). Socrates is sentenced to death because of the decision of the majority, but not of the law. He uses the law to represent the entire city, for the law makes and embodies the ideals of the state. His notion is pro-democratic as he expresses his respect for the decrees that ultimately establishes the democratic system of Athens. Despite being persecuted by men, he still considers the law as just and equitable. When we divert from the true purpose of a system, the costs are as significant as the benefits. Plato’s account of Socrates enables us to have a two-way view on democracy in considering both its advantages and disadvantages. Underlying his criticisms to certain aspects of this system is Socrates’ greater pursuit to improve and develop the state.

Hard Times - The Theme of Education Essay -- English Literature

Hard Times - The Theme of Education In this piece I intend to explain how Dickens is trying to represent education in the Victorian era and how he feels about the style of teaching that is widely used during his times. I also intend to make references to how the representation of Victorian schools by Dickens compares, historically to the actual conditions in a school from the Victorian era. As soon as the book begins we are introduced to a style of teaching that is dependent only on facts. One of the main characters of the novel is Thomas Gradgrind and he is the enforcer of this utilitarian style of education and is described as a man who is very strict. Dickens introduces us to this character with a description of his most central feature: his monotone appearance and attitude. â€Å"Stick to facts, sir!† This exclamation suggests that the character likes to shout and sound firm. The short, punchy sentence suggests an assertive and strong character. Dickens also makes Gradgrind seem boring and grating by the gravelly and rough sound of his name and how it is pronounced. â€Å"Grind†, in particular suggests the grindstone, and flogging away at work constantly and is associated with the mechanical, repetitive drudgery of the factory system. Dickens also employs the outer appearance of Gradgrind to parallel the inner personality of Gradgrind, â€Å"Square coat, square shoulders and square legs†. This seems to highlight Gradgrind’s nature of unrelenting rigidity. Dickens also uses tricolons to really exaggerate the impression of this character being dull, boring and old fashioned. As a result, his educational ideas are seen to be dull and boring too. We get the overall impression from Dickens that he doesn’t ... ...stressed by the ‘factory’ style approach to the children and their education. He exaggerates this to show the ‘production line’ attitude to education is wrong and does not help the child. He believes that the school in Hard Times treats all children the same and there is no exception to the rule. He sees it as a rather utilitarian style approach, a ‘one size fits all’ kind of regime and believes that this system has obviously failed. His distress seem to turn to the kind of anger a activist would show in a protest and in a way his writing of the book is his form of a protest which is made through humour. He strongly believes that children at such an early stage in their childhood are too young to be exposed to such a formal and rigorous style of education and should instead be allowed to express their emotions and have their youthful imaginations nurtured.

Civil War †American Civil War Essay

The Civil War, which divided the Northern and Southern states in the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history, raged on when Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as President. Lincoln Knew that all the tragedy and casualties had to come to an end. When delivering his Second Inaugural Address, he chose to send a message of reconciliation and healing to both sides instead of focusing on politics, slavery, and state’s rights. Through the use of allusion, diction, and syntax Lincoln creates a common ground to unify the North and South. Lincoln uses allusion to justify the war and its purpose, which was to end slavery. In his speech, he alludes to the Bible, quoting, â€Å"Woe unto the world because of offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh,† to show that the war was caused by God’s wish and was inevitable. America as a whole had committed theâ€Å"offense† of slavery, not just the South but the North as well because they were involved at the beginning of the slave trade and did nothing to end it. Lincoln suggests that the tragedy wrought by the war was a divine punishment to America for possessing slaves to fulfill their greedy desires, saying that God may will that the war continue † until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword†, and that the war was America’s †woe due†, so both sides were to be blamed for their actions. He again alludes to the Bible, and says, â€Å"the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether† demonstrating that the meaning of the war was for the North and South to see the consequences of their failings, and to learn to become better people, and through that a better nation, calling for all Americans to â€Å"strive on to finish the work we are in, and to bind the nation’s wounds† alluding to a passage of the Book of Psalms, which states that God heals the broken hearted and wounded. Lincoln uses diction to create a unifying tone throughout his speech that will set the direction of the nation’s path of recovery. When he says, â€Å"let us strive on to finish the work we are into bind up the nation’s wounds,† and, â€Å"and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations,† he uses specific verbs such as â€Å"strive,† to encourage the nation to fight vigorously toward their goal of unity, â€Å"bind,† to establish a bond between both sides of the nation, and â€Å"cherish† to ask the people to care for one another, including for people on opposite sides, for everyone once belonged to the same great nation. This is so that the people will take notice of the actions that Abraham Lincoln wants the people to do, and remember the emphasized words clearly. Also throughout his speech, he uses the word â€Å"both† in quotes such as, â€Å"Both read the same Bible and prayed to the same God,â⠂¬  and, â€Å"He gives to both North and South this terrible war,† to address both the North and South’s similarities and involvement in starting the war. He wants to portray the two parties as equals, neither better nor superior in the eyes of their Almighty God, and both to blame in the war. Lincoln uses syntax to create a formal and ministerial tone in his speech to engage his religious audience. Lincoln asks the audience a rhetorical question, â€Å"He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?† to make them think about God’s reasons for letting a bloody and terrible war divide them. The audience, who believe that God is an all-knowing and righteous God, will start to see that while they will never really understand God’s purposes, they can discern that the reason war came was to end a cruel and harsh treatment of slaves and that the war is a punishment to all those whose wealth and security came at the expense of brutal and inhumane cruelty. He then uses parallel structure to emphasize the reasons for why the war started. Lincoln states , â€Å"To strengthen, perpetuate, and extend [slavery] was the object for which the insurgents would rend the Union, even by war,† to show why the South seceded from the United States. They wanted to spread slavery into newly acquired parts of the West, including New Mexico and Utah territories. But God, Lincoln said, decided that slavery would continue no more, and began the war to end it. He again uses parallel structure when he says, â€Å"With malice toward none, with charity for all† to summarize the actions that he wants his fellow countrymen to accomplish in order to heal and reunite the two sides of the nation. He wants the audience to remember these specific words so that they are reminded to strive toward their goal of unifying the states. Lincoln uses the combined power of religious allusion, syntax, and diction to show that both sides carry blame in the war through God’s justice, and use that as a bonding agent to recombine the United States so that they can â€Å"achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among [themselves] and with all nations.†

Analysis The Five Eighty Eight And Stone Mattress

When I first started thinking about my research paper I planned on using both short stories from my Compare/Contrast essay that focused on abused women who seek their revenge on their abusers. As someone who knows women who have been abused by men and one even sexually assaulted, I feel very passionately about this topic. I wanted to write about the physiological and emotional changes women faced as a result of their abuse. In my first Compare/Contrast essay I talked about boys growing up and going against authority figures. After I read more short stories and considered my other options, I decided to write about abused women for my second Compare/Contrast essay. I used John Cheever’s â€Å"The Five-Forty-Eight† and Margaret Atwood’s â€Å"Stone Mattress† to show how female characters were exploited and abused by men and exact their revenge on them. I planned on using Zora Neale Hurston’s â€Å"Sweat† in my Research Paper because I like how the author characterized Delia Jones and the bread winner of the house and supported the unfaithful, cruel, and childish husband. I wanted to talk about how Delia’s husband’s abuse affected Delia’s personality. I also planned on using F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby to show how Tom’s emotional abuse toward Daisy had effects on her. Patrick 2 After struggling to find literary criticism that helped me show how women’s personalities were affected by abuse, I decided to change my paper’s focus on the role of women inShow MoreRelatedAutobilography of Zlatan Ibrahimovic116934 Words   |  468 Pageswonderful fat idiot I should add if anyone would misunderstand me - froze like a dog in his summer shoes and light jacket and convinced me to take the Audi. It almost ended in disaster. On a downhill street we lost control of the car and smashed into a stone wall. The whole right side of the car was demolished. Many had crashed during the bad weather, but no one as badly as me. I won the crash contest too, and we laughed a lot about that. And I was actually feeling like myself sometimes. I felt ok. ButRead MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pagesmixer of ingredients. The ingredients in Borden s marketing mix included product planning, pricing, branding, distribution channels, personal selling, advertising, promotions, packaging, display, servicing, physical handling, and fact finding and analysis. E. Jerome McCarthy later grouped these ingredients into the four categories that today are known as the 4 P s of marketing, depicted below: Marketing decisions generally fall into the following four controllable categories: †¢ Product †¢ †¢ †¢