Plato's "Five Dialogues"

Paper Summary:

This paper describes Socrates' personality as presented by Plato. It discusses how Socrates is quite certain he has lived the life he was meant to live, despite the fact that he has received the death penalty for crimes against, essentially, the state, its citizens and God. The paper looks at how Plato describes the 'crime', why these actions were considered so severe and the resulting sentencing.

From the Paper:

"Socrates point is that what makes some act pious or not is innate in the act itself, not what somebody or some god or gods considers to be pious. Either some act is pious or it is not, no matter what anybody considers it to be. Socrates obviously believes that his own dialogues with the citizens are profoundly pious because they serve the truth and because they put the responsibility of basic decisions and definitions in the hands of the individual. One might argue that Socrates is wrong, that he has acted impiously, but even in such a case Socrates seems to prove his dedication to the truth as he sees it by willingly facing death if that is the price demanded by the society to which he remains loyal and true. How many men are willing to remain reasonable in the face of charges they believe unjust, and are willing to die in order to remain true to their principles. To the end, he continues to question the state's definition of reality, including piety, but he lives in Athens and he has agreed to abide by the laws of a society whose benefits and liberties he enjoys."

More papers on Plato's "Five Dialogues":

• Essay # 48889 : "Plato's Truth"
• Analytical Essay # 112357 : "The Platonic View of Poetic Interpretation"
• Comparison Essay # 17106 : "Life and Death: Socrates and Gilgamesh"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: