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    Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic
    Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic
    Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic
    Ebook88 pages1 hour

    Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic

    By M. James Ziccardi

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    About this ebook

    The following is one in a series of reviews that has been extracted in its entirety from M. James Ziccardi's "Fundamentals of Western Philosophy".

    It is intended to serve as a primer for students of early Greek philosophy with an emphasis on some of the more important works of Plato.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherM. James Ziccardi
    Release dateFeb 23, 2013
    ISBN9781301035588
    Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic
    Author

    M. James Ziccardi

    M. James Ziccardi lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter and has been a software analyst for over twenty-five years. Reading and writing about philosophy is his passion.

    Read more from M. James Ziccardi

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      Book preview

      Fundamental Plato - M. James Ziccardi

      Fundamental Plato: A Practical Guide to the Apology, Crito, Phaedo, & Republic

      M. James Ziccardi

      Copyright 2011 by M. James Ziccardi

      Smashwords Edition

      Preface

      The following is one in a series of reviews that has been extracted in its entirety from M. James Ziccardi’s Fundamentals of Western Philosophy.

      It is intended to serve as a primer for students of early Greek philosophy with an emphasis on some of the more important works of Plato.

      Section 1 - Plato’s Biography

      (428 BC–348 BC)

      Most of Plato’s ideas concerning the roles of the State are presented in what many consider to be his greatest work, the Republic; a work which is often credited with laying the foundation and paving the way for all subsequent political thought and discourse. Some have gone so far as to claim that the works of all political writers since the time of Plato are in some way or another nothing more than responses and rebuttals to the ideas Plato puts forth in the Republic. Over the next several pages, we will examine some of the more significant ideas presented in this work.

      However, before we turn to the Republic, we will first take a look at some of what Plato has to say regarding the State’s relationship to the individual in three of his other more famous Dialogues, the Apology, Crito, and Phaedo; for these short yet insightful works seem to lay the groundwork for what is to follow in the Republic.

      But first a little background. Around the year 400 BC in Athens, Plato was one of the actual pupils of Socrates, who at the time was considered by many to be the wisest and most virtuous man in all of Greece. Following the defeat of Athens by Sparta in the nearly 30-year Peloponnesian War, the democracy which had so much been the hallmark of Athens was replaced by a tyranny which was under the control of Sparta. This tyranny lasted for about nine months before it too was overthrown and replaced by Athenian democracy. But due to the zealotry, and one could even say the fundamentalism, on the part of those who had overthrown the Spartan tyranny and reestablished democracy, the new, post-Spartan democracy was nothing like the one which had existed prior to the war. The leaders of this new democracy wanted to restore and forcefully maintain the religious teachings and customs of the past, such as those written about by Homer and the other poets of Ancient Greece. The new rulers of Athens regarded any challenges to their ideas concerning education and religion as threats, and that anyone who made such challenges was deserving of death. Socrates, whose teachings promoted reason and the open questioning of both faith and authority, came to be seen by the rulers as just such a threat. Because of these teachings, Socrates was accused of both impiety toward the gods (if not outright atheism), and corrupting the minds of the Athenian youth; and for these charges, he was put on trial for his life.

      Socrates, who only spoke his ideas and never wrote anything down, left nothing tangible for posterity; it is only through the writings of Plato and a few others that we come to know him by today. Through the writings of Plato, which have come to be known as the Socratic Dialogues, we are presented with the ideas of Socrates through the play-like form of the dialogue. In the earlier dialogues, Plato concentrates mostly on the teachings and ideas of Socrates; however in the later dialogues, Plato uses the same style to present his own views.

      Section 2 - Apology

      In the Apology, Plato takes us to the trial of Socrates where Socrates is arguing his defense before the people of Athens. (At the time, the defense offered up by the accused was known as an apology.) In his speech, Socrates does not deny the charges waged against him (although he does deny the charge of atheism); instead, he argues that the charges against him are unjust. In response to the charge that he has corrupted the minds of the youth, Socrates answers that he has harmed no one, and that the only reason why he was charged with this crime in the first place was because he taught reason and critical thinking instead of the traditional religious dogma favored by the rulers. It is in this part of his speech that Socrates provides us with his famous quote, "…the unexamined life is not worth living for man". Here, Socrates is telling us that we cannot simply go through life accepting things on blind faith, regardless of where they come from, including the authority. Furthermore, Socrates is implicitly asking the question, who has the right to teach? Should it be the poets (like Homer), the religious leaders, and the rulers; or should it be the philosophers, who teach by reason? As it is with many of his dialogues, Plato does not provide a concrete answer to this question; for his purpose here seems to be more in the raising of the issue for us to consider; for, of course, it is only we as a society that can answer this question.

      As for the charges of impiety towards the gods, and even atheism, Socrates is able to show that his accuser, a man by the name of Meletus, has contradicted himself by claiming Socrates to be an atheist, for Socrates had always made known his belief in spiritual beings and demigods, and what are the gods if not a spiritual beings? In the end, however, Socrates, by a small majority, is found guilty of the charges against him, and is sentenced to death.

      A few of the other more significant ideas offered by Socrates in his speech are:

      The greatest good for man is to discuss virtue every day.

      A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, and not a public life.

      Do not put wealth above being as good and as wise as possible.

      An important aspect to the Apology that is worth noting is that nowhere in it does Socrates make either freedom of speech or freedom of expression a part of his defense. This could be because Socrates felt that reason and virtue were more important than individual liberties. A case might be made for this theory when this dialogue, the Apology, is contrasted with the next one we will be reviewing, Crito.

      Section 3 - Crito

      In Crito, Socrates, who has just been found guilty of the charges of impiety and corrupting the minds of the youth, somewhat surprisingly argues for the State’s case against him. In this dialogue, Socrates develops an early version of the social contact, not as it exists among the citizens, but as it exists between the law and each citizen. The dialogue takes

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