16 May Socrates and Philosophy
Order Instructions
W2: Socrates and Philosophy
(Socrates)
Course Objective(s):
CO2: Examine the relevance of language and logic to problems of knowledge and reality.
CO3: Distinguish the basic concepts of moral and political philosophy.
Again, please do not start a new thread. Please post as a reply to the threads provided below.
Please pick one of the following questions to answer for the forum this week:
Based on Plato’s dialogue, Apology, assess the charge leveled against Socrates of corrupting the youth of Athens. (a) Do you think Socrates corrupted the youth of Athens? If so, why? If not, why not? (b) Summarize and critically evaluate Socrates’ defense on this particular accusation – was his defense convincing to you or not? Why or why not?
Based on Plato’s dialogue, Apology, (a) in what sense does Socrates claim to be wise? (b) Summarize and evaluate the value of the Socratic Method and Socratic wisdom and whether this method and attitude are valuable for a democratic society such as ours.
In the Apology, Socrates repeatedly claims that only execution will stop him from doing philosophy (see 29c-d, 30c, and 34e). However, he does offer to pay a fine, one that Plato and others greatly increased (38b). (a) Why do you believe he would be sentenced to death, and (b) what moral principle does Socrates draw upon in defending his stand on never stopping what he was doing?
Discussion Guidelines:
Three posts minimum.
The initial forum response is due by Thursday at 11:55 p.m. EST and should be a substantive response to the discussion prompt.
For peer replies, respond to at least two of your classmates by Sunday at 11:55 p.m. EST and give meaningful replies that advance the discussion.
Before you post, please thoroughly edit your writing to ensure it is professional and academic. For more details about the initial post and peer replies are graded, see the attached grading rubric.
