Plato&Socrates Excellence in Virtue Essay Example for Free

PlatoSocrates Excellence in Virtue Essay â€Å"Socrates’ positive influence touches us even today† (May 6) and we can learn a great deal about him from one of his students, Plato. It is in Plato’s report of Socrates’ trial a work entitled, Apology, and a friend’s visit to his jail cell while he is awaiting his death in Crito, that we discover a man like no other. Socrates was a man following a path he felt that the gods had wanted him to follow and made no excuses for his life and they way he lived it. The passage I have chosen from Plato’s Apology is the main passage to which Socrates believed in until his death and gave the basis for his life and they way he chose to live his life. It is this passage that makes clear all of Plato’s writings and perhaps why even in living his own life he chose emulate and follow Socrates and ultimately became one of his better-known students. To prove this, the paper is organized into four sections. In the first section, I will give the key passage, along with some textual context to give background details. In the second section, I will provide some relevant biographical/historical information about the author and the time period for when the text was written. In the third section, I will provide a detailed analysis meaning and arguments of my key passage and in the fourth section; I will explain the meaning of three passages that support the key passage of the paper. However, before we can move any further into this process, I will present my key passage on which this paper is based. key passage. â€Å"As long as I have breath and strength I will not give up philosophy and exhorting you and declaring the truth to every one of you whom I meet, saying as I am accustomed, ‘My good friend, you are a citizen of Athens, a city which is very great and very famous for its wisdom and power-are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about your wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul? ’ If he disputes my words and says that he does care about these things I shall not at once release him and go away: I shall question him and cross-examine him and test him. If I think that he has not attained excellence, though he says that he has, I shall reproach him for undervaluing the most valuable things, and overvaluing those things that are less valuable. This I shall do to everyone whom I meet, young or old, citizen or stranger, but especially to citizens, since they are more closely related to me. This, you must recognize, the god has commanded me to do. And I think that no greater good has ever befallen you in the state than my service to the god. For I spend my whole life in going about and persuading you all to give your first and greatest care to the improvement of your souls, and not till you have done that to think of your bodies or your wealth. And I tell you that wealth does not bring excellence, but that wealth and every other good thing which men have, whether in public or in private, come from excellence. † (Baird Kaufmann 29-30). In this passage Socrates is our speaker and he is presenting his defense against the charges that have been brought against him by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. The charges they have brought against Socrates are for corrupting the youth and worshipping gods other than the ones all other Athenians worshipped at that time in Ancient Greece. This passage is one of many times that Socrates brings to light the fact that what he has been doing by going around questioning people about their beliefs is commanded by the gods and that he should not be put to death for doing what has been asked of him. Socrates presents many times that what he is doing in trying to get people to not just question what they believe, but to work on the improvement of their souls. He believes and so states in the passage that wealth and fame do not bring excellence to a person’s life, but you become a better person first by improving your soul and that is actually where excellence can be found. Once a person has done this then they can concern themselves with other matters. Stating that you first turn your attention inward and then outward to the larger society could sum up the general message of Socrates. While he does not explicitly say this one could reasonably interpret from Socrates defense that he believes the reason for the charges that have been brought up against him are due to a lack of understanding by the Athenian public of his mission and purpose as well as the authority he has to do it. This is what he is attempting to do in this passage, explain what he has been doing and that the god of all Athenians commanded him to do this work and that he has done nothing wrong. historical/biographical information. Though Socrates ran no formal school, one can find in any number of books on Plato, that he was a student of Socrates in Ancient Greece. According to Baird and Kaufmann Plato probably first began following Socrates sometimes in his twenties, though one cannot be sure of the exact date (4). The Apology, along with Crito, are just a number of texts written by Plato on the teachings and beliefs held by Socrates. â€Å"The Apology is generally regarded as one of Plato’s first and as eminently faithful to what Socrates said at his trial on charges of impiety and corruption of the youth† (Baird Kaufmann 5). The time of Socrates trial was around 399 B. C. in Athens, Greece and â€Å"many contemporary scholars maintain that Plato’s Apology was writing within the first two to three years following Socrates’ trial and execution† (Brickhouse Smith 1). The charges against Socrates were corruption of the youth and worshipping some other god rather than the ones commonly held to be believed in by other Athenians. It is important to note as reported by Brickhouse and Smith that, â€Å"Athens had only just concluded the Peloponnesian War. The effects of the war had been disastrous on her economy; factions blamed each other for her defeats, and suspicion and power-mongering were rife† (19). By this very fact they were looking for someone to blame for their problems and Socrates was an excellent choice. It should come as no surprise â€Å"that Athenians looked for the guilty among thinkers like Socrates. After all, by their very nature and regardless of their particular persuasions, such intellectual challenge established wisdom and tradition† (Brickhouse Smith 19). Then the charges brought against Socrates and his trial were a course of action that the Athenians could see nothing wrong with at that time. Socrates was definitely a man before his time. Socrates was placed on trial for the questioning he did of others because he was pushing people in their long-held beliefs, which probably gave rise to fear. Even though Socrates felt justified in his actions many did not hold that same theory. In fact, May states, â€Å"most people would be quite irritated if someone criticized their moral beliefs. Imagine conversing with someone who continually pointed out the weakness in your beliefs† (5). There are very few people that when pushed into why they believe what they do can generally come up with a concrete answer as to why they believe that way. In my opinion, much of what people believe in is based on tradition; either from your own family or culturally and many times occurs as a combination of both. Plato’s dialogues are perhaps a fair representation of Socrates’ teachings however, he does not give a consistent portrait of Socrates (May 20). May goes onto say that â€Å"character ‘Socrates’ is portrayed differently in some of Plato’s dialogues because in some of them. Plato is writing in order to chronicle the historical Socrates, whereas in others, Plato uses the character ‘Socrates’ as a mouthpiece of his own philosophical position† (20). â€Å"Although Plato originally started to write his dialogues in order to chronicle the historical Socrates, he eventually started to write dialogues that were devoted to Plato’s actual philosophical views† (20). It was this writing that caused Plato to formulate his own views in an attempt to answer some of the questions that Socrates had posed along the way (May 20). Regardless of which Socrates is speaking the message however is the same in that excellence can be found in virtue over any other thing a person may possess. In addition, Socrates did not do any writing himself so all we have to go on is what Plato presented to us in his various texts. anaylsis In this passage, Socrates is telling the Athenian jury that he is innocent on the charges brought against him and why he is innocent. This passage is of extreme importance of understanding and interpreting Plato’s writings because it is a theme that is repeated throughout his works. Our character Socrates feels that people should be more concerned with the perfecting their souls more than anything else in their life. He believes that in his quest to help people find their way he is actually doing as the gods dictated. Socrates also states that the only reason his is wise is because he knows that the only thing he does know is that he does not know anything worth knowing (Brickhouse Smith 129). In fact he so states in his defense when he says â€Å"I am wiser than this man; neither one of knows anything that is really worth knowing, but he thinks that he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do no think that I have, I seem, at any rate, to be a little wiser than he is on this point: I do not know what I do not know† (Baird Kaufmann 24). Socrates believes that it is really the gods that are wise and humans do not possess any wisdom. He believes that the best a human can do is to work on improving their souls and it is through this action that a person can achieve a life of excellence. In fact, in a later section of the Apology, Socrates even states, â€Å"an unexamined life is not worth living† (Baird Kaufmann 34). That statement speaks to the true nature of Plato’s writings and how he wanted to impress upon others to live a better life. May even supports this idea when she states, â€Å"Socrates claims that the meaning of Apollo’s oracle that humans cannot possess wisdom. Remember, Socrates does not believe that even he possesses wisdom, as he believes that real wisdom is the property of God† (44). While taking into account the turbulent times of Athens one could easily understand why that anyone questioning â€Å"the establishment† would gain much notoriety and attention. While repeatedly Plato reports that Socrates felt he was doing gods work others were not as easily persuaded. Change is never welcomed by a society, because change means the known is questioned and people are stretched in ways they had not anticipated. One can find numerous examples of this throughout time ranging from slaves being released to live as free men, the flight of Kitty Hawk, Hitler, and even as recent as the presidential race of 2008 which was highlighted by frequent reports that Barak Obama was a terrorist. All of these things created change in the world around them and opened up countless avenues to others while many people stayed behind too scared to move forward. Reeve states that, â€Å"Socrates presents himself†¦ as someone who questions others in the matters of virtue and who examines or refutes them by mean of an elenchus when they have answered inadequately. † (x) An elenchus is Socrates’ characteristic method of inquiry and refutation some might consider it badgering (Reeve x). He also presents himself as a servant of Apollo whose mission has been divinely inspired and it is not simply to question people. â€Å"But to get them to care about virtue and their psyches – their souls – above everything else. † (Reeve x) Even in his later work of the Crito, in which Crito comes to visit Socrates in prison offering him a chance to escape, Plato does not have Socrates change his beliefs and escape to a foreign land. â€Å"In the Apology, Socrates claims that a human being has only one thing to consider namely whether one is acting rightly or wrongly (28c). This is repeated in the Crito when Socrates states that his duty to consider just one question, whether it would be right to escape or wrong† (May 78). As he continues to examine the option before him Socrates cannot come up with any reason why it would be right for him to escape and that to do would be morally wrong and go against everything he has stood for his entire life. The selfish action of escaping would have disastrous results and wipe out years of Socrates work. One can easily see how Plato has carried the message of Socrates throughout his writing and used it to his benefit. In order to be considered wise by Plato, a person needs to examine their beliefs and knowledge to better their soul before any other task is undertaken. It is this that will last far longer than any wealth, power, property or prestige that is attained. Because as Socrates says â€Å"I spend my whole life in going about and persuading you all to give your first and greatest care to the improvement of your souls, and not till you have done that to think of your bodies or your wealth† (Baird Kaufmann 30). supporting passages. This is the first of three passages that supports the fact that the passage quoted at the beginning of this paper and ultimately makes clear all of Plato’s writings and gives further insight into Socrates’ life. â€Å"But then I again proved, not by mere words but by my actions, that, if I may speak bluntly, I do no care a straw for death; but that I do care very much indeed about not doing anything unjust or impious. That government and all its power did not terrify me into doing anything unjust† (Baird Kaufmann 31). This passage comes from Apology shortly after the key passage in which Socrates is defending himself against the charges of corrupting the youth and worshiping false gods. In this passage he is telling how that when ordered by the government to bring Leon the Salaminian to them so that they might put him to death he chose to live by his values even though he was defying the government. He goes onto to explain that it is a person’s actions that mean more than the mere words they utter. He states how that even in the face of death he chose not to anything unjust or impious, but to live according to the gods decree for his life. He goes on to say that if the government of The Thirty had stayed in power he would have certainly been put to death, but he did not care one way or another. He is saying in no uncertain terms that he will not be coerced or bullied into doing anything that goes against the will of god. The position that he takes shows that he is strong-willed and a man who is true to his word and that even if this current group of Athenians puts him to death he will not fight them unnecessarily. This passage relates to the key passage by showing that by following one’s beliefs and doing what is right and just helps to lead a person closer to excellence in virtue and to living a better life. The second passage also appears in the Apology and comes after Socrates has been found guilty by the Athenians of the crimes of which he was accused and now is speaking about what a suitable punishment might be for him. â€Å"And if I tell you that no greater good can happen to a man than to discuss human excellence every day and the other matters about which you have heard me arguing and examining myself and others and that an unexamined life is not worth living, then you will believe me still less† (Baird Kaufmann 34) Plato is once again writing in reference to the first idea presented by Socrates that in order to be great people should first improve their inner self and not worry about things outside of themselves until they have reached that point. It is only by doing this that a person can achieve an excellence in their virtue far greater than any material possession or status one may achieve. Socrates is again stating that he has only been doing what the gods have asked of him and that he has been attempting to impress upon others the importance of personal virtue rather than material gain. He is again stating how he personally did that and was only attempting to get others to see the world as he saw it. In fact, Socrates believes that death is not justice in his case, but since he has lived his life as a pauper that he should be sentenced to life in the prytaneum, which is the town hall of Ancient Greece used to house distinguished visitors and guests (Dictionary.com). He states in there he would be forced to live a life in complete opposite of what he has known since it would be rich and lavish and in addition he would receive three full meals a day. This according to Socrates is the polar opposite of the way he has been living and would actually be a punishment to him since it goes against what he has been doing. This passage relates to the key passage by not only re-stating what was said previously, but provides further evidence that Socrates was committed to the cause of excellence even after he was sentenced to death. This third passage comes from Plato’s Crito when Socrates’ friend Crito visits him in prison. â€Å"Are we to start our inquiry from the premise that it is never right either to act unjustly or to repay injustice with injustice to avenge ourselves on any man who harms us, by harming him in return? Or do you disagree with me and dissent from my premise? I myself believed in it for a long time and I still believe in it. † (Baird Kaufmann 43) Crito actually bribes a guard in order to be allowed into Socrates’ prison cell and Socrates is not at all pleased by that action because it is an unjust act. The purpose of his visit is to convince Socrates to escape and continue to live a free man. Crito informs him that many people are willing to help him escape and continue his work of helping others in another country where he will be free from the narrow-mindedness of the Athenians who have sentenced him to death. While many people would jump at an opportunity to escape and continue to live their lives, even if it meant being a fugitive, Socrates refuses. But here again we see that Socrates is adamant about his position. In the above passage he states that it is wrong to escape because it would mean going against everything for which he has stood and argued for his entire life. He feels that it would a mistake to escape and repay an injustice with an injustice; there is no virtue in that action. He believes even as his death nears that what he has stood for; looking for excellence in virtue and by becoming a better person by looking inward first to improve the soul, that he is correct and nothing will veer him off his course. This passage ties to the key passage by showing how through his actions Socrates believed that living justly and rightly were more important than living a life where a person would simply exist because they were following the dictates of others and not living, as they truly believed. conclusion In conclusion, the key passage from Plato’s Apology that I have discussed here is the critical point of all his writings. In the key passage as well as the three supporting passages I discussed one can see how living a life of excellence as found through virtuous actions was the central theme throughout his writings. One can easily see why Plato would have chosen to be a student of Socrates and spend a great deal of his writing career recalling the events of Socrates life and death. At the time of his writings and Socrates’ death, Athens was in need of a good and moral hero and Plato chose Socrates to help others learn that success was measured not by material goods but through good actions based on right motives. Works Cited Baird, Forrest E. and Kaufmann, Walter. From Plato to Derrida. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. 2008. Print. Brickhouse, Thomas C. and Nicholas D. Smith. Socrates on Trial. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1989. Print. Dictionary. com. n. d. n pag. Web. 22 Nov. 09. May, Hope. On Socrates. Belmont, California: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2000. Print. Reeve, C. D. C. Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato’s Apology of Socrates. Indianapolis, Indiana, 1989. Print.

Tropicana Drops Package Redesign Essay -- Business Analysis

This article discusses how Tropicana redesigned their packaging and how it plans to bring back the previous version. This change was made in order to attract more customers to buy the product. Introduction The source for this article was found on New York Times online. Stuart Elliott. â€Å"Tropicana Discovers Some Buyers Are Passionate About Pacakaging†. Retrived Feburary 23, 2009. http://www.nvtimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adocl.html? Why Change? Tropicana has decided to return to its orginal packaging and symbol of one of the most favorite bands of organge juice. The PepsiCo Americas Beverage division is changing their flagship product of Tropicana Pure Premium organge juice because some of the customers did not like the new design of the product. One of the worst things about the Tropicana redesign was the lost of the famous orange and straw. They described the new packaging as being† ugly†, and â€Å"resembling a generic brand†. When I first saw the Tropicana juice pacakaging, I thought that it was a store brand. Therefore I did not purchase the product because I assumed that it would not taste the same. The new design made it more difficult to distingush among the varities of Tropicana juices. A lot of the customers missed the old design which consisted of an organge with a straw in the middle. According to our text, â€Å"a firm’s external envionment consists of all the conditions and forces that affect its strategic options and define its competitive situation†. (Pearce & Robinson. 2009, pg. 12). The customers who used Tropicana felt better buying the orginal tropicana because they said that† the organge symbol meant to evoke fresh taste†. When you change the packaging of the product, most feel as though the conte... ...ny more ways to come up with new products for them to try. If customers are dissatified, it gives the company an opportunity to allow customer feedback and be able to change what they do not like about the product and to improve it. Tropicana has been around for a long time and some customers are use to drinking this kind of organge juice. I know the customers did the right thing by voicing their opinion because if they didn’t the company would think that customers were pleased with this new design when apparently they didn’t like it at all. Works Cited Pearce J., & Robinson R. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation implementation and control (11th ed.) New York : McGraw-Hill Irwin. Stuart Elliott. â€Å"Tropicana Discovers Some Buyers Are Passionate About Pacakaging†. Retrived Feburary 23, 2009. http://www.nvtimes.com/2009/02/23/business/media/23adocl.html?

Reaction to Amistad Movie

Kaylan Earls March 22, 2013 COMM3820 Reaction To Amistad Amistad was a very touching movie and showed a lot of fight and determination from the West Africans and several others working to gain freedom for the slaves.. During the movie I felt that I to were experiencing the gruesome triumphs that the West African slaves experienced during their fight toward freedom. Though I have seen several movies dealing with race it is always interesting to learn more about history. Amistad showed how the West Africans stuck together and remained as one to fight for their freedom and be reunited with their families once again.An issue that really hit a spot was how the slaves had to continue to go back to trial after being given their freedom once before due to illegal captivation. I think because of history and how race had such a impact in past times, regardless if the slaves were illegally captivated, the White House made the decision based off what was right for only their sake. I think during those times African Americans were just seen for their color and were being enslaved just because just for that simple reason. Though it was great to see that the Mende people finally were granted their freedom after a third trial, t was not fair that they had to go through so much for something they were already given before. This film had a huge impact on my thinking about race. Being African American I know the marches and all that was put in to get to where we are today. It's so inspiring to see and makes me so much more appreciative that todays society is better than it was in the past. Though I am sure that there are still some racial problems it is not nearly as bad as before. I liked the movie because I feel like in a way it showed how we all should have been treated equally in a way because the Mende eople were enslaved for no reason. I think it relates to my life because their are still some that have their strong racist beliefs because of how they may have been raised. I t's scary to think of how life would be if I lived the life that some of my people did when they were alive. I think it would be safe to say that the society has come a long way and if we still dealt with the same issues we wouldn't have an African American President today. I believe that the film was a little gruesome but not at exaggerated at all with the in treatment of the blacks.The non-blacks seemed to have no sympathy in what they were doing, they were simply doing what they had do, because in their eyes it's life. There are many other films that show the same treatment to slaves. Only knowing some basic treatments I fully believe that the way the Mende people were treated in the movie is how they were treated realistically. As stated before, I really have a lot more appreciation for my race. My ancestors and so many others experienced some really hard times and had to deal with things that no human should ever have to deal with regardless of the color of their skin.Not that I never appreciated what my people have done for freedom, but it is always very inspiring and impactful to see how much went into a tremendous fight for freedom. In our generation now, not many know exactly what it was like to live the life that African Americans before we were born, so it's good that we have films that shows us and help us learn. I would hope that this movie had some type of impact on the society because it is a very touching film. No one now could ever put themselves in the shoes of those who actually experienced these times.I know that if it was hard to even watch the way the slaves were treated in the movie, I could only imagine what it was actually living it. This movie shows society that this treatment was unnecessary, there is no possible reason why African Americans were treated the way they were. Amistad was a touching, impactful movie and it would be a movie I recommend people to see, just to learn more about history. Today racial issues sometimes get over looked and to see a movie that shows how they use to be may make people become more aware of how they treat someone else that is a different race.

The Kindness of Strangers Research Paper - 874 Words

In the article â€Å"The Kindness Of Strangers†, the author, Levine (2006/2007) writes of the helpfulness of strangers. He does extensive research and also performs experiments. He found that in some places of the world people were more likely to help people they do not know than in other places. He explains that environment, socialization, and economics affects how willing people are to help. Levine (2006/2007) uses economics the most through his article. He does this, because experiments showed that people who are poor are more than likely going to help someone in need. The reason for poorer communities being more helpful is because, to them social interactions are more important then their own achievements. Usually they aren’t very†¦show more content†¦He has never forgiven New York for that. He shows it by not giving New Yorkers credit for the dropped pen experiment because they yelled to him that he dropped then pen. His opinion is that its not a kind way of doing it. Of course in New York, most would go with the safe way, and still be as helpful as they can be. Another biased I noticed was the fact that he made excuses for people in other cities around the world not making change for a quarter. For whatever reasons they were he deemed them acceptable and took out those experiments. The same way New Yorkers have their reason for helping in certain ways like yelling to someone, it should be deemed acceptable as well. One research method used by Levine (2006/2007) is experimental. He went with his students all over the world to perform experiments like dropping a pen or faking an injury to see how much help he would receive. Experimental research specifies relationships between variables and generates quantitative data Macionis (2006/2007). Works Cited: Levine, L. (2006/2007). The Kindness Of Strangers. In K. Finsterbusch (Thirty-Fufth Edition), Annual Editions: Sociology (pp.10-18). Dubuque, IA: McGraw-Hill. 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