Apology by Plato

The Apology by Plato is actually a dialogue between Socrates and around 500 Athenians
that they call “the judge of Socrates’ trial” the reason for the incrimination of Socrates was he
was said to have been corrupting the youth and refusing to acknowledge the gods of the state this
claims even if it was vague and does not even make sense was the reason for Socrates’ death by
death penalty by drinking the hemlock. At first Socrates started his speech by saying that even if
Meletus is the reason for him being there he will not be the reason for his judgement it will be
the voices of the people that even way before accuse him of different things just to make him
shut up because he was embarrassing already others, so then he proceeded to address first his old
accusers, Socrates said that this people claims that Socrates is making an outlandish claims and
some odd claims and that he teaches the youth to argue and to engage with arguments with
others in which what Socrates really did just claim is that he does not know anything but his own
ignorance and he just tried to prove that really people does not really know anything thus proving
the claim that the Oracle made that Socrates is really the most intelligent person that time
because he knew one thing and that is his own ignorance, he said all this thing just to prove that
he is really innocent and what he was just doing this to make the point that he is not the most
intelligent person that time. One more thing that Socrates said was while he was trying to prove
and fine another person smarter than him other people were watching like elders children and all
types of people and some people were starting to imitate him he says that this is unfair that he is
being accused for corrupting the children’s mind for they were the one imitating him voluntarily
and that he is not instructing those children to imitate him.

The second part of Socrates speech focuses on the accuser himself Meletus which
Socrates engages in with a dialogue in which he first said that no man wishes to be harmed and
to be done wrong and continued to say that he knew that if he has done evil he knows that evil
will be done also unto him and so he said that he will never do anything wrong or even wish to
do anything wrong thus making the claim of corrupting the mind of others seem wrong because
he said that he will never do it, and that if he did corrupt the minds of other he might have done it
unintentionally or that he did not really want to do it and claims that he should not be put into
trial but instead Meletus should just approached him on private but still Meletus does not let
Socrates win. So then Socrates move on to make his second argument he argued that Meletus
claims are contradictory because Meletus says that Socrates teaches children about virtue,
wisdom, and piety, things that pertain to divinities, while also claiming that Socrates is not
acknowledging the gods he says that this is impossible because in order to teach virtue, wisdom,
and piety you will have to mention at least one god and also claims that Meletus might be lying
about his claims because Meletus is clearly contradicting himself and also claiming that Meletus
really does not care about the youth and their state of mind instead Metelus might have a grudge
and wants Socrates dead.

The last part of Socrates’ speech he wraps up his speech and said that if he is corrupting
the mind of the youth the family of the youth should be the one complaining not some person
who has nothing to do with his claims but until then the families of these youth were in favor and
is still on the side and defense for Socrates. His last claim is that he will not beg the jury to be in
favor of him and said that the jury shall do their job and judge this arguments rightfully and
equally for he will accept any rightful judgement. Then at the end the jury decided to make him
drink the hemlock for his execution which Socrates did without questions, ifs and buts.

In the Apology of Socrates by Plato I have learned that no matter how much you defend
yourself to a person or a group of person they would always believe what they want to believe in
just like what the police would say “you have the right to remain silent because anything you say
and do will be taken against you in the court of law” I think that this quote is relevant because I
think Socrates even if his claims are very mush acceptable and might also be true some people
can see it as him trying to do everything that he can in order to save himself thus making him
guilty. So I think sometimes being silent can be more helpful because I think that even if you
choose very carefully what you say people will still look for that one small hole within what you
say and form another claim against it thus making the problem worse.