Charlotte Bennett- Apology

Socrates was a very interesting man. The way he thought and how he questioned everything is mind boggling to me. Something interesting in the Apology that caught my eye was, in the beginning, Socrates says that he is not a good speaker. I would have to disagree with that. His argument was so well thought out and presented, how could the man who gave this defense be a bad speaker?

Reading the Apology and knowing the historical outcome made me think a little more about what Socrates was saying. Some people would argue that Socrates was trying to persuade the jurors to examine the facts of the trial and make their own decisions. I think that Socrates went into the trial knowing what was going to happen to him. Even before he receives his death sentence he mentions how he could not live any other way and if what he was doing was wrong, and if it was against the law, he would still live his life that way because that is what he thought was right.

My favorite quote was after Socrates receives the death sentence, "You are wrong if you believe that by killing people you will prevent anyone from reproaching you for not living in the right way" (34-35). This sentence is so profound. What I think is being said is that killing one person who thinks a certain way is not going to change the minds of all the other people who think that way. But then again, if everyone believed this to be true we would have no reason for war.

Because the Apology was Socrates' defense argument I think you have to look at the way he uses logos, ethos, and pathos. Socrates definitely favored logos, or logic. It's what he used for his entire argument. Socrates discredited pathos, passion, when he said he could have brought his family and used them to create sympathy to win over jurors. Socrates' reason for not liking ethos was confusing but logical. It had to do with what he was saying about wise men. He thought that a wise man never stopped questioning the world around him, for once you believe that you know everything, you are an fool and you know nothing.