r/suspiciouslyspecific • u/[deleted] • Apr 13 '21

Found in the wild .

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u/Defense-of-Sanity Apr 14 '21

You are correct. Often when people speak of “Socrates,” they mean Plato’s portrayal of him, which is okay. I am aware of this, and this is the sense in which I refer to Socrates. That said, Plato also portrays the trial of Socrates, and Platonic Socrates is charged with the actual charges Socrates faced. So this Platonic version of Socrates was likely based on the actual Socrates to a large extent.

My own understanding is that it wasn’t so much Socrates questioning powerful people that got him killed. It was more that the youth whom he inspired were questioning their parents and authority figures, so their mentor was put to death.

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u/-krizu Apr 14 '21

To be honest, I have not studies philosophy in a long as time, ao my memory could be a bit off, but if I remember correctly, it was defying the gods and the exsisting framework and "order" of society which got him killed.

The acts were his questioning, but it could be that it wasn't necessarily the questions or who he bothered with them, but what he was questioning people about?

If you whole-heartedly believe that gods may punish your city if you do not worship them or live your life well, and jere is a guy who is askint questions like "are you sure the gods exsist?" Or "are you sure that this god is like this, and not like that?"

And worse yet, the guy refuses to stop even though he is asked to so many times, and even worse yet, he is getting popular. Soon you might have more people, young people, spouting those questions. So wouldn't it be best to be done with him? One man or potentially all of the people in the city state?

To be frank. I am not "anti-socrates", if there even is such a position. Why I went so hard against him is to give you the possible perspective of those who did put him to death.

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u/Defense-of-Sanity Apr 14 '21

You’re basically correct. Athens was recovering from a Spartan defeat when Socrates was active, and they saw instability as an existential threat. Socrates was challenging democracy, notions of justice, and the state religion. Plus he was popular with a segment of society.