Plato’s Apology

1.To start you should watch this video for some context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gVyEOefhIQ 2.Next you need to read the etext of Plato’s Apology: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1656/1656-h/1656-h.htm You can listen to an audio version here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeO4H_xtmAE Next, read/listen to the dialogue carefully. Answer the 12 questions below. Your answers in total should be a submission of at least 500 words, not including the questions themselves. Your responses should be numbered and formatted correctly. You should not go to outside sources, since the purpose of this assignment is to have you read a classic of world literature and philosophy, not some dubious interpretation by someone else on the internet. Using outside sources could even lower your score. You should minimize direct quotes. It is best to use a Word file or pdf file. Study Questions on the Apology: 1) Socrates says, “And first, I have to reply to the older charges and to my first accusers, and then I will go to the later ones. ” Explain who these two groups of accusers are. 2) What kind of reputation did Socrates have in Athens? Be as specific as possible. 3) How does Socrates distinguish himself from Sophists like Gorgias, Hippias amd Evanus? 4) Explain the sense in which Socrates thought he might be wise but also not have much knowledge. (the story of Chaerophon) 5) In his exchange with Meletus what point is Socrates making with his analogy of training horses? 6) What were the two specific legal charges against Socrates? In what sense might the charges have been true? 7) How does Socrates respond to each of these charges? Be as specific as you can 8) What beneficial role does Socrates think he plays in the life of Athens? 9) What reward does Socrates say he deserves? And why does he think he deserves it? 10) What punishments does Socrates consider and why does he reject them? 11) Why does Socrates say he does not fear death? 12) Pick the TWO intellectual virtues (see the Module list) that you think Socrates exemplifies the most and explain why. Module list: Intellectual Virtues Valuable Intellectual Traits Intellectual Humility: Having a consciousness of the limits of one’s knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one’s native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and limitations of one’s viewpoint. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one’s beliefs. Intellectual Courage: Having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs or viewpoints toward which we have strong negative emotions and to which we have not given a serious hearing. This courage is connected with the recognition that ideas considered dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified (in whole or in part) and that conclusions and beliefs inculcated in us are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for ourselves which is which, we must not passively and uncritically “accept” what we have “learned.” Intellectual courage comes into play here, because inevitably we will come to see some truth in some ideas considered dangerous and absurd, and distortion or falsity in some ideas strongly held in our social group. We need courage to be true to our own thinking in such circumstances. The penalties for non-conformity can be severe. Intellectual Empathy: Having a consciousness of the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, which requires the consciousness of our egocentric tendency to identify truth with our immediate perceptions of long-standing thought or belief. This trait correlates with the ability to reconstruct accurately the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than our own. This trait also correlates with the willingness to remember occasions when we were wrong in the past despite an intense conviction that we were right, and with the ability to imagine our being similarly deceived in a case-at-hand. Intellectual Autonomy: Having rational control of one’s beliefs, values, and inferences, The ideal of critical thinking is to learn to think for oneself, to gain command over one’s thought processes. It entails a commitment to analyzing and evaluating beliefs on the basis of reason and evidence, to question when it is rational to question, to believe when it is rational to believe, and to conform when it is rational to conform. Intellectual Integrity: Recognition of the need to be true to one’s own thinking; to be consistent in the intellectual standards one applies; to hold one’s self to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one’s antagonists; to practice what one advocates for others; and to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one’s own thought and action. Intellectual Perseverance: Having a consciousness of the need to use intellectual insights and truths in spite of difficulties, obstacles, and frustrations; firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of others; a sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight. Confidence In Reason: Confidence that, in the long run, one’s own higher interests and those of humankind at large will be best served by giving the freest play to reason, by encouraging people to come to their own conclusions by developing their own rational faculties; faith that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people can learn to think for themselves, to form rational viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think coherently and logically, persuade each other by reason and become reasonable persons, despite the deep-seated obstacles in the native character of the human mind and in society as we know it. Fairmindedness: Having a consciousness of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to one’s own feelings or vested interests, or the feelings or vested interests of one’s friends, community or nation; implies adherence to intellectual standards without reference to one’s own advantage or the advantage of one’s group.