Purpose and intent mean so much more than the act itself according to Socrates. Disagreements are merely examples of rhythms in thought patterns much like music. Debate and discourse for Socrates was practiced to achieve the ultimate in knowledge: complete ignorance about the truth.

Charge 3: Disrespecting the Gods

For the Ancient Greeks, their Gods were ideals to look up to rather than actual personifications of deities. Each God played a significant role in one's make up and were parts of an individual's psychological makeup. Socrates is seen therefore disrespecting Greek culture and society's rules. This charge would be very much like today's obstruction of justice, where a very general and intentional broad application can be used to persecute those outliers of society such as Socrates.

For me as a juror, the gods are subjective in nature and rest within the imaginations of the worshipers. This does not mean these thoughts do not have value, but the value of such thoughts must be independently interpreted and assigned through a much more personal manner. Once again, no real crime has been committed with this charge and Socrates clear reasoning sufficiently explains his defense in a competent and understandable fashion.

Charge 4

Socrates is at his best in his defense of his charge of corrupting Athens' youth. The ridiculousness of this idea revealed how desperate and confused those making the charges truly are. As Socrates emotionally appealed to their better senses he realized that his subtle arguments of admitting his own ignorance had the wrong effect. After Socrates was condemned he seemed to reveal his true purpose when...

This is the prophecy which I utter before my departure, to the judges who have condemned me. "
It appears corruption is a good thing to Socrates. If self-improvement is true purpose of life, corrupting and eliminating old and harmful habits must accompany this strategy. For Socrates, nature was the guiding force and humans must be in balance and use both evil and good forces or daemons to help grow emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Tearing down the old is a healthy process and everyone, including the youth of Athens, should master such a skill. As a juror, I would certainly not have held this principled stand against Socrates.

Conclusions

In some ways Socrates was not very wise but in other ways this disregard for self-preservation transcends something difficult to communicate. Wisdom and ignorance, much like innocence and guilt, need each other to make sense of each other. This is the same across nature for Socrates as old ideas and matter must be replaced by new ones. This interplay demonstrated the importance of individual experience for the Greek philosophers and a subjective approach to knowledge and understanding.

References

Apology Paper Information Sheet. Provided by student.

Apology Background Information. Provided by student.

Plato. The Apology. Viewed 25 June 2013. Retrieved from http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html