Common questions and answers

¶ … Religion

Discuss the death of Socates. What is different about Socrates' attitude towards death and why? Do you feel that people who have a strong sense of God and afterlife have an eaier time accepting death?

After Socrates conviction, though he stresses the fact that the application of the law is unjust, the law itself is not and he should and will abide by the death sentence. The duty to follow one's own convictions overshadows any desire to plead further than the truth or flee, as doing so would be contrary to self, which is contrary to God and therefore civic responsibility. In so doing Socrates adequately defends his position, through the utilization of repetition, consistency through the literature and lastly through living an exemplary life, that gives examples of his commitment to the self through God's messages, to the civic and lastly to family.

Socrates, believes that his responsibility to Athens, and to god is to maintain the calling set for him, he does not say he would break the law if he was to be given the option of leaving the court never to practice philosophy again, he says he would rather die than live a life contrary to God by not practicing philosophy for the betterment of the world, and of Athens. In other words, his honor is to serve God and Athens and accepting such a sentence would be contrary to both. Socrates professes to have orders from God to question those who do not act in goodness, but claim to, and in so doing he establishes himself as an enemy to many who wish to live in denial of their own failings, seeking fortune but not goodness. His faith in an afterlife clearly drives, in part his wisdom with regard to death as he assumes it a better option than to flea or plead and says it is a better option than living outside the law or his pact with god. Besides his own death would save him from the torture of life.

When Socrates speaks to the jurors there is a very clear sense of the nature of his case. He tells them that having been convicted it would be wrong of him to ask them for clemency, as this would be asking them to go against the oaths the took as jurors and this would be contrary to the law. Socrates wishing not to make himself a hypocrite, takes his trial and his sentence as if it were the best thing for everyone. Even at the close of the Apology he makes clear that he is not fearful of death, as he has lived a long life and death should be looked upon as a good, rather than a bad outcome, as one can then seek out council from great men who have died before and rest from his worldly worries. He reiterates this in the Crito, by speaking with Crito, surely and calmly about the event of his own death. Socrates, through logic guides Crito to believe that to escape his sentence, without the consent of the Athenians would be to act unjustly, and if acting unjustly is always wrong than he should not flee. Socrates atones Crito with a philosophical conversation with the state. He builds his case by affirming that he is a slave of the state, as he has been brought up in all the greatness of the laws, which it has established, and therefore he cannot take a stand against the state to save his own life. Socrates gives a clear assertion that if the just laws of Athens have convicted him than he has no singular right to skirt them, as if he were a child playing truant from school. He is saying that if he and other individuals seek to reject the laws of Athens than it would be the death of Athens, and the death of Athens is far more serious than the death of the individual, even if the laws are being applied unjustly. Socrates, stands above those who would offer piteous self-testimony to save themselves from punishment or flee, acting outside the law. He believes that if he were to act dishonorably, to save himself, he would be dishonorable to himself, and therefore his God and his state. Following the advice of any but his own God, which has intoned in him since the beginning that he has done nothing wrong and therefore that death will not hurt him, but will likely be the beginning of the end for those who unjustly used the laws to their own end. Socrates gave the jury no choice in the matter of how the sentence was to be read, if he was convicted he asked for death and informed the jury that no other option would be possible, as any other would be worse than death, which he accepts with honor making it different than many other deaths.

2.Compare the Platonic notion of wisdom in relation to Augustine's understanding of God and truth. How is Augustine similar to Plato? How does Augustine differ from Plato?

At one point in Augustine's life he was strongly drawn to platonic philosophy and in fact many call him a shadow of Plato and yet because both were focused and drawn to varied focal point, Plato to politics and Augustine to personal truth their theories vary slightly. Plato focused on how an individual might seek truth and justice through recognizing his own abilities and aptitudes and then seeking out these actions to better serve his community, while Augustine, believed that in seeking out one's individual ontological truth he would by virtue of this drive for and achievement of perfection he would serve himself first and his community second as if one was seeking perfection in self the community would be served by this seeking. Plato believed that the goal of serving ones community or politic in wisdom gained from living ones life he would better serve his community first and himself second.

Plato and Augustine therefore disagreed in the end but not necessarily the means, and individuals must strive wisdom (being the wisdom of self and God) to seek out the perfection, which Augustine believed was possible if hard to reach through any means other than seeking truth and applying it directly to how one lived his life, while Plato believed that the means was the only possible manner to reach truth and that likely few if anyone was capable of complete wisdom. Both philosophers also sought to demonstrate that seeking wisdom and truth was superior to allowing daily distractions to run ones life but Augustine believed that this wisdom would be sought through listening to God and Plato believed it would be a more physical expression of finding one's niche in society and fulfilling it to the best of one's ability. Then to summarize their differences Augustine believed that one would find perfection in ontological truth while Plato stressed that one would become closer to ultimate wisdom by physically doing those things which wisdom guided them toward. Augustine believed that conversations with the God in one's mind would drive the goal of perfection and remove one from evil while Plato believed that interactions within the physical world would help one seek but never really attain perfect wisdom and a perfect life to be lived.

To some extent the two agreed on many things but ultimately their disagreement is based on the fact that Augustine believed that truth and God would guide the individual to perfection while Plato believed that perfection was not possible, only the means to it and that it would be a product of the individual's allowance of the physical world to guide him through wisdom to the right path, which ultimately would never really lead to perfection as humans are not capable of such.

3. Compare and constrast the notion of God proposed Greek philosophy (the God of philosophy) to the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition (the God of religion). What are their similarities and differences? Which do you prefer and why?

In many ways the God of Greek philosophy seemed to be a God who was given deference to for the purpose of assumptive reasoning. Because God was assumed to exist he was therefore expected to guide and be given deference to, while the God of the Judeo-Christian tradition is one who is not only to be assumed to exist but one who is to be proven through visible and physical miracles, which occur daily and for all who believe and seek to believe. God, in short in Greek Philosophy is given deference to as an assumption, we all know he exists and guides the actions of man but he is not necessarily present in the world to protect, punish or nurture people, he has better things to do. While the whole of the existence of God and his role in the world is according to religion to guide and protect man and punish him when he has done wrong.

This difference may be in part to the fact that many philosophies that coalesced into Greek philosophy saw God or (in some cases the Gods) as tricksters that played with the living, creating havoc and destruction for enjoyment and entertainment. The God of the Greeks was watching us all play, much as if her were attending a theater, but as the defacto director he has the power to play with the actors, restaging them to do either good or evil, depending on his whim. While the God of religion is here to guide, protect and punish us for our own actions within the confines of free will, a gift he has given us to allow us to choose the right.