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The Apology Reflection Paper

Socrates was on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens with his teachings. During the trial, Socrates remained calm and confidently defended himself, believing that questioning others was his purpose. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The student who summarized the trial, Plato, admired how honestly and smoothly Socrates conducted himself during the trial, despite it being his first time. Socrates pursued speaking his beliefs freely, even when it threatened the beliefs of Athens' government. His courage to stand up for what he thought was right, despite facing death, showed his strong principles and had a lasting influence on students like Plato.

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Ivan Ang
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793 views2 pages

The Apology Reflection Paper

Socrates was on trial for corrupting the youth of Athens with his teachings. During the trial, Socrates remained calm and confidently defended himself, believing that questioning others was his purpose. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. The student who summarized the trial, Plato, admired how honestly and smoothly Socrates conducted himself during the trial, despite it being his first time. Socrates pursued speaking his beliefs freely, even when it threatened the beliefs of Athens' government. His courage to stand up for what he thought was right, despite facing death, showed his strong principles and had a lasting influence on students like Plato.

Uploaded by

Ivan Ang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Ivan Jeyo Ang ETHICS

BSA 1-14 November 26, 2019

The Apology: Reflection Paper


I must admit that at first I was not that ecstatic on the idea of reading an apology letter
from a Socrates. I thought that this will be yet another boring reading given by my professor but
do I have a choice? I have none so I proceeded to open a PDF file sent by my friend entitled
“The Apology”. I could not understand what was happening. Words I can’t even comprehend are
blatantly written. There was a moment when I imagined myself with that leaf-thing ancient
philosopher puts in their head that looks like a laurel leaf. So I did a little background research
on what it is all about. I learned that it was not an apology letter. It was the story of Socrates
being under trial inside the Athenian court in the perspective of a 28 year old student of Socrates,
who was then 70, Plato. I Proceeded and read.

I admired how raw and honest Socrates was. He immediately admitted that he is not
accustomed into being in these kinds of situation and politely stated that he will talk and
converse in a way he is more comfortable, the usual way he talk in the marketplace where these
Athenian usually come across him. Socrates was really impressive. He kept himself and was
really cool and collected all throughout the trial, this is considering that he is a first timer in front
of a jury. The way he talked was smooth and that is a clear reflection of his personality,
experience, and wisdom. He believe that being wiser than everybody else was his purpose and
stood by it up until the end he was a true believer of himself, among other students of his, and
this is what I think is one of his best quality, he is admirably confident. He was questioned for
his wisdom and I truly think that a person who questions someone’s wisdom fears change in
belief of his/her people. I think these Athenian jury fears the change in thinking Socrates brings
to their youth, these norms and beliefs that holds their government's rules. Socrates had his
freedom of speech, which was then often frowned upon, and he used it the way he think he
should have used it. Many people in Athens clearly looked at the way Socrates thinks and
presents himself is a threat to their state’s belief system and it shows in the way they decided to
sentence Socrates to death even if they made him choose at first and he chose a hefty meal for
his contribution to knowledge back in his days and influence to the youth, which I think is
positive.

Socrates was honest and firm on "The Apology" and that reflects his trust and confidence
on his statements. He spoke the only way he believes he can converse properly and that was
impressive. I learned that pursuing your purpose must be your priority even when people
question you, especially then. That means having faith in yourself and in what you believe is the
right thing to do. The way Socrates thought about it was because of an oracle. Our societies
today have improved so much but as they say, sometimes more is less. Maybe now, we don't
order people to be sentenced to death but we are more open people expressing their thoughts. We
now give emphasis on forming a synthesis through the acceptance, consolidation, and
consideration of ideas coming from different scope of life, we have social media now. Lastly, no
wonder Plato was looked up by people. He was a good listener as a mere audience but still a
critical part of the said trial. And with The Apology I say, rejection of criticism is rejection of
self-development.

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