Bad Internet Philosophy Paper
Broad topic gives the opportunity to show the deep knowledge of the history of philosophy. But not many know how to express their opinion correctly, which further causes errors in their articles. I have reviewed a lot of articles and decided to choose one of them where I disagree with the author’s point of view. Answering the question the author argues that:
One (but by no means the only) way of answering this question is to suggest that Socrates' ethical assertions are not really assertions of fact. They are maxims more than substantial claims, and cannot really be verified or disproved. Certainly, this can be said of his claim that the unexamined life is not worth living. The assertion that no one ever knowingly does wrong is a little more difficult to step around, but can be managed through an appeal to some of Socrates' other maxims. Socrates tends to equate wisdom with goodness, seeing the ultimate end of wisdom and knowledge as being that it gives us the wisdom and knowledge to act rightly. Wisdom would not be so valuable if it were not so intimately connected to the good. Certainly, Socrates, the wisest of men, has lived faultlessly. If anything, he serves as evidence in favor of the claim that knowledge helps us to avoid evil. (Plato’s Apology. Study questions)
Socrates together with the sophists opened a new epoch of history of ancient philosophy, turned from cosmology and natural philosophy to the problem of human, and in particular to the problem of the mind. In its time it has undoubtedly been something of a philosophical revolution. And every revolution needs heroes, and, of necessity, must go to great sacrifices. Such a hero and such a victim was Socrates. His constant desire to analyze traditional human concepts, achieve their clarity, try to retain the best and crush all the worst in them, of course, caused confusion or fear of many of his contemporaries. Socrates was accused of impiety, of corrupting the youth, in undermining the existing political system, and even the introduction of some new deities.
The fortitude, with which Socrates spent his ideas and reveals the lies, which covered the decent behavior of people and their supposedly well-intentioned judgments, always evoked constant delight in Plato, so that Socrates always remained for him a living symbol of the philosophy.
Virtue Socrates led in his philosophy to knowledge and optimistically believed that anyone can become virtuous, if he knows what good means. All evil arises only from ignorance of good. But in relation to himself, he did not see something good.
I would like to draw attention to the power of anger, which was caused in its uncritically-minded fellow citizens Socrates, the constant critic and debunker of hypocrisy and lies. The enraged Athenian Democrats chose to deal with it physically, and not to respond to his criticism with reasonable arguments. Therefore, the knowledge still does not help to avoid evil, as even Socrates was really sophic person, who could prove his allegations, but illiterate people find it easier to blame the person than to open a discussion on different topics and expand their knowledge and horizons. That is, people do not become kinder from knowledge, but rather uses it for their own selfish purposes.
Works Cited
“Plato’s Apology. Study questions.” Sparknotes.com. 2015. Web. 21 May 2016. <http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/apology/study.html>.
