Socrates:Guilty or Innocent
...ife except death. Instead they should realize what an honest and truthful man they are going to put to death for no real rationale. When looking at the reasons for why Socrates is placed on trial there is not one that should be enough to put a man in jail much less to death. He is placed on trial simply because the upper-class citizens do not appreciate his way of life. They do not enjoy the fact that a very filthy, un-wealthy, old man has been going around thinking that he is smarter then all of them. In their minds the only way one can have any knowledge is to be very wealthy and have tutors to teach you the philosophies of life. Here they have a civilian who always seems to out wit them in their own philosophies; yet, he never had any mentors of his own or the wealth and power that they acquire. In reality, the public is just extremely frustrated with Socrates. They try, unsuccessfully, to come up with a charge that is reasonable to put him to death; the only charge they can accuse him with though is being an open minded person who is trying to find out the truth—about everything. Not only is the public disturbed by the fact that Socrates goes around thinking he knows more then everyone else, what truly bothers them is that he is having an effect on their youth. It is not even Socrates’ goal to go around changing the youth’s minds about the philosophies they have grown up learning about; he simply wants to get them thinking about everything they have been programmed to believe. He wants them to not just accept them for fact because someone of wealth and power told them it was so. In his mind everyone should question what they are taught and figure out for themselves if it is something they truly believe in. With the youth, Socrates got them questioning the philosophies they have been instructed to believe and this infuriates the adults. After years of instructing the youth, Socrates is able to change the way they think simply by asking them to further explain why their beliefs are correct—the adults want this influential man out of their society. While reviewing Socrates’ life style and behavior one will realize that all in all he leads a very innocent life. Socrates never expects to get paid for what he teaches his pupils; all he wants is their insight on what they believe they have knowledge about. His life is not about trying to prove people wrong and tell them that all of their philosophies are not true. Everything he asks and questions people about is to try to find out the truth, the truth about the world as an entity. Not only does Socrates not charge for his lessons, he does not even go to find his pupils. The pupils come to him. He will teach anyone that he runs across in his travels that are willing to talk to him, and in return explain his or her own philosophies of life. During these discussions Socrates also does not try to act as if he has knowledge about everything in the world. He is very upfront with the fact that he does not believe he knows everything, and that his whole purpose is to try to learn more—not teach. If Socrates had been trying to force his ways onto other people then the public might have a legitimate argument, but he just questiones their beliefs and asks them to further explain the truth behind them. The final line is that Socrates is a truthful and honest man only questioning what is thought to be fact; this alone is not a charge that one should be put in jail for. While Socrates is on trial it becomes even more apparent that he should not be there having to defend his innocent existence. His main accuser, Meletus, has to change his allegation mid-trial because he reali...