Socrates, the great philosopher

下面为大家整理一篇优秀的essay代写范文 -- Socrates, the great philosopher，文章讲述公元前399年，伟大的哲学家苏格拉底（Socrates）被悲剧诗人梅勒图斯（Meletus）指控为腐败的雅典青年和卑鄙行为。在被指控之后，陪审团在由511名雅典公民组成的陪审团中进行了两次投票，决定是否对苏格拉底判处死刑，这是雅典的典型审判方式（Colaiaco，2013年）。从法律制度的角度看，这一判决似乎遵循严格的程序，苏格拉底对投票结果没有异议，尽管可以免于死亡，但被判死于中毒而死。但是，就提交人而言，雅典人对Meletus对苏格拉底提出的正式指控定罪既不合理也不明智。

 

In 399 B.C., the great philosopher Socrates was accused by the tragic poet Meletus for corrupting the Athens youths and impiety. And after the accusation, there were two voting among jury court which was composed of five hundred and one Athenian citizens deciding whether Socrates was to be sentenced to death or not, which was a typical trial way back in Athens (Colaiaco, 2013). From the perspective of the law system, the sentence seemed to follow strict procedures, and Socrates had no disagreement with the voting result and was sentenced to die by taking poison without escaping, although he could be free of death. However, as far as the author is concerned, it is neither reasonable nor wise for Athenians to convict the formal charges leveled against Socrates by Meletus.

 

The Greek law system was the first secular legal system in the western legal history. Unfortunately, it failed to keep a distance from politics. In the democracy of Athens, it became the most powerful weapon to defend democracy, but it also played the role as the tool of the public opinion. The jury court was the symbol of Athenian Democracy, was also its most strong fortress. It did well to defend democracy, but what it did was at the expense of the law.

 

Although most of the jurors were not lack of political enthusiasm and sense of justice, but they didn't fully understand the law. There is no doubt that most of them let their conscience be their guide, but the principles of justice they followed, often just their personal likes and dislikes, or bias didn't know when to get used to (Tamanaha, 2004). 

 

It has to be admitted that the public held some wrong perception towards Socrates, and there are two main reasons for it. On one hand, Socrates' personal activity was the main cause of this public wrong perception. Socrates’ life was guided by the oracle. He engaged in public debate and probed into the virtue and justice topic constantly. His eloquence was well known by audience. What is more, both his cross-examine and rebutting deeply harassed the Athenians. Because of their misunderstanding of Socrates' behavior, they classified his opinions into class of wits known as sophistry. This is really a serious misunderstanding of Socrates. On the other hand, the comedy The Cloud, which was written by Aristophanes contributed to the public wrong perception towards Socrates. Aristophanes 's purpose was against the maladies of the times, instead of attacking Socrates. But what Aristophanes had not predicted in the comedy The Cloud was the negative influence on Socrates, which formed the public opinion of prejudice.

 

The lack-of reasoning judgment from the part of the 501 representative citizens made the jury court incompatible with the normal modern legal principle, which leaded to an unjust result for Socrates. Socrates shows his spiritual strength, accepted the unreasonable judge towards him, he won the glory, and endured the death penalty. Although those who judge him forced him to be silent, the sound of the voice before 2300 years in Athens has never been silent. "Socrates was not died of democracy, but democracy lacks traditional rule by law.”

 

According to Maine (1871), in order to get an ideal and perfect sentence, for some special cases, there should be no hesitation to take flexible of laws. He also suggests that the judicial principle could just come down from concept of right and wrong at the time. And in the age of Socrates, the concept of right and wrong is not sound enough, and Socrates is a man to pursue virtues and bridge the gap of such blurry concepts. Overall, it is not reasonable for Athenians to convict Socrates’ formal charges in the special time under special democratic and legal system that has not fully developed.

 

References

Colaiaco, J. A. (2013). Socrates against Athens: philosophy on trial. Routledge.

 

Maine, S.H. (1871). Ancient law: its connection with the early history of society, and its relation to modern ideas. C. Scribner.

 

Tamanaha, B. Z. (2004). On the rule of law. History, Politics, Theory, 1.

 

 

51due留学教育原创版权郑重声明：原创优秀代写范文源自编辑创作，未经官方许可，网站谢绝转载。对于侵权行为，未经同意的情况下，51Due有权追究法律责任。主要业务有essay代写、assignment代写、paper代写、作业代写服务。

51due为留学生提供最好的作业代写服务，亲们可以进入主页了解和获取更多代写范文提供作业代写服务，详情可以咨询我们的客服QQ：800020041。