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What did Socrates do wrong?
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Mr. Blue
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 4:39 am    Post subject: What did Socrates do wrong? Reply with quote

If I remember right, Socrates was found guilty of:
1: Teaching atheism
2: Teaching people to believe in new gods
3: Corrupting the youth
The first two charges are self-contradictory, and the third one very hard to prove. After all, the youth are quite capable of corrupting themselves. Really, his enemies were very lucky to secure a conviction. This is what they should have charged him with:
1: Trying to fit big ideas into small, heads. In many circles this is considered, correctly, to be a form of torture.
2: Knowing people who became very unpopular, such as Alcibiades. Being associated with the wrong people made him guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Technically that isn’t a crime, but it is nevertheless punishable in all societies.
3: Being a smarty pants with people who had him at their mercy. He really shouldn’t have annoyed the jury.
Obviously, these are perfectly reasonable grounds for putting someone to death, especially #3. That’s the real reason Socrates was put to death.
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Roland
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And still, IIRC, it was a close vote. I guess some people appreciate a smarty pants!

Wasn't there also a socio-political dimension to Socrates' death? Socrates was a critic of democracy and a friend of aristocrats, which made him unpopular with certain political factions.
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Mr. Blue
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 06, 2016 4:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well if anyone would appreciate a smarty pants it would be the ancient Greeks. Diogenes of Synope (sp?) went around telling everyone off, and if anything he was respected for it.

Yeah, I think there was a political dimension in there somewhere. I'm not sure it could be entirely separated from knowing unpopular people. Separate issues but connected, is my guess.
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