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Papers > History > Socrates Social Critic of Athens
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Socrates Social Critic of Athens |
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Socrates: Social Critic of Athens The World’s greatest social critics and philosophers are often those most feared. ... Che Guevara, Malcolm X, Marat, Timothy McVeigh, John Brown, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Robespierre and Socrates are all examples of such a critic. Socrates, one of the first social critics portrayed in literature, was admired and despised in Ancient Athens. Eventually, Meletus, a powerful accuser of Socrates, brought him to court. Socrates was charged with practicing sophism, damaging the young people of Athens and believing in his own gods rather than the conventional ones of his country. The Greek philosopher, Plato, depicts Socrates explanation and defense of his life in his Defence of Socrates. In this work, Socrates examines and confronts the universal fear of philosophers and social critics while addressing his accusers. In court, Socrates speaks in a plain, conversational tone. As a social critic of the people, Socrates talks in a dialect that the general public would understand. In fact, Socrates urges the crowd to listen to his statements and not his diction, “…disregard my manner of speaking- it may not be as good, or it may be better- but to consider and attend simply to the question whether or not my case is just…” (18a). By focusing on the way he address the court in the opening of his defense, Socrates is even more endearing to his crowd- a group of about 500 Athenians. In addition, Socrates wants his audience to, “…hear [his] points spontaneously in whatever words occur to [him]…” (17c). ... As a result of his sincerity, truthfulness and candor in the opening remarks of his defense, Socrates cements his role as a valid social critic. In critical style, Socrates tells the court that he sees himself as an outsider in Athens, whose purpose is to irritate and impact Athenian society. In one passage, Socrates compares himself to a gadfly and asserts an interesting metaphor about the social critic’s relationship to his state: “The fact is, if I may put the point in a somewhat comical way, that I have been literally attached by God to our city, as if to a horse- a large thoroughbred, which is a bit sluggish because of its size, and needs to be aroused by some sort of gadfly. Yes, in me, I believe, God has attached to our city just such a creature- the kind which is constantly alighting everywhere on you, every one of you…” (30e-31a) Here, Socrates lays out his role as a social critic. |
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Title: Socrates Social Critic of Athens
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