Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 57

Philosophy - Essay Example Socrates was accused in corrupting new generations while he not only fulfilled his civil obligations conscientiously, but demanded the same from others. The main goal of his philosophic activity was to serve the society. This activity was directed on preparation of people with high level of intelligence, moral virtues and strong feeling of obligation and responsibility, which could bring much benefit to the society. He stated: â€Å"employ your time in improving yourself by other mens writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for† (Socrates). He wanted young people to become more educated making less mistakes and not wasting time for their correction. Socrates had a chance to stay alive. When he was considered guilty by the court, he had a chance to stay alive due to the fact that he was already old and if he had decided to refuse from his beliefs. But Socrates was not going to justify himself anyhow and to refuse from anything. This was a kind of sacrifice made in order to prove that he and his followers would keep revealing the truth, looking for the new â€Å"gods† and influencing new generations. He did not only refuse to excuse for his philosophic activity, but also made such arguments, which the judges simple could not treat nicely. He irritated judges by stating that he was not afraid of death. In the apology he stated: â€Å"to fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils†(Socrates). The phi losopher said that he had been living for 70 years and knew pretty well what he liked and what he did not liked and such statement testified about his wisdom. He considered death to be a blessing for himself (May, 2000). The conclusion can be made that Socrates may have been considered