ENGL 298 B: Intermediate Writing Social Sciences   Autumn 2011, University of Washington

“Those who maliciously and slanderously persuaded you – who also, when persuaded themselves persuaded others – all those are most difficult to deal with…” (Plato, pg 22) Persuaded is the key phrase both in this passage and in the whole of the Apology. Plato records Socrates’ defense because he deems the arguments Socrates has made […]

“Consider, Socrates, whether this is not only evil, but shameful, both for you and for us.” (46a) Crito tries to present Socrates with many different motivating forces for him to leave, jumping lightly from one to the next. Crito attempts to use shame as a reason to convince Socrates to leave the prison, claiming that […]

One word that jumped out at me in the Crito was the word “persuade” when Socrates was talking about the laws speaking to him. I have a hard time with this notion of somebody persuading the law. I think they make light of it in this text, essentially either you obey our laws or you […]

Two words that stood out to me within the texts of Apology and Crito are defense and corruption. Defense is a key term within the text of Apology because it has a multi-faceted meaning. I think that Plato believes that Socrates defends his method more than himself. Socrates is indeed defending himself, but more importantly […]

1. The word in the “Apology” that was interesting to me was “slander”. This word not only caught my eye because Socrates used it so much but because it is important in the defense of Socrates himself. Slander according Socrates is false accusations and statements that have obviously brought him to court. The slanderous statements […]

Reading Plato’s work has definitely shown me a whole new level of confusion. However, I feel like any new piece of literature may take a fair amount of time to understand. While I truthfully admit I do not fully comprehend his work. But, the two words that really stood out to me were  legitimate and […]

Of all the words in the “Apology” and in the Crito, the word “wisdom” provoked the most thought forme.  What does wisdom entail?  Is it the concrete knowledge we learn from education, our experiences, or both?  Socrates says “all that I say is true…What has caused my reputation is none other than a certain kind […]

Despite being a highly controversial individual who caused many of his fellow citizens acrimony and irritation, Socrates was undisputedly a very intelligent man. After studying him in depth this past week, I have come to a personal conclusion that he was so intelligent that he carefully planned everything he did to the finest details- including the […]

“…there is a man called Socrates, a wise man…”(22b) The word “wise” is an important part of the text for the following reasons. In the book the word plays a similar role to Socrates in Athens. It gets you to think of what you know and what you pretend to know. In the text we […]

“Your present situation makes clear that the majority can inflict not the least but pretty well the greatest of evils if one is slandered among them.” (44d) As I was reading through Crito, I tried my hardest to not focus on this assignment and to simply read and understand what Plato wrote. But when I […]