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quetzalcoatl's review against another edition
4.0
He says a lot in this and it pains me how such a bright and intelligent mind is pinned to death for philosophy. Which is an amazing thing to have.
neo_221's review against another edition
5.0
In the episode, 'Ozymandias' of the Breaking Bad, Hank gets captured and Walter realizes that Hank is going to die very soon. Walter pleads with the gunmen to leave Hank alone and even pleads with Hank to beg for his life! Hank stares at Walter for a moment and says,
' You're the smartest guy I've ever met... but you're too stupid to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago...'
That is how I felt about the whole trial. Socrates was fairly unpopular during the final years of his life and although the charges against him were unjust, his defense against the charges was abysmal. He started off strong and even managed to set a trap card for Meletus(which he eventually fell for!) during the cross-examination session but soon the philosopher in him took over and he began to lose the plot. Socrates wanted to paint a picture of himself as a noble and virtuous guy but probably ended up coming across as arrogant and imprudent to the members of the jury. His anti-democratic views were also frowned upon and he also managed to let loose some daringly honest statements that day,
"Please do not be offended if I tell you the truth. No man on earth who conscientiously opposes either you or any other organized democracy, and flatly prevents a great many wrongs and illegalities from taking place in the state to which he belongs, can possibly escape with his life. The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone."
My man exclaimed the quiet part out loud and statements like these might have irked the more conservative members of the jury. He also mentioned several times that he does not fear death and if the jury does somehow decide to acquit him of all charges but set a condition that he should stop philosophizing for the rest of his life, he would not stop doing so and would continue to be a philosopher for the rest of his life. Telling a bunch of angry people who hate a particular habit of yours that you will continue to maintain that habit regardless of the consequences can easily be misinterpreted as imprudence/arrogance, even if you eloquently try to explain the virtue behind it.
Some scholars say that Socrates might have been able to save himself that day had he really wanted to. But he chose the truth instead of coming up with complex rhetorics and the truth might have had a hand in killing him that day.
' You're the smartest guy I've ever met... but you're too stupid to see that he made up his mind 10 minutes ago...'
That is how I felt about the whole trial. Socrates was fairly unpopular during the final years of his life and although the charges against him were unjust, his defense against the charges was abysmal. He started off strong and even managed to set a trap card for Meletus(which he eventually fell for!) during the cross-examination session but soon the philosopher in him took over and he began to lose the plot. Socrates wanted to paint a picture of himself as a noble and virtuous guy but probably ended up coming across as arrogant and imprudent to the members of the jury. His anti-democratic views were also frowned upon and he also managed to let loose some daringly honest statements that day,
"Please do not be offended if I tell you the truth. No man on earth who conscientiously opposes either you or any other organized democracy, and flatly prevents a great many wrongs and illegalities from taking place in the state to which he belongs, can possibly escape with his life. The true champion of justice, if he intends to survive even for a short time, must necessarily confine himself to private life and leave politics alone."
My man exclaimed the quiet part out loud and statements like these might have irked the more conservative members of the jury. He also mentioned several times that he does not fear death and if the jury does somehow decide to acquit him of all charges but set a condition that he should stop philosophizing for the rest of his life, he would not stop doing so and would continue to be a philosopher for the rest of his life. Telling a bunch of angry people who hate a particular habit of yours that you will continue to maintain that habit regardless of the consequences can easily be misinterpreted as imprudence/arrogance, even if you eloquently try to explain the virtue behind it.
Some scholars say that Socrates might have been able to save himself that day had he really wanted to. But he chose the truth instead of coming up with complex rhetorics and the truth might have had a hand in killing him that day.
crzydjm's review against another edition
4.0
A great one to kick off 2025 with. Short but brutally truthful. As I did in 2024, highlights interspersed with thoughts for everything I read...
- "... let the speaker speak truly and the judge decide justly."
- "...but the truth is, O men of Athens, that God only is wise; and by his answer he intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth little or nothing"
- "...a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong—acting the part of a good man or of a bad"
- "...and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good"
- "Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live, I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to every one of you, thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private interests"
- "...and if I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living, you are still less likely to believe me"
- "The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness"
- "Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good; for one of two things—either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another."
- "... let the speaker speak truly and the judge decide justly."
- "...but the truth is, O men of Athens, that God only is wise; and by his answer he intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth little or nothing"
- "...a man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong—acting the part of a good man or of a bad"
- "...and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good"
- "Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live, I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to every one of you, thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private interests"
- "...and if I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life is not worth living, you are still less likely to believe me"
- "The difficulty, my friends, is not to avoid death, but to avoid unrighteousness"
- "Let us reflect in another way, and we shall see that there is great reason to hope that death is a good; for one of two things—either death is a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or, as men say, there is a change and migration of the soul from this world to another."
agentdalecoop's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
aaauroraaa's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
fatin's review against another edition
3.0
I apologize to all my followers for not being more active on Goodreads! This damn reading block still hasn't left me.
So, I did really enjoy this reading and I was enjoying the offhand insults Socrates was throwing at his audience and I would've given it a higher rating was it not for the sexist comments.
I do think it proves that people haven't really changed at all in the many, many years since then. I read Apology for a class assignment and our professor asked us if we thought any such man (or woman!!) exists in today's time and I think if I had to say so, I'd say Neil deGrasse Tyson would be the person. Except you know, in his quest to be truthful and to help the people and pass on his knowledge, he also knows that all people are equal despite their races and their gender.
So, I did really enjoy this reading and I was enjoying the offhand insults Socrates was throwing at his audience and I would've given it a higher rating was it not for the sexist comments.
I do think it proves that people haven't really changed at all in the many, many years since then. I read Apology for a class assignment and our professor asked us if we thought any such man (or woman!!) exists in today's time and I think if I had to say so, I'd say Neil deGrasse Tyson would be the person. Except you know, in his quest to be truthful and to help the people and pass on his knowledge, he also knows that all people are equal despite their races and their gender.