Notes

Story Expert Assignment
The Trial and Death of Socrates

The Trial and Death of Socrates is a four-book collection of Plato’s works describing Socrates’ life and death. The physical events of his life are not hard to explain - Socrates lived his life as a philosopher that inquired into the wisdom of others and was sentenced to death due to the unpopularity he has gained from influential individuals. However, the contents of his life’s goals, inquiries, and discussions, particularly towards the end of his life, are the more interesting and significant parts of his story. In chronological order, the books that make up his trial and death are Euthyphro, The Apology, Crito, and Phaedo.
In Euthyphro, Socrates speaks with an individual about the nature and definition of holiness. A religious man, Euthyphro, is about to prosecute his father. Socrates asks him why he is doing so, and Euthyphro replies that it is the holy decision. Socrates asks for Euthyphro to teach him about holiness since Euthyphro proclaims that he knows all about it. After arguing and inquiring with Socrates about the definition of holiness, they find they do not have an answer. First, Euthyphro suggests that holiness is what is agreeable to the gods. Socrates replies that the gods quarrel very much; what is agreeable to one may not be agreeable to all. This definition won’t do. Next, Euthyphro suggests that holiness is what gets approved of by all gods. Socrates’ counterargument is relatively complex and took me a few reads to comprehend. To restate Euthyphro’s definition: something gets approved by gods because it is holy. Socrates supplies a logical argument for why that does not mean what is holy is congruent with what is approved by gods. I won’t explain the full argument, as it is rather complex, but it’s on Sparknotes if you want to try to understand it. They continue the dialogue and argument, and Euthyphro walks away angry in the end, and they are unable to identify holiness. You can observe Socrate’s style of trying to obtain knowledge from someone who claims to have it, and logically disproving them through argument to get closer to the truth. You can imagine that this gains him unpopularity from many, but it is a part of his mission to seek out the truth and stir the minds of Athens - through dialogue with those who claim to have wisdom.
In The Apology, Socrates discusses the truth about his life and his deeds and gives his defense against the false charges made against him at his trial. However, he is condemned to death. In Crito, he explains to his friend why he’d rather face death than break out of the ward and escape his execution - it would be wrong to harm the state purely because the state harmed him. In Phaedo, Socrates talks with his friends in his final moments about the afterlife and why he does not fear death. In all of these take place as a dialogue between him and at least one other person, where they logically argue to arrive at the truth of a matter. Socrates’ whole life mission was to stir the minds of Athens - to ask friends on the nature of friendship, to ask generals and soldiers on the nature of courage, and to deliberate and argue until they arrive at the truth - or acknowledge they are unable to.
The Death and Trial of Socrates is a phenomenal story to read because you learn so much about Socrates’ significance, his intentions, and his actual life, as well as his methods. You experience the works of a philosopher on topics that science cannot cover, like the nature of virtue, the fear of death. Not only this, but the amount of learning and comprehension skills I have gained since I have started reading is insane - reading through the logical arguments and trying to make sense of everything (it’s translated from Greek) proves to be tough for me, but I’ve gotten quicker at comprehending things I read. But most importantly, you learn how to analyze, construct, or pick apart a logical argument. Unlike the common belief that philosophy is purely a mass of uncertain speculations, Socrates took things in a very logical manner. The system of the Socratic Method is a dialogue between people where they argue and counterargue with logical arguments. This gets all parties closer to the truth of the matter - whether they arrive there or not depends on their ability to use logic to construct and pick apart arguments. Skills like letting go of beliefs if logic proves them wrong, being extremely openminded, and constantly trying to find flaws in your own and others’ arguments are all extremely valuable for learning and growing, and they are the core skills of philosophy. These skills are showcased very well through Socrates and his dialogues with others. These skills will help you get further in many topics, from all branches of philosophy to science and mathematics. How to correctly is a precious skill. To conclude, you should read the Death and Trial of Socrates because you’ll obtain knowledge of many concepts and skills that are valuable to growth and learning, all in the span of 4 short books.