Study Guide
- Gorgias
- Sophist
- People learn from them and listen to them
- Indifference to the truth
- Proposing serious questions of truth
- Nothing exists → we cannot prove that something exists
- Incredible skeptism
- Enomium of Helen
- Helen was problematic
- Sought cause war of Troy and problem with husband
- Gorgias defends her
- Misunderstood her
- Decisions of God (fate)
- Cannot hold her responsible
- Wants to convince people he’s a good speaker
- Can we blame Helen for fallen in love with Paris
- Overcome with strong emotion
- Judgment→falling apart
- Nothing is anyones fault, we can we blame?
- Socrates
- Didn’t agree with Gorgias
- Method for developing points
- Want to make a serious point
- Points about what we do know
- Distrusted writings
- Writings from Plato (Socrates student)
- Socratic Paradoxes
- Virtue is one
- How is everything related to good
- Derived from good
- Virtue is knowledge
- Know what right and wrong are, the virtuous action will be evident to you
- Suspicion if knowledge → more difficult
- No one does wrong knowingly and willingly
- If we truly know what the good is, we will pick virtue every time
- Defense of Socrates
- Socrates is different than the Sophists
- He is interested in the truth when sophists just want people to listen to them
- Socrates tries to convince by the truth
- Accusation: why prove something against powerful people
- Don’t fear death
- Fear about unjust and cowardly death
- If you don’t stand up for what you believe in, then your wasting opportunities
- Failing
- “an unexamined life is no life for a human being to live”
- Worst kind of life
- Why do you live the way you do?
- Not examining your life carefully, living a life not worth living
- Dies because of this → trying to make a change
- Evil is worse than Deathath is not a bad thing
- By not standing by what you believe in, you are evil and wrong
- Die by standing for what you believe in
- Honor
- Crito
- What about friends and family if you are put to death?
- Asking Socrates
- In terms of justice
