Do you think Socrates did the right thing by allowing himself to be unjustly executed?
Socrates had made an intelligent decision by sacrificing himself to protect the “Social contract” between the state and him, rather than escape from prison to break the rules.
Use life to exchange for the preservation of his thought
Escape from the prison is equivalent to destruct all of his thought and value what he had constructed during his lifetime. Because leaving Athens is kind of actions to contradict what he taught to his followers, be faithful to the righteousness. In order to protect his thought and value what he deeply believed, he chose to preserve them without fear of death as the price, and so he did loyal to his perspective and followers. …show more content…
He knew that he had abandoned the chance to escape from execution to live through his whole lifespan up to the last moment. Was that equal to shorten his life intentionally? If so, here implied that he took the initiative to forgo his life rather than being killed. In this sense, he might not be fear of death but fear the consequence of destruction to his thought and value. To him, flee from jail equivalent to be unfaithful to the righteousness, he would bear the charge of infidelity for the rest of his life, and this could be the reason behind him to take the initiative to accept death by …show more content…
If Socrates was young, he should choose Kant’s model to confront hardships without fear of self-value destruction temporary in order to prove himself right and the decision made by juries that were wrong. However, the fact that he was old, if he still chooses to challenge the system, perhaps before his death still could not be able to complete the mission. Therefore, if he takes into account of his situation, accepts the judgment was the only possible choice to fulfill what he had taught to his followers, even though he would be executed. However, this was the best ending for him to preserve his dignity of identity, as well as meaning of his
Socrates had made an intelligent decision by sacrificing himself to protect the “Social contract” between the state and him, rather than escape from prison to break the rules.
Use life to exchange for the preservation of his thought
Escape from the prison is equivalent to destruct all of his thought and value what he had constructed during his lifetime. Because leaving Athens is kind of actions to contradict what he taught to his followers, be faithful to the righteousness. In order to protect his thought and value what he deeply believed, he chose to preserve them without fear of death as the price, and so he did loyal to his perspective and followers. …show more content…
He knew that he had abandoned the chance to escape from execution to live through his whole lifespan up to the last moment. Was that equal to shorten his life intentionally? If so, here implied that he took the initiative to forgo his life rather than being killed. In this sense, he might not be fear of death but fear the consequence of destruction to his thought and value. To him, flee from jail equivalent to be unfaithful to the righteousness, he would bear the charge of infidelity for the rest of his life, and this could be the reason behind him to take the initiative to accept death by …show more content…
If Socrates was young, he should choose Kant’s model to confront hardships without fear of self-value destruction temporary in order to prove himself right and the decision made by juries that were wrong. However, the fact that he was old, if he still chooses to challenge the system, perhaps before his death still could not be able to complete the mission. Therefore, if he takes into account of his situation, accepts the judgment was the only possible choice to fulfill what he had taught to his followers, even though he would be executed. However, this was the best ending for him to preserve his dignity of identity, as well as meaning of his