The Plight of Socrates: The Wrongful Conviction of an Innocent Man

The Plight of Socrates: The Wrongful Conviction of an Innocent Man

In the dialogue Apology, Plato outlines Socrates’ defense during his trial. Socrates is being accused of impiety, corrupting the youth of Athens, and of being a Sophist. HE is found guilty of all charges, and is sentenced to death for his crimes. The sentence of death is meant to be the most severe punishment that the jurymen can impose on him, but Socrates seems to view his sentence as a gift of sorts. He states that “a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death” (41d). In this paper, I will discuss in detail what he means by this claim, what it means for him to be good, and that his statement is not necessarily true for everyone.
    Socrates claims that “a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death” (41d). Through this statement, Socrates is saying that he believes he is a good man, thus he has nothing to fear in death. He is an innocent man who was wrongly convicted of crimes that he did not commit, and he lives and honest and true life. Socrates acknowledges his own lack of knowledge about death and what happens to our souls when we die, yet still does not fear death. Throughout his trial, he also presents himself as an exceptional person who has a special relationship with the god through his divine sign that comes to him in the form of an inner voice. If Socrates was without his divine sign, he may feel differently about his impending death. I believe his divine sign has a great deal to do with his thought process when making this statement. The voice he hears speaks to him only to prevent him from doing something bad, but never to direct him to do something. Socrates feels that if he was not meant to die, or if it was something he should fear, his inner voice would have spoken out to prevent him from causing himself harm. He believes that, since his sign remained quiet throughout the entire trial, that death will not harm him as his divine sign always protects him from harm.
    Socrates has many thoughts on what it means...