<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > introduction</h1>
In the history of mankind, it seems that all those who were later revered as sages were mostly very bumpy in front of them, and Confucius, who we are most familiar with, was also "panicked like a dog that lost his family" when he traveled around the world to promote his own ideas; secondly, shakyamuni Siddhartha, the founder of Buddhism, who we are more familiar with, also traveled in all directions to understand the true meaning before his death; although Socrates from ancient Greece did not travel around like the other two, people at that time were often in the streets, markets, and markets. The square and other public places saw him talking with others.
Socrates did not leave any writings in his lifetime, but during his lifetime he compared himself to a bullfly, "I flew around all day, biting people everywhere, awakening, persuading, and accusing every one of you", thus reviving Athens, but so Socrates was not pleased in the political environment at that time, which also laid the groundwork for his final death sentence in the Athenian court.
Parthenon, Athens
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > text</h1>
Almost all of what we know about him today comes from the dialogues written by his illustrious student Plato. Plato's account of three late dialogues: the Apologetics, the Crito, and the Phildo are records of Socrates' death sentence to death to death by poison. According to the records, Socrates, out of his love for the city-state, committed the crime of "corrupting the youth", and finally because of his love for the city-state, he was willing to defend the laws of the city-state and was unwilling to flee, and finally executed the death penalty, known in history as "the death of Socrates".
The Complete Works of Plato
The "Death of Socrates" gave the last "bite" of the expanding Athenian democracy at the cost of his own life.
On the one hand, his death made the accusations against him by others self-defeating, if it were not for his love for the city-state, how could he be happy to take to the streets to teach and question young people, if he really did not believe in gods, did not worship God, how could he demand "offering a rooster to Asclepius" at the last moment when the poison was about to spread to the heart and take away his life, so it can be seen that democracy is not equal to the truth, nor is it equal to justice, and unlimited democracy can even turn prejudice into an accusation. And make the accusation a crime.
On the other hand, the "death of Socrates" became another solid cornerstone of the dignity of the law, and when people in later generations thought that even the sage Socrates would have to carry out the death penalty pronounced in the accusation of an existential crime because he respected the authority of the law, what right did others have not to carry out the punishment of the law?
But the dignity of the law is one thing, and the justice of the law is another. Socrates' death also serves as a constant reminder to today that if judicial power is not limited, if democratic power is not limited, the consequences will be unimaginable, and it may eventually lead society to a "tyranny of the majority".
Goddess of Justice
In fact, looking at the "death of Socrates", this result is not completely powerless to turn back.
Most citizens did not want to execute him, but only hoped that he would stop "corrupting the youth", such as chatting with the youth in public places, but instead of letting up, he thought that the jury should reward him because he had shown them how to live the right life. So although the jury of 500 people initially passed the charge of "blasphemy" by a narrow vote, after his self-defense, many more people finally agreed to sentence him to death.
In addition, in the "Crito", it is also explained that because it coincided with the pilgrimage ship going to sea, according to Athenian custom, it was not possible to execute the prisoner during the return of the pilgrim ship, so it was nearly a month from socrates' death sentence to execution. So Socrates' friends made an escape plan for him and found a place for him to settle down, but at this time Socrates fell into the idea of "whether it is right to protect himself by repaying evil" by means of evil. And he believes that even if the judgment of the law is unjust, it is even more unjust to run away from the law. So he eventually refused to be helped by his friends.
Statue of Socrates
But why did Socrates repeatedly give up such opportunities?
First, this is the basic "stubbornness" of a wise philosopher, and all outstanding and great people are often "stubborn" and terrible, just as Confucius had to preach the concept of "self-denial and retribution" in a period of collapse and happiness, and this "stubbornness" is a principle that cannot be abandoned. For Socrates, it was his mission to awaken people's minds like a "cattle fly" and said, "I will not change my behavior, even if I die a hundred times." He also likened himself to a midwife of thought, in fact, the same truth. He wants people to live the right life after investigation, so he likes to ask questions and let others reflect on his questions.
Second, Socrates fell into his own logic and could not explain himself, that is, the above-mentioned "revenge for evil" is justified. Obviously, in Socrates' logic, this is not possible, and human behavior should not be contrary to ideas. In fact, here also shows the huge difference between Chinese culture and Western culture, Chinese culture emphasizes that the concept should adapt to reality, rather than reality to adapt to the concept. Like whether it is possible to repay evil with evil", in Confucius's period there was also a similar proposition that is, "to repay complaints with directness", Confucius did not advocate "repaying grievances with virtue" but "repaying grievances with directness, repaying virtue with virtue", that is to say, repaying evil deeds with appropriate and corresponding costs, and returning good deeds with good deeds, rather than blindly compromising.
In the end, Socrates' view of death determined that he finally chose to accept the death penalty calmly. He thinks we practice death all our lives, so we have to accept it naturally and calmly when it comes. And in his view, "death is nothing more than two situations, either a kind of annihilation, unconscious, or, as someone said, death is a real transformation, the soul moves from one place to another."
Death of Socrates
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > summary</h1>
Socrates is calm in the face of death, still insists on himself in the face of accusations, and before he dies he comforts those who come to visit him, and his excessively calm behavior does not look like a person at all in the consciousness of our ordinary people, but this is Socrates, all because he loves his city-state, loves life, loves wisdom.
References: Apologetics, Crito, Phaedo