Truth and Death Anonymous College

In Plato’s Apology, Socrates’ views on death (in that he does not fear it) result in his defense being more about being righteous and showing the truth rather than actually defending himself. This legitimizes his defense because he is not simply saying whatever he can to avoid punishment. Socrates is a sophist whose profession is to try to find truths, or to correct false beliefs, in himself and others. This might help explain why he is so steadfast in his pursuit of the truth despite it possibly resulting in hurting him. This is shown in Socrates’ strategy in “defending” himself, which basically runs in a pattern of him denying that the accusation against him is true, giving his reasoning, then disproving his own reasoning for why the accusation was false. This hurts his case obviously but supports the truth. At the end of the Apology, Socrates claims that he does not fear death, only villainy (or unrighteousness), which explains his earlier strategies that appeared to only be damaging to him. In fact they were not damaging to him because they helped to prioritize the truth. Although at times he may contradict himself and therefore have “lied” originally, the contradiction ends up bringing out the real truth. No matter what...