Post by yenchihlee on Feb 27, 2016 19:53:12 GMT
1. Why was Socrates sentenced to death?
Socrates was sentenced to death because one of his students had overthrown Athens’ democracy and Athens worried that Socrates might teach more students against democracy so as to lead to another attempt to overthrow Athens’ democracy. In the following, the detailed explanations are outlined.
Socrates was charged for two accounts. One accused him for impiety, which means that he did not “believe in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other stranger deities.” (MSAC, 2014, p.47) Another accused him for corrupting the Athenian youth by his teachings. (MSAC, 2014, P.43) Socrates did defend himself during the trial, but he was “declared guilty by a majority of voices.” (MSAC, 2014, P.58) He then resumed his defense for the final sentence of punishment. Unfortunately, the judges condemned Socrates to death. (MSAC, 2014, p.60)
The ancient interpretation of Socrates’s sentence considered that the timing was after a Spartan-supported group called the Thirty Tyrants had overturned Athens’ democracy, and Critias, the leader of the thirty tyrants, was Socrates’s student. The orator Aeschines wrote a statement a few years later after Socrates’s death to express this kind of judgement: "Men of Athens, you executed Socrates, the sophist, because he was clearly responsible for the education of Critias, one of the thirty anti-democratic leaders." (Linder, 2002) In the meantime, Plato and Xenophon, two disciples of Socrates, gave their accounts of Socrates’s unapologetic speech with an indication that Socrates seemed to be inviting condemnation and death caused by those accusations (Linder, 2002).
Stone, a retired journalist who published “The Trial of Socrates” in 1988, suggested that Socrates’s disrespect to democracy made the 510-man jury troubled. Those Athens feared that Socrates might initiate another attempt to overthrow the democracy and had reached the verdict of guilty by a narrow margin. (Stone, 1979)
Socrates was a loyal Athens citizen and had accepted his destiny when he could actually escape. He was an influential person at his time. No wonder most Athens would worry that he might initiate another coup if he remained alive.
MSAC Philosophy Group (2014) How Socrates Died. Mt. San Antonio College, 91 pages.
Stone, I. F. (1979) I. F. Stone breaks the Socrates story. An interview published in the New York Times Magazine, April 8, 1979. Retrieved on February 26, 2016 from law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/ifstoneinterview.html.
2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?
The conflict between science and religion comes from the approach in searching for truth. The science searches for truth from materials, while the religion searches for truth from conscience.
Materials can be decomposed into fine particles, atoms, and nucleus, etc. Animals can be categorized into many different species based on their biological identities. Structures can be analyzed with geometry, mathematics, and physics. Even colors and smells can be distinguished through chemical approaches. There is the nature from the science viewpoint, and hence there does not exist non-natural or supernatural world (Diem-Lan & Lane, 2014, p.40). It is difficult to take a scientific approach to study non-nature.
Conscience is in our mind. With an individual’s belief, people search for guidance from their gods in Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, or others. We do things the way that our mind thinks. But how shall we think? How shall our conscience be satisfied with our thoughts and hence our deeds? Religion guidance and trust are important in finding truth and building confidence in our conscience. However, our mind is not a material world. It is a spiritual world different from the natural world.
The approaches taken and the targets concerned are completely different in the science and in the religion. Therefore, it is natural to see conflicts between science and religion. The key point is to get them distinguished and not to be confused.
Socrates was sentenced to death because one of his students had overthrown Athens’ democracy and Athens worried that Socrates might teach more students against democracy so as to lead to another attempt to overthrow Athens’ democracy. In the following, the detailed explanations are outlined.
Socrates was charged for two accounts. One accused him for impiety, which means that he did not “believe in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other stranger deities.” (MSAC, 2014, p.47) Another accused him for corrupting the Athenian youth by his teachings. (MSAC, 2014, P.43) Socrates did defend himself during the trial, but he was “declared guilty by a majority of voices.” (MSAC, 2014, P.58) He then resumed his defense for the final sentence of punishment. Unfortunately, the judges condemned Socrates to death. (MSAC, 2014, p.60)
The ancient interpretation of Socrates’s sentence considered that the timing was after a Spartan-supported group called the Thirty Tyrants had overturned Athens’ democracy, and Critias, the leader of the thirty tyrants, was Socrates’s student. The orator Aeschines wrote a statement a few years later after Socrates’s death to express this kind of judgement: "Men of Athens, you executed Socrates, the sophist, because he was clearly responsible for the education of Critias, one of the thirty anti-democratic leaders." (Linder, 2002) In the meantime, Plato and Xenophon, two disciples of Socrates, gave their accounts of Socrates’s unapologetic speech with an indication that Socrates seemed to be inviting condemnation and death caused by those accusations (Linder, 2002).
Stone, a retired journalist who published “The Trial of Socrates” in 1988, suggested that Socrates’s disrespect to democracy made the 510-man jury troubled. Those Athens feared that Socrates might initiate another attempt to overthrow the democracy and had reached the verdict of guilty by a narrow margin. (Stone, 1979)
Socrates was a loyal Athens citizen and had accepted his destiny when he could actually escape. He was an influential person at his time. No wonder most Athens would worry that he might initiate another coup if he remained alive.
References
Linder, D. (2002) The trial of Socrates. Retrieved on February 26, 2016 from law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/socratesaccount.html. MSAC Philosophy Group (2014) How Socrates Died. Mt. San Antonio College, 91 pages.
Stone, I. F. (1979) I. F. Stone breaks the Socrates story. An interview published in the New York Times Magazine, April 8, 1979. Retrieved on February 26, 2016 from law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/ifstoneinterview.html.
2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?
The conflict between science and religion comes from the approach in searching for truth. The science searches for truth from materials, while the religion searches for truth from conscience.
Materials can be decomposed into fine particles, atoms, and nucleus, etc. Animals can be categorized into many different species based on their biological identities. Structures can be analyzed with geometry, mathematics, and physics. Even colors and smells can be distinguished through chemical approaches. There is the nature from the science viewpoint, and hence there does not exist non-natural or supernatural world (Diem-Lan & Lane, 2014, p.40). It is difficult to take a scientific approach to study non-nature.
Conscience is in our mind. With an individual’s belief, people search for guidance from their gods in Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam, or others. We do things the way that our mind thinks. But how shall we think? How shall our conscience be satisfied with our thoughts and hence our deeds? Religion guidance and trust are important in finding truth and building confidence in our conscience. However, our mind is not a material world. It is a spiritual world different from the natural world.
The approaches taken and the targets concerned are completely different in the science and in the religion. Therefore, it is natural to see conflicts between science and religion. The key point is to get them distinguished and not to be confused.
Reference
Diem-Lan, A. & Lane, D. C. (2014) The Great Mystery: Matters vs Sprit. Mt. Sac Antonio College, 45pages.