Group 1: Paper 1

8/4/2019 Group 1: Paper 1

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Introduction for paper one

In Platos Apology the topic of the desire for truth is discussed, specifically stating that

men do not desire for truth. Although the question of do they is important, it will be answered

simply as the reasons are stated. The characters recoil to truth as it causes them to endure a deep

emotional and psychological strain linked to their strong-held beliefs. I am convinced this is true

through the reading by noting how pride, sense of self, and stability in humans are threatened in

the face of truth. To briefly define these terms: Pride is the sense that one is above others or has

plenty of wisdom in this case, sense of self is basically the identity a person has solidified his

whole life as the perception of himself, lastly, stability is comfortability, for example the reaction

to a persons long held beliefs being challenged would disrupt stability.

Pride seems to be, in a sense, the gravest and most common of human errors, this is

supported also by the text through the words of the Oracle that say that Socrates is the wisest of

all men. Socrates returns saying What can the god mean by this riddle? I know very well I am

not wise(Plato, 26). In this passage alone it is evident that true wisdom comes from knowing

that wisdom is knowing that one has no wisdom therefore having humility. Page 28 the oracle

says, He among you who is the wisestknows that his wisdom is really worth nothing Thus

this provides a backdrop and possibly even a standard of comparison for other people not only in

the story but in humanity. Socrates took on the role of challenging peoples reputed wisdom and

thus humbling them. On page 26, a politician is interrogated, When I [Socrates] conversed with

himthough a great many persons, and most of all he himself, thought he was wise, yet he was


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not wise. This politician according to the text became indignant because his beliefs had been

refuted and he had been humbled not only privately but the text depicts other people watching as

well. Socrates continued looking for the wisest men but to no avail, they all became indignant

leading to violence and fury to the point of putting Socrates on trial. (lines 14-19). The

prominent, intelligent, and important in Athens were the ones being questioned and continuously

refuted. The text shows that as Socrates went around arousing indignation every day(26), going

to every man who seemed to possess any knowledge he came to the conclusion that the higher

class of Athens, whose reputation for wisdom stood highest were nearly the most lacking in it,

while others who were looked down on as common people were much more intelligent (26-27).

In analyzing this small excerpt the truth come out, it seems as if those who are not privileged

with being educated or wise knew it and were thus humble, the others who were clearly not in

the lower class shown by the excerpt obviously delineating the divide in class, were wrong.

Obviously, when a human believes he is wise above many others the only adjective of

description is prideful and the fact that they recoil at the truth is that it forces them to be

humble.

Sense of self is an important factor in the collision of truth and humans because humans

tend to build themselves up and even perceive themselves as persons above the truth. These

beliefs become who they are, if they are torn down, then they are torn down effectively. As

Socrates questions them the text depicts that they go through pain and anxiety. These are

obvious emotional and maybe even physical effects to the simple taste of truth. An important

example is that of the poets, Socrates declares I went to the poetsthinking that there I should

find myself manifestly more ignorant than they. (27). He continues on saying that he chose the

poets of whose the poems seemed to have taken the most toil out of them and essence. However,


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he said that Almost any of the bystanders could have talked more about the works of the poets

better than the poets themselves (27). What does this mean? The poets inherently thought that

they were wise because they were skillful in their own art, and because of this they thought

they were the wisest of men in other matters too (27). Nonetheless, the bystanders knew more

and were wiser than the poets on what the poets were supposedly the best at. This completely

obliterates the poets, artisans, and politicians identity. If their whole life they had been told that

they were wise, or indeed had worked and toiled for wisdom, completely defining their identity

around this, what would be of their sense of self after? This leads into the next topic of stability.

Human stability is something that envelops many things, it contains not only pride, sense

of self in it as well, but also prejudices, emotion-filled beliefs, and comfort. An important facet

of truth is that when facing it, one must change; in the case of the politicians and other higher

class individuals this means humbling oneself to the point of becoming a common person (27).

It appears according to the text that humans must be broken like those in the lower class to

understand the sharpness of truth, that one does not know much of anything, because of humility.

This in turn affects stability, when a person was proven wrong, their perfect world is completely

torn apart, they are no longer at peace with what they held was true, their foundations are

crumbled. In addition, it wasnt as if this was done in private but in the streets where bystanders

observed the powerful be brought down, how could they now have the same power and respect

they once had in their stable lives. Secondly and most important, is that of the prejudices held

since young. I shall be surprised if I am able, in the short time to remove from your minds

this prejudice which has grown so strong.(29) . It appears as if the prosecutors and Athenians

have been told since young is wrong and against Socrates thus creating a prejudice. This is very

important in that one of the main reasons that humans reject the truth is that things taught since


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young and held to be true for so long are very hard to dislodge, the emotional and psychological

effects aside. For example, Socrates mentions that many of them have been taught by sophists,

page 24 explains that there are some people in Athens considered very wise and smart especially

in the art of oration. These wealthy people had been educated and taught by the sophists and thus

made believe that they were smart and wise. However, when Socrates disproved these wise

teachers and the students they became prejudiced and angry because Socrates was showing them

that all their lives they had been dodging the truth and shielding from it. Ignoring the feeling of

wasting all the time and money on worthless knowledge is the damage on ego and identity. A

continuation is the contrast of the youth that follow Socrates around, being used to having their

beliefs questioned and only wanting to know the truth. In page 40 Socrates mentions that a lot of

the youth that were always with him are there in the court but none are going against him, thus

he wasnt corrupting them. He also mentions that they delight in seeing people being examined

and they themselves being examined. It appears that one of the few ways to attain the truth is

through intensive teaching and educated. It is mentioned that when peoples beliefs are

challenged that they are indignant, as drowsy people are when they are awakened... (37).

This extract is very important in explaining the issue of stability in the presence of truth in that

humans react madly and confused. This could be an allusion to the cave(Plato), but in essence

explains that when men are awakened they are drowsy, angry to have been awakened, and

disturbed from their status of peace being changed.

In summation, The apology uses human reactions against truth in terms of pride, sense

of self, and stability to come to the conclusion and the explanation of why humans do not want to

know the truth. It appears that the knowledge of truth requires pain and anxiety, the brokenness

of ego and pride, and education. All the people in the text that were examined and showed the


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truth that they were not wise acted violently out of pain. I appears as if men would have to be

humbled to the level of common people to understand truth and the prideful are unwilling to

take that step. Lastly, it also shows that those used to being questioned and having their beliefs

refuted are more apt to hear the truth, thus one must be conditioned and trained to see the truth.

In this way men must undergo unpleasurable instances to reach the truth, of which few if any

want to endure.

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Group 1: Paper 1