POLS 2000 Lecture Notes - Meletus, Anytus, Athenian Democracy
Document Summary
Socrates is one of the first philosophers to concern himself with human affairs. Plato is one of a handful of sources for socrates. There is no one who believes that the defense speech that we are reading is socrates" defense speech verbatim. Plato is a ventriloquist of sorts, he is putting words into socrates" mouth that comes from him. There are jurors and a jury, which consists of any male athenian man, but there is no judge. The citizens of athens are judging socrates as they are the jury. But socrates himself is a citizen of athens. Therefore it becomes socrates the philosophers versus non-philosophers. First vote is guilty or innocent, there is no prescribed punishment in advance. Second vote is the punishment, which is suggested by the prosecutor however the defendant is allowed to offer a counter proposal, which must go along with the crime.