e to defend himself against the charges that will determine his fate. Socrates defends himself against most of the charges set against him and successfully proves his innocence but there are two of the original sets of charges that he may be guilty of by default due to the nature of what he does from day to day in his quest for truth.

Though Socrates is ultimately found guilty at the end of The Apology, it seems he could have been more persuasive to the jury and possibly gotten himself acquitted. Socrates was a master of persuasion and argument yet he chose to indulge in dialogue that served more to promote his belief in the importance of the philosophical way of life as opposed to securing his own acquittal. Socrates proposal of a meal at the Prytaneum as a counter penalty clearly shows a sound belief in his own innocense. He sees himself as only a man who has led a quiet life of inquisition, different from the lives of others who seek material gain and power. At the time that this trial took place, Socrates was in his later years. Quite possibly, this was a premeditated suicide of sorts in which Socrates would make himself a martyr. Socrates held a tremendous belief in the search for truth and a great contempt for peoples' misguided conceit in their own wisdom. At this point in his life, he perhaps found that his desire to make the court aware of their unstable beliefs overshadowed any fear of death his prosecution would bring.

The first of the old charges that Socrates addresses is the accusation that he is a student of things in the sky and beneath the earth. By this, the prosecutors mean to charge Socrates of being a natural philosopher. Anyone who attempts to seek answers in nature is dangerous because he challenges the sacred Athenian view of the gods. Many presocratic philosophers such as Socrates' late friend Anaxagoras were nature philosophers; they were men of thought who questioned the world around them as well as the more personal issues about the mind and the nature of being. Therefore, this was a common charge set against sophists in court because it was usually true and easily verified through witnesses. Socrates however, was not a nature philosopher. He was concerned with the microcosm of human thought as opposed to the macrocosm of the natural world around him. He defends himself in court by asking the jury to present a witness who would back up the accusation. Although most of the people in the court have observed Socrates for years, no one could bear witness to the accusation. Socrates' prosecutors could refer to the comedy of Aristophanes called the Clouds in which Socrates' character is suspended in a swing high above the stage with a backdrop of the sky chanting things about nature. They might ask why he would be depicted in such a way if there were no truth to the accusation that he was a student of nature. Socrates might respond by saying simply that there is no truth behind the depiction and that it is only an effort on the part of the playwright to elicit a laugh at his expense by generalizing the conduct of philosophers and men of thoug

Some common words found in the essay are:
Brickhouse Smith, Apology Socrates, Smith118 Socrates, Apology Plato, Clouds Socrates', Meletus Socrates, Socrates Meletus, , charge socrates, charges socrates, brickhouse smith, socrates guilty, guilty default, set charges, smith 66 socrates, 66 socrates, minds jury, arguments strong, witness accusation, late friend anaxagoras, set charges socrates, brickhouse smith 66,
Approximate Word count = 2099
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)