The whole event was broken down into three phases: The trial, the sentencing, and his address to the people of Athens. In the trial phase, Socrates continues to question his accusers. He explains that wisdom is not necessarily what you know, it is realizing what you do not know, being able to admit it, and openly questioning what you do not know to gain that knowledge. Those who accused him of impiety wanted him convicted and punished not truly for those charges but mainly for questioning their personal wisdom. They felt that by Socrates questioning their knowledge, he mocked their intelligence and humiliated them in the process. Socrates explained that his purpose was not to insult them but force them to question themselves and what they thought t

of right and wrong with so much conviction as Socrates did. Instead, most people feel the need to shift or even completely abandon their ideas in order to conform to the "norm" of society.

Since this is my first time reading anything remotely philosophical, I have never encountered a text that forced me to think so much as this. What impressed me most was Socrates' constant questioning of everything. With each question came an answer, followed by a new question, and so on. Each answer seemed to lead closer to the "bottom truth" of the matter. It made me wonder why I would ever accept anything at face value again. There is so much to be learned through simple questioning and the path to knowledge is paved with them.

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And a final major aspect of this story is Socrates' devotion to his philosophy, despite the contrary belief of the majority. It might seem to most that Socrates brought persecution onto himself since he constantly questioned everyone and everything. There are even times in the story that one might understand that his fellow citizens would get fed up with such a person. But Socrates sticks by his ideas and does not even attempt an apology for his actions. He heeds the pursuit of knowledge over the pursuit of success and money. He cared more for being a good and upright person than being popular among his fellow citizens. He also cared more for the souls of himself and his fellow man. When seen in this light, the failure of justices lies with those who did not accept him and not with Socrates.

In the sentencing phase, Socrates tells the court that he is not upset with the jury for finding him guilty, despite the fact that he had discredited his accusers and their accusations during trial. He knew that it would be a stringent task to nullify the prejudices that have for so long plagued him and corrupted their minds. S

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1296
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)