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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 3 page paper examines Plato's Apology and the Socratic method. Can Socrates both employ this method and believe in a god? This paper answers that question. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: RT13_SA641gds.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
does not believe in the gods, but he also claims the right to form an intellectual inquiry not bound by piety. The question, posed by a student, is this: "Is
it possible for Socrates both to believe in the gods of the city and to exercise without prejudice the practice of open inquiry he claims for himself?" It is true
that Socrates is accused of not embracing the gods that the people do, and while he claims to want to have the right to explore, he never commits to one
view. Rather, his method of inquiry is something that he hopes will lead him to the truth. An illustration that might be used is that people of today sometimes fervently
believe in their particular brand of religion. They do not have proof as they rely on faith alone. Some claim to have had religious experiences and that is something that
has helped them to cement their faith. Socrates is the ultimate skeptic, and in some way, out of that skepticism comes his method of inquiry used in courtrooms today. It
is designed to get to the truth. Can it help to prove the existence of the gods? It is unlikely because the method has many flaws. There is question as
to whether or not the method really gets to the truth at all. In fact, one has to wonder whether the Socratic method is merely a parlor trick or a
valid argument. Whatever one wants to say about truth, it seems that the concept of truth is important here. For Socrates, belief is not enough. It is the truth that
really matters. In a pure philosophical sense, perhaps the truth would lead Socrates to decide whether or not the gods are real. It is not that he wanted the right
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