Instructions
Choose one question and answer all its parts fully. Make a specific claim about the topic, argue for it convincingly, and draw on the posted resources for support, adding in personal experience or opinion as directed. Don’t just answer off the top of your head or report on what you already know. The point is to use the required resources to answer the question. See the Discussion Guidelines and Grading Rubric for more detailed instructions.
Question 1
Ethics: Socrates as Moral Exemplar. In the Apology, Socrates presents himself in various ways: as modest, as a gadfly, and as concerned only with the truth, for example.
Answer the question: According to the example of Socrates, what does it mean to lead a good life ?
In other words, what do you think the words and deeds of Socrates can teach us about how best to lead our own lives? Use examples from the Apology and your own reasoning in your argument.
Question 2
Political Theory: A Just Death? In the Apology, Socrates is tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by an Athenian court on charges of impiety. Examine the idea of justice by reflecting on Socrates’ life and death.
Answer the question: Was it just or unjust for the Athenians to sentence Socrates to death?
Use examples from the Apology and your own reasoning in your argument.
Question 3
Aesthetics: Inspirational Art. Socrates is highly quotable and the Apology is one of the best sources we have for knowledge of his life and teachings. Educated people everywhere recognize pithy lines like “I know only one thing, which is that I know nothing” or “The unexamined life is not worth living” as his. Create an inspirational artwork by picking a Socratic quotation from your reading of the Apology and superimposing it on an image of Greek art from the Internet (a sculpture, building, pottery, etc.) using a photo editing app like Paint.
Answer the question: How and why do my selected quotation and image inspire me and why should others like them too?
