Philosophy: Apology

    HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS:
    1. Near the end of his third and final speech, Socrates says "a good man cannot be harmed" (41c-d). Similarly, he earlier says that his accusers cannot harm him at all, for a "better man" cannot "be harmed by a worse" (30d). What does he mean by this, and do you think it is true?
    2. In his first speech, Socrates says that "[t]o fear death . . . is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not" (29a). In responding to an imaginary accuser, Socrates says, "’You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is just or unjust [translation modified], whether he is acting like a good or a bad man’" (28b-c). How is this rule of action, this ethical injunction, derived from Socrates’ characteristic wisdom, his knowing that he is not wise? What is the relationship between this wisdom and a recognition that death is beyond our understanding?

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