Rhetoric of the Apology

Rhetoric of the Apology

Socrates, one of the founders of Western philosophy, became the victim of logical fallacies and malicious reasoning in 399BC, during which his trial and execution occurred; the final moments of Socrates is known because of his student Plato, who recorded the final defense speeches given by Socrates, and published them in a work now known as "The Apology". The speech Socrates' gives in "The Apology" is addressed to the people of Athens, as a defense to the accusations of him violating Athenian law by "corrupting the youth and creating new deities (Plato)". Using both inductive and deductive reasoning, Socrates takes advantage of every opportunity available to show the multiply fallacies and inconsistencies that are present in his accuser's logic. Through his outstanding logic and reasoning, Socrates leaves his accusers without any reasonable crime to accuse him of, while simultaneously proving his accusers of being self-contradicting liars. "The Apology", based on the prosecution and trial of Socrates in 399BC, portrays Socrates arguing his innocence and the malicious intentions behind his charges to the men of Athens while using effective logic and reasoning strategies to strengthen his arguments.

Plato himself does not actually have any dialog or narrative voice in "The Apology"; rather it is just a transcription of words spoken and events that occurred during Socrates' trial. Because of this, no visible argument is presented Plato; instead arguments are located in Socrates's dialog and speech. Socrates's focuses on arguing against the nature of the charges pressed against him. To prove that the natures of his charges are malicious, Socrates's focuses on his accusers, Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon. Starting off with Meletus, Socrates discredits Meletus using an ad hominem attack, claiming "Meletus is a doer of evil, in that he pretends to be in earnest when he is only in jest"; using this Socrates argues that the only reason Meletus is bringing it up is for his own personal gain. Not only does Socrates claim that Meletus is only interested in personal gains, he also claims that Meletus "never had the smallest interest" (Plato 4) and "has no care at all, great or small, about the matter" (Plato 5). By proving that Meletus is only here for his own personal gain, Socrates's strengthens his argument that the charges against him are indeed malicious. Socrates's also proves that the accusations against him are unfair; according to Meletus, judges, senators, members of the assembly, and every famous person in Athens expect for Socrates is allowed to improve the youth. Socrates's use of an ad hominem attack on Meletus was effective because it disproved the type of honest person Meletus tried to present himself as. By proving this Socrates also proves that