What would Socrates do?

[coberst]

What would Socrates do?

Socrates sought to save Athenian society by making it self-critical.

Imagine that you and many other colorblind people live on this isolated island. All inhabitants are colorblind from birth and know nothing about color; there is no word for color in their vocabulary.

Assume Fred is a health nut who exercises constantly and is always advising others to start a strict exercise routine for their health. Fred is well liked but most people on the island think that he over emphasizes the value of exercise.

One day after pursuing a specific exercises routine Fred become conscious of color. He is shocked and frightened and discontinues the exercise. Many weeks later curiosity gets the best of him and he returns to the exercise routine and there again appears the perception of color.

Fred experiments with this matter and concludes that when he performs the afore mentioned exercise routine he can perceive color constantly.

If you were Fred would you inform your friends and acquaintances of this occurrence?

How would you explain this perception to others?

How would others respond to your efforts to explain what happened?

I suspect most individuals would walk away from such seeming non-sense with a shrug and a grin. Suppose some of those making the proscribed effort found it to be a bore and a struggle and lost enthusiasm.

Does this little game of make-believe give you a better appreciation of why the Athenians executed Socrates for “corrupting the youth”?

[Michael T]

What would Socrates do?

Socrates sought to save Athenian society by making it self-critical.



Does this little game of make-believe give you a better appreciation of why the Athenians executed Socrates for “corrupting the youth”?



I don't think Socrates sought to 'save' Athenian society. He would question statements citizens made, especially those made by Sophists etc and annoy them by showing the invalidity of their statements, and making them look stupid. He did gain a following among the young citizens, Plato and Xenophon being two of them. His statements among the young aristocracy, sometimes not exactly favourable to the thirty tyrants (ruling Athens at the time) left him vulnerable to their wrath. He also claimed to know nothing himself.

I think the story you tell has more resemblance to Plato's ‘Allegory of the cave’ than to Socrates. :)

[kristian]

I think the story you tell has more resemblance to Plato's ‘Allegory of the cave’ than to Socrates. :)

well yes, but Plato might have wrote the allegory of the cave inspired by what happened to Socrates.

Maybe that's why our friend coberst came up with this idea.

[Sapphire]

Does this little game of make-believe give you a better appreciation of why the Athenians executed Socrates for “corrupting the youth”?
No. I personally can grasp that idea better by reading some of the conversations Socrates had with some of these Athenians. He just keeps on questioning, being quite right most of the time but also definitely being very annoying. I can perfectly imagine why he got on their nerves - and how they wanted him out of the way to keep their prestige.

The game makes me realise wonder whether I would believe Fred. If it is just this exercise that would give a perception of color.... I figure the exercise would be like a drug. Seeing colour is a sensation for a colourblind which might be like eating psilocybin mushrooms (or an other kind of drug) in our world. It gives you a total different perception of the world around you. Would this be more real? I mean - as most of us are not colourblind we think seeing colour is more real than not seeing it. But what if being colourblind is the "real" state?

So, though I think the game in itself interesting (as the allegory of the Cave), to me it does not clarify the death of Socrates. That execution is already understandable if you just point out that he undermined the opinions and actions of the leaders. That is always a dangerous thing to do.

[coberst]

A Ritual To Read To Each Other

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider?
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give, yes or no, or maybe
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
-William Stafford

[Sapphire]

I really like that one Coberst! William Stafford really has a gift :)