Topic: For your first paper, you will basically write about whether you think Socrates is truly guilty of the charges made against him, particularly the charge that he corrupts the youth.
In Plato’s Apology one of the main accusations made against him is that he “makes the weaker argument stronger.” That is, Socrates is guilty of arguing against traditionally held beliefs in favor of new, unusual ones, and this is what is really behind the official charge that he corrupts the youth. This activity of questioning beliefs is at the heart of philosophy, then and now. In the Apology, Socrates explains and defends his way of life-the life of a philosopher-and concludes that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” The philosopher’s life, then, is the examined life.
For your first paper, you will draw evidence from the Apology to do the following.
Structure & Formatting:
A paper of this sort has three basic parts:
Introduction: where you give the reader an outline of what to expect in the paper. This is where your thesis statement should be made clear. Avoid any unnecessary opening statements (e.g. “since the beginning of time…”)
Body: where you do what you say you will do in the introduction.
Conclusion: where you sum up what you have done in the paper.
Thesis Statement: This is a crucial part of your paper, for it outlines what you will argue in the body of your paper. The thesis unifies all the detailed work you do in the body of the paper in that everything you discuss in your paper should aim, ultimately, at proving your thesis.
Example of an introduction and thesis: In the Apology, Socrates defends his philosophical activity of questioning others by explaining why he does this and why he thinks this is a life worth living. While he is certainly not guilty of teaching others how to debate, his argument with Meletus shows him arguing unfairly. Therefore, he is still guilty of the charge of using trickery to confuse people and this could corrupt the youth especially.