Since for some strange reason I cannot figure out how to comment on other people's posts, I'm going to do it here.

In response to the Role of Protesting: I truly do not think socrates is protesting anything. He seems to be basically ok with how Athens is run. Him remaining true to his principles is him trying to die with honor though he no longer feels that he has a role to play in Athens because of the generations of slander that have been brought against him. I do think that Plato definitely played this whole situation up a little bit for dramatic effect.

 

In response to Force, Rhetoric, and the Apology: I think that rhetoric is one of socrates most important tools because it is the easiest way to get people to question their own positions. My favorite example so far is when he basically gets Euthyphro to prove himself wrong by making Euthyphro state that the gods often disagree. 

Defining Terrorism

In class, we talked whether things needed to be defined in absolute terms or just recognized on a case by case example to know the truth about them. An interesting depiction of how this plays out in today's world is global efforts to combat terrorism. While many countries clearly define terrorism in their domestic statues, there is no working international definition of terrorism. Thus people in different countries view different things as terrorism. This has had drastic effects on the modern world. The greatest effect of this is the fact that international powers cannot get on the same page about terrorism, which is necessary as terrorists are not known to abide by international borders. In this area, at least, a consensus is needed on what the essence of terrorism, not just what acts qualify as terrorism. There are plenty of ways that a want to be dictator could frame legitimate resistance to their rule as terrorism and use that to justify oppression of these groups in the eyes of the world. Furthermore, a clear definition of terrorism would help to put pressure on groups that fall in the category of terrorist but are not recognized as such for various reasons. 

Euthyphro

Plato's youthful dreams of becoming a playwright are evident right off the bat in his dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro. Euthyphro, to me at least, appears to be the epitome of a tragic hero. The way that Euthyphro speaks about the gods and himself, which is particularly clear in section 5a, shows that he thinks himself above other people. Euthyphro reminds me of Narcissus, spurning those who love him (i.e. his family), in order to uphold a principal that he thought was right. Now, I'm not necessarily saying that Euthyphro was in the wrong here, but ancient Greeks might have thought otherwise. While Athens was a "democracy" it was an extremely hierarchical place prone to political mayhem. In the violent and competitive world of Ancient Greece it as difficult to trust anyone outside of your family thus making betrayals in a family the most horrible an ancient greek could imagine. Athens was also extremely patriarchal , which made it so that the father was the center of the famaily and all power in the family radiated from him. Destroying this family center was an viewed as sinful (to use christian terminology) by the Greeks. The concept is further ingrained in Greek myth in the story of Oedipus, who kills his father then has a series of unfortunate events. As is seen in the stories of Narcissus and Oedipus, the actions that Euthyphro is taking could lead him down a dangerous path. The elements of literature that Plato adds to his writing makes it entertaining and helps him take a deeper look at the human condition.