“The Danger of Asking Questions"An Editorial on the Trial of Socrates
...sorship has the potential to ruin an entire society, or at the very least prevent it from flourishing. The Athens of today was established with thought, experimentation and new ideas. To prevent people from free thinking and expression would revert Athens to a mindless and order less existence. Without free thought and speech there would be no Republic, we as a city-state would become no different than the Spartans, with a life void of science, theory, or idea. Those in the Senate and others involved in politics would be prevented from presenting new ideas for the city-state. Who is to say where this will stop. First Socrates is silenced, next it could be you. Soon enough the people of Athens will be hesitant to say anything remotely controversial or un-conventional due to the fear of being judged and or convicted of not conforming to the model of the establishment. Socrates said during his defense that the old accusers were “far more dangerous” than the new, in that people had spoken ill of him for many years and those rumors would be hard for the jury to ignore. Socrates for many years roamed the streets of Athens seeking wisdom by asking questions of men who were thought to be wise. He never made declarations as to his theories, rather he inquired as to what others thought. He questioned people’s wisdom until they backed themselves into a corner and disproved themselves or contradicted their own ideas. Socrates forced men who thought they were intelligent to expand their thinking, there by opening their eyes to the fact that they were not as smart as they thought they were. Some took these revelations about themselves as personal attacks, and felt as though Socrates meant to make a fool of them, when in fact it was not personal; he was just searching for knowledge. This hatred for Socrates was more the result of embarrassment and anger than it was protecting the citizens. When their intelligence, status, and even their manhood were threatened, men choose to ignore their own imperfections and instead accuse Socrates of a crime. The charges, brought forth by Meletus and his associates consisted of Socrates being a corruptor of youth and not believing in the god of the state. Those who accused Socrates of being a corruptor youth did so because young men followed him and listened to the way he questioned people. Then after observing their master at work for a time, these young men would take to the streets as well emulating Socrates, attempting to gain enlightenment and wisdom for themselves. ...