The Death of Socrates
A Holistic Re-Examination
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13627783 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sam Silverman (Lexington, Massachusetts), S M Silverman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 71-84 |
| Publication date | 2010-04-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0030-2228 • E-ISSN: 1541-3764 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2190/om.61.1.d |
| PMID | 20533649 |
| OpenAlex | W2153709988 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 4 |
Socrates' death, as portrayed by Plato, and commonly accepted, is seen as the virtuous choice of a philosopher of death in preference to ignominiously evading an unjust verdict of the jury. Xenophon's portrayal, the only other contemporaneous account, shows Socrates as being tired of life, seeing nothing worthwhile in hanging on to a continuously declining life, and deliberately choosing death. In more recent years I. F. Stone has discussed in depth the political context surrounding the trial of Socrates. In this article I discuss the various personal factors, his awareness of aging, his vision of declining relationships with others, his marriage and family life, the political context of the times, and his disbelief in democracy, at a time when the Athenian democracy had only recently been restored, but was still under threat by the oligarchs; and the influence of his daimon, a personal spirit who spoke to him only when opposing an action he was considering. The sum of these various factors presents a fuller and more complete picture of Socrates' choice of death over life
Action (physics · Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Democracy · Epistemology · Jury · Nothing · Political science · Politics · Sociology · SOCRATES · Verdict · Classical Philosophy and Thought · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.13 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2023 (13) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |