Round The Table - Discuss

The stylus on the turntable is definitely stuck on P-p-p 'Paradise' by Coldplay everytime I close my eyes and wonder - hmm...whatta world!

The Greeks did not disband Pythagoreans as a threat to the theological and cultural establishment in Ionia and after Thales did not dissuade Empedocles, Zeno et al. to pursue philosophical exploration . I don't know if they were persecuted or imprisoned for seditious acts. Even Socrates' disciple Plato and his disciple Aristotle were allowed to peregrinate and teach. Aristotle made startling strides on Form and nature of things than Plato's shadows. Socrates charge-sheet would have looked bulky with treason and accusatory affiliation to thirty tyrants.


Thanks for the links, shall go through. There have been cases here and there of ill-treatment but there was no obliteration of voice of reason, er..was there?

 

Soks,

Wooden or leaden the lecturer is indubitably no showman like Feynman nevertheless with a subject like political sciences, he was incumbently stoic. He smiled only once when he mentioned his professor's methods on reading Plato. What a restrained smile, wary of a female student taken a shine on seeing his pearly dental grin. The lecture served as a good guide to understand the background of the trial. I've no clue how I never chanced on this brilliant composition but as you remarked, Apology is a must-read to initiate into political philosophy. Trenchant and effulgent defense!

Few paras that pertain to the dialog we had in earlier post is where Socrates appeals to the younger dicasts whilst reprobating prejudice inherited from antecedent Athenians and denouncing charges of treason , impiety and corruption of youth as cited in below passage

This confounded Socrates, they say; this villainous misleader of youth!— and then if somebody asks them, Why, what evil does he practise or teach? they do not know, and cannot tell; but in order that they may not appear to be at a loss, they repeat the ready-made charges which are used against all philosophers about teaching things up in the clouds and under the earth, and having no gods, and making the worse appear the better cause; for they do not like to confess that their pretence of knowledge has been detected — which is the truth; and as they are numerous and ambitious and energetic, and are drawn up in battle array and have persuasive tongues, they have filled your ears with their loud and inveterate calumnies. And this is the reason why my three accusers, Meletus and Anytus and Lycon, have set upon me; Meletus, who has a quarrel with me on behalf of the poets; Anytus, on behalf of the craftsmen and politicians; Lycon, on behalf of the rhetoricians: and as I said at the beginning, I cannot expect to get rid of such a mass of calumny all in a moment. And this, O men of Athens, is the truth and the whole truth; I have concealed nothing, I have dissembled nothing. And yet, I know that my plainness of speech makes them hate me, and what is their hatred but a proof that I am speaking the truth?— Hence has arisen the prejudice against me; and this is the reason of it, as you will find out either in this or in any future enquiry.


Me thinks- are the accusations fabricated as in trumped up for the disdain he had towards the pretentious wise. Looks like he was not arraigned for being a naturalistic seeker, thinker, explorer but summoned for the ostensible disrespect he had on the governance and administration of the state. After the Socratic turn, the revelation of Oracle of Delphi, did he antoganise the gentry sanctioning the death knoll ?

In an other passage -

What an extraordinary statement! Why do you think so, Meletus? Do you mean that I do not believe in the godhead of the sun or moon, like other men?
I assure you, judges, that he does not: for he says that the sun is stone, and the moon earth.
Friend Meletus, you think that you are accusing Anaxagoras: and you have but a bad opinion of the judges, if you fancy them illiterate to such a degree as not to know that these doctrines are found in the books of Anaxagoras the Clazomenian, which are full of them

Socrates refers to Anaxagoras and his texts which claim non-conforming observations of heavenly bodies in the theological society back then. The assertion of these texts and emphatic undergirding as syllabic standard to the dicastery hint that Greeks may not have encouraged dissent in political views but did not dissuade the pursuit of natural philosophy. Was Socrates a martyr for being a radical proponent of free will over authority of state (inception of political philosophy ); had he been quietly studying celestial bodies, flora, fauna or indivisible matter of forms , would he have been spared? Were Greeks tolerant to these early philosophers who questioned nature and its understanding but were intolerant of the obtrusion inveighing their political beliefs and faith...er... but that was bound to happen ...you need logic, reason for scientific hypothesis. Socrates was laying the groundwork of rational mind, but flouting civic rules and enraging the Athenian statesmen with his mockery of no-wise-man, ..er... precipitated countdown, the distilled reason for the trial?
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Two bleeps caught attention in my RSS reader.

Someone broke the code! Though the online cryto-clan is frenzied over the Cicada tournament, someone made a remarkable stride in breaking the code we thought was gobbledygook in movies. Full article in BBC on the Elysium code breaker - Dodgy code in movies

The code that scrawls in Elysium movie is ripped off from Intel manual. The article has link to a blog debunking fictional snippets as factual programs! Aah! The sleuth offering the sooth! Erm.. is that some kind of frequency illusion after reading Socrates Apology and his willingness to canter in the Elysian fields, related article pops up.

Next - Bend it like Samsung! We had dolby effect bringing us the theater experience in a television box; after the chime, time for the curve. Samsung unveils prototype of curved telly sets that can be remote controlled. Link to article and video - Curved television

 

What happened? Quondam bustling agora is now a ghost-town. Was there red alert blare to evacuate the premises? Soka, Srama, JAG, Kkrish, Gauri, Viswa, et al anyone around? thinkingsmiley

No more discourse on Socrates. Hope I did not put you all in a philosophical stasis.

 

Kkrish,

Take time! I've lot of reading to catch up as well! I have started watching Attenborough's series on evolution, will post links if I find anything captivating (but everything he drawls on is so captivating ..