Posted by special_k on March 26, 2006, at 17:13:49
In reply to Re: Moral dilemma, posted by special_k on March 23, 2006, at 20:43:29
sorry to go on but i just remembered this and wanted to share it...
when i was at school... i was taking a class on 'classical studies'. our teacher for that was a hard bitch basically. very no nonsense. very uptight. and very stern with a tendancy toward being a bit mean (IMO).
we were studying "The Last Days of Socrates" (which was my first exposure to philosophy.
we were reading it as a class. we would go around the room and we had to read a paragraph each out loud. she would talk about the important bits as we went etc. we hated it rather.
the first part was a conversation between socrates and this guy he met on the steps of the courthouse. the point was to show the reader something of socrates process of questioning (and how people felt upset because he exposed their ignorance).
the second part was about his trial. trumped up charges of corrupting the young etc. basically... they were just pissed off with him for exposing their ignorance.
the third part was... jeepers i can't remember now.. maybe his defence? or maybe that was part of the last bit...
the last part was him meeting his friends.
see... he could have pleaded for them to let him off (the typical defence). he would probably have got off that way. he just had to... move to another city. and / or... to stop with the questioning. but he didnt' do that. he showed how the charges were trumped up and pathetic really... and so he was sentanced to drink hemlock (death sentance basically).
he could have escaped.
but he didn't.
he drank the hemlock.
and so now he is something of a matyr. about how the search for the truth is really important... and people might hate you for it... but it is better to do that than just fall into line and be popular...
anyways... when he drank the hemlock our teacher was reading. and she was trying to hold back tears.
we took note.
we did.we were stunned.
i guess that might be where the idea comes from that even if morally you are doing the right thing... you are still subject to the laws of your country (and need to be prepared to face the consequences).
socrates gives many arguments for this.
of course... we werent' engaging in a very sophisticated analysis of the issues... and i haven't done much (or any really) ancient philosophy since second year (and we studied different texts). but... maybe that is where the philosophical notion comes from.
not sure that i agree... but that is where it comes from (i think) anyways...
poster:special_k
thread:623115
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060324/msgs/624865.html