Before reading:
-
This post is about the nature of Socrates' trial more than anything else, not so much about the figure of Socrates or his philosophy, but I will try to make it as broad and in-depth as I can. So make a cup of coffee, sit back, and relax.
-
The main reason for writing this, is a post in r/funny from a while back, in which the topic came up and I noticed there exist quite a few misunderstandings surrounding the story of Socratesโ trial (and of course Socrates in general or pretty much any philosopher that made it into popular culture. โGod is dead hurr durrโ).
-
A good deal of what Iโm about to write may be stuff youโre familiar with, especially in this subreddit. But still, this is r/philosophy and not r/academicphilosophy, Iโm sure a lot of what Iโm about to write is not known to most people. At the very least, I hope it will be an interesting read to a few people. And this is my second goal: Regardless of what you think of the actual content of my post, I want to set an example of what I personally think posts in r/philosophy should or could be: an in depth post on a very specific topic, to be discussed in depth by all interested, rather than random open question where everyone thinks of his answer independently of any standard โand often not discussed or challenged-, or a link to a lousy little article.
-
Note that there is much more to be told about this topic than I will be able to relay to you here. And thatโs even just what I know. I will often not be able to go in detail, and to truly understand what Iโll say youโll need to familiarize yourself with it more. Because of this, this post might sometimes seem as a claim to the true meaning of Socratesโ trial without providing proof. I canโt go into depth about Socratesโ and Platoโs philosophy, nor the context of it all, and therefore it might feel like itโs sort of โfloating thereโ. Nevertheless, it should be a clear and more into depth explanation and account of Socratesโ trial than most people have heard thus far.
-
I am not a professor. Nothing of what Iโm about to say, is the result of โmy own researchโ or even interpretation, rather a paraphrase of what I have learned myself. If someone has corrections, additions or general comments, they are all most welcome. Also: English isnโt my native language, just in case I make some stupid mistakes. Itโs possible some of the more technical or ancient G
He was then sentenced to death for impiety and corrupting youth.
Socrates gave humanity a lasting method for persuasion and inquiry: the Socratic method.
After a couple of times going above 2 months I always eventually relapse. But I am working on improving myself around nofap and it slowly gets easier. I am not an expert, but I am going to share some things I learned during all these months. I hope that I will help some of you by sharing it. Iโm going to use some advice given by Jordan Peterson in an interview and relate it to nofap (check his videos on YouTube, he gives great recommendations on life).
When we want to quit PMO we donโt really know how to achieve nofap at first. We stumble around like idiots without really knowing where to start because we are not used to it. But as Jordan P. says: โThe fool is the precursor to the Savior. We have to be a fool, before we can be a master, and if we're not willing to be a fool, then we can't be a masterโ.
We donโt get rid of bad habits, we replace them with good ones:
We are making all sorts of mistakes, to begin with, and then, the mistakes diminish and disappear because we learn how to change our habits. Jordan makes a comparison with Exodus (the movie): โwhat happens when the slaves escaped tyranny, they thought: Great, we are free. Well, then what? They think theyโre on the way. But no, they're not, now they're in the desert!โ. When we start the nofap journey, we think: โI got rid of porn that I didn't need in my life, and now everything's okayโ. But thatโs a big mistake! When we get rid of bad habits, like porn and do not replace it with another habit we are left with nothing (increasing the chances of relapsing). And that's exactly like in the movie: โAfter escaping from tyranny, they were like: โHurray! We're no longer slaves.โ However, now they're lost so it's not necessarily an improvement.โ
So, of course, we're in a better position away from PMO, but we're still lonesome and disoriented. That's why people stay with the devil they know, instead of looking for the devil they don't know. But then, after a couple of tries, we are already a lot further than we would be, if we just we continued watching porn every day. When we fail, weโre learning what we shouldn't keep doing. And, if we learn enough about what we shouldn't keep doing, then at some point, we learn at the same time what we should be doing.
Becoming PMO-free is not a linear pathway uphill. We donโt just go from one success to another. The reason why people don't succeed on nofap is that their journey is punctuated by relapses along the way and they eventually give u
... keep reading on reddit โก
There is a famous quote by Socrates a quote often misattributed to Socrates complaining about younger generations:
> โThe children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.โ
(EDIT: As /u/piper06w points out, this is actually not a quote from antiquity, but "a summary of general complaints about the youth by the ancient Greeks, as written in a 1907 dissertation by a student, Kenneth John Freeman")
Which kind of shows that this is just something that humans do. That makes me think: surely that means the reverse must also be at least as old then?
I know some historians dismiss the gospels entirely as evidence, but Socrates could very well have just been a Platonic character couldnโt he?
*Thank you for all of the kind words in the comments. I thought maybe the hours upon hours with blood, sweat and an unbelievable amount of tears that I spent on the updated picture wouldnโt be worth it. Now I can see that it was.
From โApology,โ one of Platoโs Socratic Dialogues.
