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Class Reading Assignment Summary

 

            In "The Apology"," Plato claims that Socrates is the wisest man even if he doesn't believe that he is. Plato claims that, "he is not speaking of Socrates, he is only using my name by the way of illustration, as if he said, O men, is the wisest, who, like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing"" (pg. 104, p. 9). This is strength to Plato's argument because he explains why Socrates is going around spreading his knowledge. Socrates is trying to find someone who is wiser than him but he has yet to find that person. The people he has spoken to are not wiser than he is, therefore he preaches to them his findings and his beliefs on god and the world. However there are strengths in this example for his argument but there is also a weakness to it. When he starts to speak about other spiritual issues besides god this stirs up a big conflict with other people because he believes in other things besides the city of gods and that isn't good. One of the charges he is being accused of is not believing in the city of god and this is shown when he starts to question gods belief that he is the wisest. He is trying to prove god wrong by searching for someone who is wiser than he is. .
             In "The Melian Dialogues,"" the main point of view is how the Athens is trying to convince the Melians to become allies with them." as we would fain exercise that empire over you without trouble, and see you preserved for the good of us both. "In this quote the Athens are giving the Melians good reasons to why they should team up. The Athens are mentioning how if the Melians stay allies with the Lacedaemon then they won't be promised full protection and back up when they need it. The weakness of this example to the argument is that they weren't able to come up with reasonable reasons why the Melians should become allies with the Athens. You could say they weren't convincing enough. The Melians decided to stay allied with the Lacedaemon and it didn't end so well with the Melians.


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