CLAS 1050
The Trial of Socrates
The Trial of Socrates
In the year 399 BCE, Socrates was put to death by the most sophisticated and enlightened city the ancient world had ever seen. He is almost universally recognized as a heroic martyr, wronged by his petty countrymen in a travesty of justice, and his trial has much to say to us today about political science and the philosophy of law. In this course we will spend three weeks on a close reading of Plato’s dialogues surrounding Socrates’ trial and death: the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. We will then turn to an examination of the jurisprudence of juries, religious freedom, and the death penalty through the study of three precedent-setting court cases.
In the year 399 BCE, Socrates was put to death by the most sophisticated and enlightened city the ancient world had ever seen. He is almost universally recognized as a heroic martyr, wronged by his petty countrymen in a travesty of justice, and his trial has much to say to us today about political science and the philosophy of law. In this course we will spend three weeks on a close reading of Plato’s dialogues surrounding Socrates’ trial and death: the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. We will then turn to an examination of the jurisprudence of juries, religious freedom, and the death penalty through the study of three precedent-setting court cases.
- Subject:
- Classics
- Department:
- Classics
- Division:
- Humanities
- Requirements Fulfilled:
- WTR
- Equivalent Courses:
- PSCI 1050 *