Name: John Holladay
Title: Professor of Humanities / Room C212.
Office Hours for Winter 1999: Monday/Wednesday/Friday 10-11
Tuesday / Thursday 11-Noon
Email:jholladay@mail.monroe.cc.mi.us
152 Western Philosophy Study Questions
Plato, The Apology
1. What, according to Socrates, is the main purpose of oratory?
Do you agree? What is the prevailing view today?
2. How did Socrates get the name for being wise? What kinds of people did he interview? What kinds of questions did he ask them? Why did he ask them? Why did this activity make him unpopular?
3. What are the charges against Socrates? How does he answer them? Does he really refute them? How would you have voted?
4. How does Socrates resolve conflicts between law and religion? Is he justified? Why?
5.Why did Socrates never act as a public man?
Should he have done so? Why?
6.Explain: "An unexamined life is not worth living." Do you agree?
7. What are the alternatives Socrates envisages (for himself and for Athens) after his death? Is his reasoning convincing?
8. Suppose you're trying to find out what philosophy is—what answer do you get from this dialogue?
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