1. In Plato’s Apology, Socrates’ student Plato records an account of Socrates’ defense or apologia before the jury in Athens. Why does Plato consider Socrates to be an “excellent” or “virtuous” (aretê) human being? and You can write about anything that you found interesting in the reading.
2.After considering the life of Socrates, Antigone’s situation should already be somewhat familiar to you: Her society tells her that something is right, but inside she feels something very different. But what is this thing “inside” of her–perhaps inside of us? What is this “unwritten law on her heart” that goes against the “mortal laws” of Creon? This conflict between her ethical commitment and the King’s law should remind us of Socrates in Plato’s Apology. For both Socrates and Antigone are presented to us as great or excellent human beings. Both question their society, reflect, and truly take care of their souls.
As you watch this play, however, consider how Antigone differs from Socrates. She is a woman, and as a woman, she is someone without any political rights. Secondly, consider that the inner guide or “voice” inside of Socrates’ never tells him to do something, but only what not to do. By contrast, Antigone’s “law on her heart” tells her to do something. Finally, whereas Plato’s account is likely a real or non-fictional account of Plato’s trial, Sophocles’ Antigone is a fictional character who alludes often to myths, fictions, and Greek religion.
3.Plato’s student, Aristotle, gives us what is perhaps our most foundational text on ethics in Western culture. And yet Aristotle distinguishes himself from Sophocles and Plato’s view of ethics in Book 1, Chapter 9 of the Nicomachean Ethics. Rather than asking what it means to be a great or excellent (aretê) human being, Aristotle wants us to think about how to cultivate an ethic (êthos) for a society as a whole. For Aristotle, in other words, it is not sufficient that one or a few individuals have a gift or ability that makes them excellent. We must find a way for entire communities to be good, just, and happy. Notice how Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics is born out of a view that the good of the whole community is always greater than the good of one or a few individuals. Write about Aristotles Values.
