Based on the interpretations of Plato, Epicurus and Augustine, it is not possible to clarify Socrates’ death with one solid answer. Therefore, it is necessary to return to Frey’s interpretation of...Show moreBased on the interpretations of Plato, Epicurus and Augustine, it is not possible to clarify Socrates’ death with one solid answer. Therefore, it is necessary to return to Frey’s interpretation of suicide. With the explanation of Frey’s other-inflicted suicide it is possible to make sense of Socrates’ death. Socrates has placed himself knowingly and willingly in a position where he had to die. Because he manipulated the state, he was forced to drink the hemlock. This approach of hurting himself cannot be seen as a rejection of the gods, yet he can achieve his desired premature death. It is possible to solve the discrepancy in Phaedo about Socrates’ death with the clarification that Socrates has committed other-inflicted suicide.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Griekse en Latijnse taal en cultuur (BA)
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In mijn scriptie vergelijk ik het concept van 'theoretisch kijken' in Xenophons Socratische oeuvre met de Platoonse theoria. In mijn drie hoofdstukken behandel ik passages uit Xenophons Oeconomicus...Show moreIn mijn scriptie vergelijk ik het concept van 'theoretisch kijken' in Xenophons Socratische oeuvre met de Platoonse theoria. In mijn drie hoofdstukken behandel ik passages uit Xenophons Oeconomicus (III.6-9), Memorabilia (IV.3.14) en Symposium (IV.21-22), die ik in verband breng met verschillende passages uit het oeuvre van Plato. Hieruit blijkt een interactie gaande tussen Xenophon en Plato, waarbij Xenophon weet heeft van Plato's theoria en hiermee op eigen en ironische wijze omspringt. Daarnaast biedt mijn analyse een voorzet voor de conceptualisering van 'kijken' in Xenophons oeuvre.Show less
In his dialogue Meno, Plato compares the finding of a mathematical theorem (that of “doubling the square”) to an initiation into the mysteries, and to other decidedly unscientific phenomena such as...Show moreIn his dialogue Meno, Plato compares the finding of a mathematical theorem (that of “doubling the square”) to an initiation into the mysteries, and to other decidedly unscientific phenomena such as the remigration of souls, remembrance (anamnêsis), and divine madness. The present MA-thesis explains how this comparison between mathematics and the mysterious is not simply allegorical, but issues from Socrates’ peculiar treatment of mathematics, which does not follow the axiomatic-deductive method and order of rigorous proof, but seizes on misleading thought tendencies, the apparent transparency of colloquial Greek, opaque features of diagrams (especially concerning the constructibility of √2), and the avoidance of technical vocabulary.Show less
