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MarkMurphy
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The Scientific
Method
“All good thinking comes from asking questions.” -
Socrates
What can we educe from Socrates’ suicide,
sentenced to take his own life
for corrupting the minds of the Athenian youth,
and for his impiety, in refusing to believe
in the gods of the state?
Should we cry Platonic tears for old Socrates?
Do we remain to be convinced that Socrates
had lived a virtuous life,
regardless of the verdict of his trial?
Do we believe that he was happy to die, as the hemlock
raced inexorably towards his heart?
Can wealth bring goodness, or any other blessing, to the
individual?
If the happy life is one of moral virtue,
and the good life ascetic, one of acquiring wisdom,
we might well begin to posit
that the old philosopher acted in good faith, reconciling
the ills
of the Athenian state, with his own demise.