Essay One Plato's Five Dialogues
1. In the Euthyphro does Socrates present his own account of piety or just destroy the accounts offered by Euthyphro? If so what is his account of piety?
2. What are the charges against Socrates as recorded in the Apology. Is he guilty of them? why or why not?
3.What is Socrates' argument against Crito in the argument of the same name? Is it persuasive? why or why not?
4. What would it mean to persuade the laws as it is described in the Crito? Does Socrates' account adequately allow for resisting evil legislation or is it essentially just a way to maintain the status quo?
5. Discuss the nature of virtue in the Meno and/ or Phaedo. If you choose the Meno things you should mention are some of Meno's definitions of virtue and their objections and whether virtue is teachable or not. If you choose the Phaedo things you mention things you should mention are the difference between true and false virtue.
6. At the end of the Meno Socrates says that it will be a benefit to the Athenians if Meno can convince Anytus of the conclusions they've reached in the dialogue (cf. 100a-b); given your reading of the Apology and Anytus's role there what lesson learned in the Meno could be of benefit to Anytus and Meletus?
7. Discuss Plato's arguments for recollection in the Meno; what puzzle is recollection supposed to solve?
8. At Phaedo 86a-d Simmias puts forward the view that the soul is a sort of harmony. Socrates provides at least two arguments against this view of the soul in the text that follows. Describe his arguments and explain why you think they are convincing or not.
9. Explain Socrates' arguments against Cebes's objection that the soul is long-lasting but not immortal (Phaedo (95c ff)); are they persuasive? why or why not?
10.Compare and contrast any two (or three) of the five dialogues we have studied one of the dialogues must be either the Meno or the Phaedo; make sure to refer to the text by title and line number and cite any secondary sources used.
Cite all sources with quotation marks for direct quotes and parenthetical references. Don't place urls in the body of your paper; cite online sources by author's name or article title. Place urls at the end of the paper in the work cited page. Every student is encouraged to submit drafts of papers to Upswing the online tutoring service for assistance with composition and proofreading.Write an essay 2-5 pages typed, double-spaced, citing primary texts in the following way (Euthyphro 10b) and academic secondary sources such as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.