Post by April Johnson on Apr 25, 2015 22:03:36 GMT
1. Why was Socrates sentenced to death?
Socrates was sentenced to death by ingestion of poison for two reason; 1. He did not believe in the gods recognized by the state, and 2. that he had corrupted the youth with his teachings. In the Apology of Socrates, Socrates acts as his own defense. He then chooses the unusually route of not outright declaring his guilt or innocence but instead to use examples of times he has conformed to religious customs. For the second charge we are presented with a dialogue between him and his accuser Melitus. In the dialogue it appears that Socrates is challenging the validity of the nature of the claim itself. The jury finds him guilty and also sentences him to death. During the Duty of a Citizen dialogue we see friends of Socrates attempting to hatch an escape plan of which Socrates refuses to take part in.
2. Why is there a conflict (for some) between science and religion?
Dualism, the inability of religion (spirituality) to be subject to falsification, and an outdated definition of material are the main reasons there is conflict between science and religion. When dealing with dualism, most people are not comfortable with the idea of just being a body as stated in the text “this very feeling is why dualism arose in the first place.” Many Christian religions will teach of triune of man which would include the physical body, the soul (mind, emotions and will) and the spirit. Scientifically speaking what can be studied is the body and soul, but the spirit of man cannot. Technically you cannot really prove that the spirit of man exist which creates issue. Unlike science, religion generally does not lend itself to falsification. According to the text in order “for any endeavor to be justifiably regarded as ‘scientific’ it mush be willing to be corrected, to be changed, to be wrong.” This is in stark contrast to the idea that God is infallible which means the study of such cannot be scientific. My last point will be regarding the definition of material. The definition is constantly changing as new research is done. Matter is large and vast and constructs everything around us. We look at matter in a close minded way when it comes to humans, but in reality, we are a part of a vast universe of matter. We are in essence living in the cave in Plato’s allegory.