The death of Socrates and the birth of UD

In 399 BC The democratic citizens of Athens sentenced the philosopher Socrates to death by poison for corrupting youth and disbelief in the gods of the city.

Instead of fleeing the city, Socrates remained executed. According to Plato, he met his death in a good mood. Strange way to welcome death, isn’t it?

Nietzsche suggests that such cheerfulness shows that Socrates actually hated life. On his last breath, Socrates even asks his friends to make a sacrifice to the god of healing.

“Crito, we owe a rooster to Asclepius; make this sacrifice to him and do not forget,” says Socrates.

Doesn’t this mean that life is a disease, the only cure for which is death? And if Socrates really hates life, then were his fellow citizens not right in putting him to death as a molester of youth?

If that’s what he said, then he deserved what he got, but the instruction, “Make this offering and don’t forget” is an idiomatic mistranslation. After all, why would Crito, a friend so devoted to Socrates that he devised a plan to bribe the guards to secure his release, a plan that Socrates vetoed in the Crito dialogue, why would this enthusiastic student ever forget Socrates’ last request? ? This is unthinkable; he would rather cut off his leg. And Socrates is not so stupid as to think that he can forget.

Rather, Socrates takes the opportunity of his death to repeat his fundamental teaching about life. Literally translated, Socrates says, “Make this offering. And don’t be careless.”

Why this warning? The cure for life’s adversity is care. Carelessness is the source of all the troubles that haunt us. Not a life, but an unexamined life, a life that is not taken care of, is not worth living. The considered, caring life that Socrates lived is truly the greatest blessing.

During the trial, Socrates defends the mission of philosophy in the cave of the city:

“As long as I breathe and can, I will not cease to philosophize, exhort you, and in my usual manner indicate to any of you whom I meet: Good sir, you are an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city, with the greatest reputation both for wisdom and strength; Are you not ashamed of your desire to have as much wealth, reputation and honors as possible, while you do not care and think about wisdom, truth and the best possible state of your soul?

The last temptation of Socrates was the temptation, prompted by Crito, to care about wealth or honor, or about something even greater than wisdom, truth and virtue. He resists the temptation to be so careless and therefore a cock to both of them, and not just Socrates, is indebted to Asclepius.

If Socrates had put his philosophy on a T-shirt, it would have said, in big bold letters, “Don’t be sloppy.” On the back, under the image of a groundhog, it would be written: “Do not worry about money and fame; instead, take care of wisdom, truth, and virtue.”

Why groundhog? Socrates’ triple of wisdom, truth, and virtue may sound familiar. After all, those three words are on banners hanging from lampposts all over the campus in Irving. Why?

Our lamppost philosophy comes from our mission. There are three main goals of education: truth, virtue and wisdom. This is the secret of UD – to constantly work against lies, vice and stupidity. These three ends of the formation go back to where you are standing. The death of Socrates is the birth of what the UD symbolizes. Socrates is the hidden founder of our university.

Of course, philosophy will again forever be put to death for not believing in the false gods of the city, in the gods that determine the shadows that appear on the walls of the cave. It is the very consequence of living according to principles, striving to live in natural rather than artificial light.

Yet Socrates teaches that the worst thing that can happen to you is what you can do to yourself, and that is the inability to live up to the principles, not to care what you should. In the end, the only real enemy is yourself, because no one else can steal the priceless pearl from you. Thus, it testifies to freedom, an existential freedom, which complements for us what it means to be independent thinkers, to be those seekers who live according to principles.

Take a look around on this trip. Buildings may disappear or only bare fragments remain. Vases can freeze in time. But Greece, the Greece of Socrates, lives in our veins, so we must also be in a good mood, no matter what happens.