Response to "Socrates and Sarcasm" by Siearra Papuga

I completely agree with your post about Socrates' sarcastic response to the court during his trial. In addition to what you posted, Socrates offered to the court that his penalty consist of "free, deluxe meals at the Prytaneum, the dining hall of the Olympian and military heroes" (Pojman 34). Personally, I thought this to be a hilarious response on Socrates' part. Although his response was definitely sarcastic, I believe he was partially serious when he said it. He really did believe that he should be rewarded for his selflessness and commitment to enlightening the people. His comment becomes sarcastic when he states that he wants a grand dinner in the heroes' hall as his penalty. Like you stated in your post, although his witty response to the court did not end in his favor (it actually enraged the court more), it did make a big statement. It showed that Socrates would never give up his beliefs for anything, even if it meant saving his own life. It states in Chapter 2 that most people in Socrates' situation usually would bring their families to the court and beg for forgiveness. However, Socrates did not. He remained true to his beliefs, even if it meant leaving his family with no father. In regard to your question, "Should one be punished for spreading his/her beliefs?" I agree with you when I say no, they shouldn't. If Socrates were in charge, he wouldn't have tried to punish the sophists for teaching their students to use rhetoric, even when it meant being immoral. My question is, if a sophist professor were put on trial for his teachings, would he bravely face the court as Socrates did, or would he be one of the many people who just gave up his beliefs and begged for forgiveness?

Socrates' Response to Relativism

Question:  What was Socrates’ response to the sophists’ idea of relativism?

The sophists believed in the concept of relativism, which means, when applied to ethics, that what is moral to one person may be immoral to another person. This was the concept of subjective relativism. Conventional relativism means that what is moral to one culture may be immoral to another culture. However, what seems true to one culture, or person, is in fact true, relative to them. So in this way, both parties can be right at the same time. Therefore, the sophists concluded that a universal truth did not exist. Due to this lack of faith in an almighty truth, they decided not to bother spending their lives trying to find one. Instead, they learned to be successful in debates and business affairs. 

Socrates, however, responded to the sophists' idea of relativism by denying it entirely. He did believe in an almighty truth, and spent his life searching for the truths of the universe. He believed that the most important thing in life was to have a good, healthy soul, which one could maintain by living morally. He did not search for fortune or fame, but instead tried to attain as much knowledge and wisdom as possible in his lifetime. Unlike the sophists, who believed that there were no ultimate truths, Socrates felt that the main goal of life was to search for those ultimate truths and try to get as close to them as possible.