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M03 Discussion Do You Choose Freely?
QUESTION: How do you think Socrates would respond to d’Holbach‘s suggestion that in accepting his death sentence, Socrates was not making a free choice?
ANSWER
Unquestionably, Socrates was among the most intelligent persons in his era. He may, however, concur with d’Holbach’s argument that he was not exercising free choice. Socrates, for example, was not required to consent to the death penalty. Given his high level of knowledge, I have no doubt that he could have come up with a way to escape the execution. It is probable that Socrates agreed to his death to show his other students that he had no fear of death. He thus made the choice—which is not an act of free will—to demonstrate to his peers that he could do it without fear. Socrates’ inability to pick his statement furthers the argument that he lacked free will in all of his actions, which led to his agreement with d’Holbach. The people had a lot of effect on his decision to submit to death, even if they didn’t express their opinions, in my opinion.
I think Socrates would fully concur with d’Holbach’s statement because he did accept his death sentence but freely decided to die rather than trying to escape or avoid it. Socrates chose his death sentence freely. Compared to d’Holbach’s belief that all humans are physical beings and subject to the necessary physical laws; Socrates believes in good morality and that people are not born good or evil, but taught if taught properly, the souls of people will already know the truth hidden in their souls. Perhaps he just wanted his legacy to live on after his death because he did not want to be embarrassed or lose people’s respect for him. He made this decision because he wanted to leave a legacy for the people, not for himself, hence it has nothing to do with free choice.
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