“No One Knowingly Does Evil” by Socrates. Essay - 1067 Words

The argument which I am focusing on is titled â€Å"No One Knowingly Does Evil† and is written by Socrates. This argument concludes that those who do evil things do them involuntarily. That is, people do not necessarily want to do evil things, but do them against their will. A very important point is presented by Socrates in that evil deeds are not done willingly. It is thought by many that some people are simply evil-natured and commit evil deeds because they want to. However, Socrates is arguing that this is not true. By doing this, he is going against common thought and presenting a very debatable conclusion. I will evaluate the argument so as to prove it is a legitimate possibility for the conclusion to be true. It will be shown why†¦show more content†¦I think the key to this statement being false is the word â€Å"all.† Sometimes, people want to cause harm to someone else in order to get back at them or to serve justice. If they think they are j ustified, that person would be more willing to commit an evil act. The second premise, in my opinion, is true. I do not think that a person, without outside influence, would simply do something which they do not want to. If it is not something a person wants to do, chances are it won’t be done. Therefore, I think this premise is true. When evaluating the entire argument as a whole, I determined it to be valid. It is logical to move from premise one to premise two and develop the provided conclusion. Even though I believe premise one to be false, the argument is still valid. This is because, if it were true, it would make sense to draw that conclusion from those two statements. The conclusion does not present any new information not given in the premises either. The argument automatically becomes unsound because premise one is false. It is impossible for the argument to be sound by definition. I believe one objection would be that in certain circumstances there are dire needs. That is, someone would do an evil deed because it was absolutely necessary. For example, if a family had been kidnapped, there would be everything done in order to bring them home safely, even if some of it involved a form of evil. ThisShow MoreRelatedThe Philosophy Of Human Nature1140 Words   |  5 Pagesits simplest form, is the ability for one to control one’s own actions. Through the will, the morality of the action is entirely decided by the doer. Augustine professes the will simply permits the doer to do evil. In Socrates’ assertion, free will is contingent on self-control because without it, one can find oneself enslaved to a material thing or desire. Based on reading and prior knowledge, it can be deduced that the only thing that can truly keep one from vice is free will. As Augustine examinesRead MoreAre Socretes Arguments about Death Sound? 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