Exercises — Week 2: Greek Philosophy 2 — Plato's Apology
3 hands-on tasks. Do them in order; each one feeds the Canvas item it names.
15 min · reading
1. Charge sheet
- Make a two-column table: Charge · Socrates' reply.
- Fill in all three formal charges plus the older 'prejudice' charges (that he studies things in the sky, makes the weaker argument the stronger).
- Mark each reply as an argument (gives reasons) or a counter-question (turns it back on the accuser).
Turn in / bring: The table — it is the evidence base for Forum 1.
15 min · practice
2. Run an elenchus
- Pick a word everyone uses: courage, fairness, or respect.
- Write your first definition in one sentence.
- Find one counter-example that breaks it. Rewrite the definition. Repeat twice.
- Note what changed between version 1 and version 3.
Turn in / bring: Three versions of the definition with the counter-examples that forced each change.
25 min · writing
3. Forum 1 scaffold
- State your position: Was Athens right or wrong to convict Socrates? One sentence.
- Give two reasons from the text, each with a quoted phrase.
- Raise the strongest objection to your own view and answer it.
- Close with what the trial teaches about questioning authority today.
Turn in / bring: The forum post (about 250 words) in Canvas.