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The Proseuché (The Prayer of Socrates) Ch. IX [Hope] Abridgment
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
Booklet Excerpt:
“Why, Socrates, whatsoever are you talking?about? Of course?I believe?in the Gods, as much as or more than any living?person can believe in the Gods!”
[50b] “Just so, Theophilus, just so,” replied Socrates, “But, it was my understanding?that you prayed to the Gods?for your daughter's health?”
“Yes, and I made the offering.? You know?this already, Socrates, from our conversation this morning!”
[51a] “Indeed, Theophilus.? As you said that you were hoping, may I gently ask for what effect?are you hoping as a cause, Theophilus?”
“Socrates, I certainly do not understand?your question,” said Theophilus.
[51b] “I understand?that you prayed to the Gods?for your daughter's health,” said Socrates, “and now?I understand from you that you are also hoping.? I am only inquiring for what it is exactly that you are hoping.? Do you understand my question?”?
“But, Socrates, why would you ask me such a thing? I am hoping, of course, for health?to return to my daughter...if she has not already gained her health by my offering, I might add...”
[51c] “But, Theophilus, if that is the object?of your hope, is not now?your hope gravely?misplaced?”
“Whatsoever are you talking?about, Socrates? I really must get home?or I will hear?the voice?of my wife, with unmatched clarity?I might add!”
[51d] “Let me ask it this way, Theophilus.? Is it not true?that an atheist?does not believe?in the Gods?”
“Socrates, Socrates, we've already agreed to that earlier as necessarily true?by definition.? Socrates, certainly, atheists?do not believe?in the Gods,” replied Theophilus.
[51e] “Therefore,” continued Socrates, “when an atheist?hopes, is it not also necessarily true?that the atheist is simply desiring good?luck? Let us take?an example?similar to our earlier example of Hippocrates?regarding good and bad?in light of time.? Do you recall it?”
“Yes, yes, Socrates,” replied Theophilus.
[51f] “If our political?state is overtaken by a tyrant, it is an unlucky?thing for the atheist.? And, if the tyrant gets deathly ill, it is a lucky?thing for the atheist, and if the tyrant recovers, it is unlucky thing for the atheist, and if the tyrant dies, it is a lucky thing for an atheist, unless the tyrant is succeeded by a worse tyrant, which would be unlucky for the atheist, unless the worse tyrant is then succeeded by a wise?and good?king?who cares for the freedom and welfare?of his people, which would be very lucky indeed for the atheist.? And, moreover, if the taking over by the first tyrant is the seminal cause?for the final effect?of the installation of the wise and good king, what was first thought?unlucky in the moment?would finally be determined?to have been lucky in the retrospective of time.?
"Is this all not self-evidently true?within the mind?of an atheist who does not pray?and does not attribute?any cause or effect to deities?”
“Well, Socrates, it sounds similar to as we discussed before.? Since the atheist?necessarily does not pray, and, if we remove deities?from the formula?of cause?and effect, then I must agree?that, within the mind?of the atheist, all things are based upon natural?conditions of good?and bad?luck.”
[51g] “But, for one who prays to the Gods, it is not similarly self-evident?is it?”
“What do you mean, Socrates? It sounds like you are saying that someone who believes in the Gods?cannot hope? Is that what you are saying? That I cannot hope for my daughter's recovery and health?”
“Theophilus, we agree, do we not, that an atheist?who has a sick daughter?will attribute?her illness?to bad?luck, and her not getting well immediately to further bad luck, and her finally getting well to good?luck, because an atheist does not believe?in the Gods.? Is that not what we agreed?”
“Yes, yes, yes, Socrates, but we are no longer talking?about atheists.? Why do you keep talking about atheists? I believe?in the Gods, and cannot I hope for my daughter's recovery and health?”
“But my dear Theophilus, I never said you could not hope for your daughter's recovery.”
“Yes, you did say exactly that, Socrates! I am absolutely sure?of it.? Or, at least words to that effect?anyway.”
[52h] “What I said, Theophilus, is that your hope might have been misplaced,” said Socrates.
“Okay, what if you did, it is all the same anyway,” said Theophilus.
[52i] “But, my dear Theophilus, are you sure?that there no distinction?between the hope of atheist?and the hope of someone who prays to the Gods? Are you saying that an atheist and someone who knows?the Gods—such as you say you know?the Gods—are equal?in this regard?”
“I am only sure?that you are confusing?me, Socrates, and the entire subject for that matter.? Hope is hope! That is all there is to it!”
[52j] “And, yet,” said Socrates, “Is not the hope of an atheist?and the hope of someone who prays to the Gods, self-evidently differentiated by the existence?of prayer?itself? Is not prayer to the Gods something that has a bearing on hope in the mind?of the person praying?”
“Well, I don't know?exactly, Socrates,” replied Theophilus.? “I really must go.? All I know is that I pray?and I hope.”
“We understand?that much, Theophilus.? But does not that fact?simply beg?the question?that we are discussing?”
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“Why so?” asked Theophilus.
[53a] “Just this way, Theophilus.? We have determined?that an atheist?hopes for the health?of a daughter?by application of good?luck, necessarily without application of metaphysical?causes and effects.? But the question?to you was only that, if your hope is removed from the intercession?of the Gods, then the hope of someone who prays is the same as someone who does not pray, being equal?to the atheist.? Therefore, do you not assert by implication, by the existence?of your prayer?itself, that the prayer subsumes the object?of hope?”
“I still don't understand?any of this, Socrates.? Are you telling me that I cannot hope if I pray? That would be yet another scandalous?statement, Socrates!?Without hope, life?would be miserable, and your suggesting that hope and prayer?are mutually exclusive is insulting to everything known?by everyone.”
“My friend, Theophilus, I never said that prayer?and hope are mutually exclusive for someone who believes in the Gods.? I only said gently to you that perhaps your hope was misplaced.? I did not mean to insult?you as, for example, suggesting that you were a fool?to have hope if you also pray.”
“Then why do I endure?such abrasion and deeply ill?effect?by your comment??Explain yourself here and do so now, please.”
[53b] “I will do so.? Once you pray, it seems to me that, if you believe?in the cause?and effect?of prayer, that you have conceded the matter to the Gods.? Therefore, your hope is now?properly directed to the decisions of the Gods.? This is why I suggested that, in light of your prayers, your hope was misplaced, and if in such case being the same as an atheist.”
“I don't understand?your point, and I'll add that your suggesting that I am an atheist?because I hope for the welfare?of my daughter?is exactly why Meletus?is often aggrieved?by your abrasive?and scandalous?questionings.”
[54a]?“But, my friend?Theophilus, I never said that you were an atheist, but, rather, I implied?exactly the contrary.? As a man?with professed wisdom of the Gods, once you pray?and make your request, by your belief, you have placed the matter to the Gods.? It is by this belief or knowledge?professed by you of the Gods that your hope is now?that the Gods will decide to make your daughter?well again.”
“And what of it, Socrates,” said Theophilus.
[54b]?“Therefore, Theophilus, you no longer hope directly, like an atheist—that is, for your daughter's health?by luck?of natural?events—but your hope is now?that the Gods?will make the correct?decision presumed by you to be good, and to answer?your prayer?by their metaphysical?divine?intercession.? You believe, do you not, that the Gods can make your daughter well? Is that not the cause?and effect?of your prayers and offerings to the Gods? Is not your hope now placed with confidence?commensurate with the strength of your belief?into the hands?of the Gods for their judgment?as to whether they should intercede, and if so, how so?”
“I don't understand?what you're talking?about, so I cannot say right?now.”
“In our atheist?example?of the tyrant, all things are luckier?and unluckier.? But, for you, as a believer in the Gods, are not all things the result of the metaphysical?intercession?effect?of the Gods, at some time?and in some way?”
“I don't know, Socrates, at least right?now, and I must return right now.”
[54c] “For isn’t it true, Theophilus, that atheist's hope is elemental, because it simply relies only upon luck?and worldly?management of those things we control.? But, when you pray?and interpose the Gods, it is a complex?matter because it is no longer about luck, or not only about luck.? Now the Gods are involved and called upon by the admission?of your own prayer.”?
“What pleases the Gods, Socrates, will please the Gods.? They will do what they will.? I must return to my daughter?now?to care for her, in order that her condition?not worsen and perhaps to improve.”
“Just so, Theophilus, just so,” said Socrates.
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*?Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.,?is Managing Shareholder of?Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC.?Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups,?INC. 500, and publicly traded companies.?He is author of?One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus,?and?The Business of Aesop? article series, and co-author with his father,?Arnold Zegarelli, of?The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers.?Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.?
? 2023 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.?Gregg can be contacted through?LinkedIn.
The expression set forth in this article are solely the author's and are not endorsed, condoned or supported by any affiliation of the author.
First Publication September 11, 2022. Copyright ? 2022 by?Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.?Gregg can be contacted through?LinkedIn.
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