THE FEELING OF APATHY.

APATHY is the lack of feeling, emotion, interest, and concern with the surrounded environment. It is a state of indiference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, and/or passion. The apathetic may lack a sense of purpose, worth, or meaning in their life. Social apathy is the desensitization of human involvement is concerned.
APATHY comes from the ancient Greek 'apathies', which means 'lack of feeling. In politics, ancient Athenians praised attentive citizens and condemned the apathetic ones.
APATHY as a concept has its roots in the stoic philosophy of the 4th century BC, and later on in Zeno of Cithium in the 3rd to 4th century, and was the object of debates between the Aristotelians, Stoics, and Epicureans, regarding the extent to which 'apathy', which are emotions and feelings, should be present and rule human lives.
In anthropology and related fields, the concept really emerges in the 20th century. Ethnographers, such as the sociologists Helen and Robert Lynd, and the sociologist-anthropologist Lloyd warner, were interested in "rituals and symbolism" in communities that were also characterized by citizen apathy and disinterest in political activity and participation.
In their 1937 study, 'Middle Town in Transition,' the Lynds observed apathetic attitudes and feelings in small American towns. The study depicted, "a world view of a culture that reproduces an apathetic response to political and societal problems." The communities, facing hard circumstances and poverty, their answer to that was a highly individualistic attitude, and the belief that a change must be individual and not institutional. Here, 'apathy' is really understood in terms of individual responsibility, and individualistic attitudes. The Lynds also noticed "a wide disparity between citizen disinterest in local politics and intense interest in national elections," thus evoking the idea that certain external conditions can stimulate apathetic citizens, like symbols at the national level, while local politics suffer from disinterest.
In a similar type of work, Lloyd Warner's 'Democracy in Jonesville' saw that the apathy in the local communities worked as a "functional" element and was part of the "ideology of democracy" and it maintained and "open system of social class"in the United States. 'Apathy' here is conceptualized as a necessary element for the American liberal democracy.
In the first part of the 20th century, 'apathy' was then understood either as a psychological attitude at the level of the individual, in a "blame-the-victim approach," or as a functional element of liberal democracies.
Mentions of 'apathy' and how it is provoked by the state and its institutions become more and more prevalent as we move from the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21th century.
APATHY is now more and more framed and studied in terms of preventing participation in decision-making processes and opportunities, and as a tool of state management to assert control and domination over a population. Thus 'apathy' is an attitude cultivated and reproduced by state institutions as an instrument of power, since resources are distributed through political parties that often follow political interests and agendas, rather than community needs, provoking the frustration and indifference of the individuals inside it.
APATHY, today, is mostly studied as a consequence of deliberate state policies, and as a systemic issue that relates to the way the state functions.
APATHY is even more relevant to study today as it has become one of the most important issues of our societies, and a key element preventing modern societies from moving towards more participatory forms of democracy.

HUMAN INTENTION.

Intention is a mental state that represents commitment to carrying out an action or actions. Thus, an intentional action is a function to accomplish a desired goal and is based on the belief that the course of action will satisfy a desire.
Whatever its nature, it is generally agreed that MIND is that which enables a being to have subjective awareness and intentionality towards their environment, to perceive and respond to stimuli.
Socrates had the intention that from a position of ignorance, sought the Truth and has no dogmatic program to follow, just a method for seeking Truth without any guarantee that we will find it. He found out that even the experts are just as ignorant about what things really are and concluded that it is better to have honest ignorance that self-deceptive ignorance. He followed his intention even at the point that he was condemned to death because of it.
At the trial for his life in 399BC, Socrates defense is recounted in Plato's Apology. Here Socrates appeared, despite his defense, not to acquit himself from all the accusations, but rather to deliberately ensure that he would be found guilty and thus condemned to death. In the trial he remained steadfast on his views and refused to give up his pursuit of truth, even if it cost his life.
Socrates told the jury: "Therefore if you let me go now saying to me, 'Socrates, this time we will not mind the reason of your prosecutor, and we will let you go, but upon one condition, thay you are not free to inquire and speculate in your way any more, and that if you are caught doing this again you shall die; -if this was the condition on which you let me go, I should reply; Men of Athens, I honor and love you; but I shall OBEY GOD rather than you, and while I have time and strength I shall never cease from the practice and teaching about virtue, justice and truth."
Socrates realization that taking the right course of action in his intention was more important than the one that would save him. He stated: "A man who is good for anything ought not to calculate the chance of living or dying; he ought only to consider whether in doing anything he is doing right or wrong -acting the part of a good man or of a bad." This is Socrates most cherished principle, that in dying for his beliefs he would be choosing the most noble action and the most obvious. His intention was to put forward his views of wisdom, virtue, and nobility that he believed to be his moral truths, not to clear his name, but to reveal the ignorance of his prosecutors, judges and fellow citizens. Against the charges of corrupting the mind of the youth, atheism, and introducing new deities, Socrates stated that he has been doing Athens a service by improving its beliefs of wisdom and virtue. Socrates regarded the charges as wholly unjustified, and claimed that his intention was to reform and improve both his moral outlook and other people's.
Socrates devoted his life to cross-examining other people about virtue; he urged them to pay attention to their souls, and not to wealth, power and other external advantages. He stated that his true intention and purpose for his actions was to show to the unexamined souls that life is not worth living when virtue, justice and truth are not pursued.
Socrates died for a noble cause: the belief that one should never change their beliefs because of their fear of death. He chose to give up his life as an example for future generations as he declared to the jury, "Wherefore, O men of Athens, I say to you, either you acquit me or not; whatever you do just know that I shall never alter my ways, not even if I have to die many times."
Socrates was not afraid of death and believed if he died for a noble cause then it was justified. He chose to accept his fate and in doing so, he secured his place as the greatest hero in the history of philosophy.