Socrates' Defense in Plato's Apology

Socrates, in Plato's Apology, summarizes the charges against himself. It is charged that Socrates is a man who "makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others" (25).

Socrates responds by arguing that the charges are false, that they were brought against him by people with ulterior motives having nothing to do with the search for truth or the good of Athens or its people, and that instead of being punished for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens, he should be treated as a hero.

Socrates "apology" for philosophy, actually a powerful and humble defence of philosophy, offers a self-portrait based not on impiety or pride or false gods or corruption or teaching lies for pay, but rather on a vigilant attention to and exposure of shoddy thinking and false wisdom and knowledge.

Socrates asks how he can be accused of putting himself and his knowledge above others, of putting his version of reality above that of the city's, when in fact the basis of his philosophy is that he knows nothing and knows that he knows nothing. All he has done his whole life is attempt to rationally, simply, and usually civilly expose those who claim to know something---or everything---when in fact they know nothing as well.

Socrates himself, ironically, refers to the Delphic Oracle concerning his own wisdom. A friend of Socrates' went to Delphi and asked the Pythian prophetess if there were any person wiser than Socrates. The prophetess declares that "

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utter poverty by reason of my devotion to the god (28-29). In other words, Socrates is saying that he is obeying God, or the god, or the Oracle, rather than defying or denying God, when he sets out every day to prove the Oracle right when it was declared that no man was wiser than Socrates. Socrates argues that the fact that his humble work caused so many powerful people and institutions such fear and consternation indicates the true power of philosophy, of a philosopher who merely investigates carefully and reasonably whether what people say is true or not. To Socrates, it is the mission of philosophy to do precisely what he is doing. He is, he says directly, a "gift" from God to the city and people of Athens, and what he is doing is what he must: "A man who really fights for justice must lead a public, not a private, life if he is to survive for even a short time" (36). He tells his accusers that when he is dead, they will be blamed for what they are doing: "You will acquire the reputation and the guilt, in the eyes of those who want to denigrate the city, of having killed Socrates, a wise man, for they who want to revile you will say that I am wise even if I am not" (41). Socrates sees himself as the conscience of

Category: Philosophy - S