Apology

Socrates' Apology for Philosophy

The apology begins with what appears to be Socrates' opening remarks to defend himself against the charges of impiety and corrupting the youth before his fellow Athenians in an Athenian court. To defend himself against these charges he feels that he first has to defend himself against his earlier accusers who have slandered him. He characterizes his earlier accusers as gentlemen, who have for many years filled the jurors' minds from childhood on, with false accusations saying:

There is a wise man called Socrates, a student of all things in the sky and below the earth, who makes the worse argument the stronger (18b).

He sees these earlier accusers as dangerous, not only because of their sheer number, but also because of their anonymity and the fact that they have been spreading their lies for many years causing their hearers to think that those who study these things (wise men) are atheists. Socrates' later accusers consists of anytus, meletus and lycon, who claim that Socrates is impious, that is, believes in false gods or no gods at all, and by his teachings corrupt the youth.

Socrates' defense against his earlier accusers stems from the fact that he feels that they have called him a sophist. Sophists were wise men who wandered about Athens teaching various subjects like physics, mathematics, rhetoric, e.t.c, and for their services they charged fees. Later sophists tended to concentrate more on rhetoric- the art of public speaking, and being able to speak eloquently. And yet Socrates thought it was a good thing to be able to teach people as some sophists like Gorgias of Leontini did, and would have been proud if he had this knowledge, but he didn't.

Socrates then seeks to clarify to the jurors why there are such false impressions about him, and offers to explain what he has done that has led so many to misrepresent his activities and beliefs. He then goes on to claim that his reputation is due to "none other than a certain kind of wisdom", a human wisdom (20d).

Socrates then relays his story about how his friend Chaerephon went to the oracle at Delphi to find out if there was anyone wiser than him. The oracle at Delphi then replied, no one. Puzzled by this, Socrates, initially, investigates the truth of the oracle's decree by giving a thorough examination of a man with a reputation for wisdom (a politician), and afterwards was convinced that the man was not wise at all. However, Socrates came away from the encounter feeling that he was certainly wiser than the politician but that neither he nor the politician knew anything worthwhile, but unlike the politician he does not claim to know what he does not know. Essentially, Socrates is saying that he at least is conscious of his ignorance while the politician was not.

Socrates went on to confront more people that had a reputation of being wise, politicians, poets, and craftsmen alike, and in each case, found a fault with them because "while each was wise at his craft, thought himself very wise in other important pursuits", and therein lies their ignorance, Socrates thought. As a result of his quest, Socrates claims that his work aroused a great deal of hostility towards him, and gave him a "reputation for wisdom such that the bystanders thought of him as someone who possessed the wisdom he proved the other person did not have" (23a). Socrates' final interpretation of the Delphic oracle is that real wisdom is the property of god and human wisdom has little or no value. He then concludes that the oracle only uses his name as an example, as if to say that the wisest of humans is he who has realized, like Socrates, that his wisdom is really worthless (23b).

Socrates sees himself as being on a mission from god to prove to those who think of themselves as wise that they are not wise. He contends that his mission has kept him too busy to seek public office, and has greatly limited his ability to look after himself, and he has been reduced to extreme poverty because of his service to the god.

Socrates tries to absolve himself of blame in the charge of him corrupting the young. He thinks that the young men who follow him around do so of their own free will, and have in turn gone around questioning people delighting in seeing those who think that they are wise or believe they have some knowledge but know little or nothing. The result is that these people who they question are mad at him because they think he is the one filling the young men with false ideas. According to Socrates, "if you ask his critics what he does and what he teaches to corrupt them, they are silentÐ'...Ð'..." (23d).

Instead, they offer up the same lame accusations that are normally labeled against philosophers, including that of making the weaker the stronger argument.

Socrates' account of the origin of his notoriety reveals, I think, not only that many of his fellow Athenians regarded him as capable of making the weaker argument defeat the stronger argument but also why they do so. I don't think Socrates did a good job of defending himself here. Did he really expect the jurors were going to believe that the bystanders who became angry with Socrates were too blind to see the legitimacy of Socrates' techniques and arguments? Socrates did admit that the spectators became angry with him, and they did so because they believed that Socrates' techniques were not aimed at truth so much as refutation. Socrates did admit that his main goal, in the name of the god at Delphi is to refute his opponents so as to reveal that human wisdom has little or no value. Socrates sees himself obviously, as doing god's work, but his accusers saw him as disturbing the peace, and teaching philosophy.

In his second defense against his later accusers Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon, "Socrates is charged with corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other new spiritual things" (24b). Socrates cross-examines Meletus to expose the absurdity of the charges. Meletus is incompetent to make the charges, and is self-contradictory under questioning. Socrates attempts to prove to the jurors that "Meletus is guilty