Plato Apology

Why does Socrates begin with this point? How can it help him?

Socrates makes a plain-folk appeal by saying that he has no special skill in argument. By poor-mouthing his abilities at argument, he indicates that the truth (not just fancy wording) is on his side.

What favor does Socrates ask of his listeners?

He asks that they let him speak his full mind and that they let him use the style of speaking he is accustomed to using in the marketplace.

What attitude towards his accusers does Socrates exhibit in this paragraph?

The word “slander” indicates that Socrates believes the attacks against him are baseless. He also presents his accusers as relentless and unfair in their organized attack on him.

Paraphrase the charges against Socrates.

He claims supernatural knowledge, misleads people to believe false ideas, and spreads his ideas to others.

Strategically, what is Socrates’ motivation for referring to the doubts that many Athenians have about him?

Socrates embraces the idea that he is different from other men, and he attaches the reasons for his devotion to discovering truth to a mandate from Apollo through the Delphi oracle. Rather than claim that he is universally admired, he twists a disadvantage into proof that he is obeying the oracle.

What strategy does Socrates use to refute the god’s claim that Socrates is the wisest of all men? Explain your agreement or disagreement with the use of this strategy.

Socrates goes out into the world to try to prove that other men are wise and know more than he does. He can now claim that all of his interactions with hypocrites are in service to Apollo, and this strategy is useful for explanation for why he challenges people around him to prove their wisdom.

What did Chaerephon ask the oracle at Delphi? What was the oracle’s answer?

He asked whether anyone is wiser than Socrates, and the Oracle said he is the wisest.

Socrates asserts that poets write with “a sort of genius and inspiration”. Explain your agreement or disagreement. According to this passage, what is Socrates’ mission in life?

Essentially, his mission is to point out hypocrisy and to prove that social status has little connection to actual understanding. I have to disagree regarding poets, as various poets have written extensively about deeper meanings and connections in their poems—his experiences sound either like they are of too small a sample size or that modern poets are more intentional than those of his day were.

“God only is wise” is a reaffirmation of a traditional and profound piety—the same message that is at the center of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King. Explain how Socrates uses this aphorism to his advantage in this section.  

Because he is up against a claim of hubris regarding his own mental abilities, Socrates employs verbal jiu-jitsu here by claiming the highest piety for godly wisdom. He becomes the protector of actual respect for the gods by breaking down impostors.

What is the antecedent of “they,” and what point is Socrates making about them? 

Essentially, “they” are his students. This is a thinly veiled threat that those who would get rid of Socrates are not aware of how much worse things will be without him holding back the hoards who will be even more direct and offensive in their questions.

Summarize the key points in the above passage.Someone will say: And are you not ashamed, Socrates, of a course of life which is likely to bring you to an untimely end? 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 he, receiving this warning, utterly despised danger and death, and instead of fearing them, feared rather to live in dishonor

Truth is more important than life. Achilles killed Hector even though doing so would lead to his own death, and Socrates refuses to give up his search for the truth. By drawing a personal comparison to their legendary hero, Achilles, Socrates lionizes his position as one of impeccable ethics.

What point does Socrates make by comparing his duty as a philosopher to his duty as a soldier?

Obeying a human commander despite a danger of death, while refusing God’s orders simply because death is on the line would be blasphemy. He continues his earlier claim that pushing people to acknowledge truth is God’s command on him as a philosopher.

Interpret Socrates’ claim that the fear of death is “the pretense of wisdom.”

Declaring one’s actions wise because they prolong life fails to take into account the fact that people know nothing of the afterlife. Death, as Socrates sees it, could actually be positive.

How does Socrates link heroic courage, civic obedience, and obedience to God in this passage?

by fearlessly fulfilling his divine mission to question others for the moral betterment of both individuals and the city, showing that true service to the gods and the state requires the courage to challenge false virtue.

How does Socrates recognize the needs of his listeners in the above passage?

Socrates notices that several of the people he talks to are unable to recognize their own lack of understanding. He indicates that they need him to cross examine their beliefs.

According to Socrates, what should be the primary concern of all Athenians?

Essentially, they should be concerned about their own self-improvement. He specifically reorients their thinking to save him for their own sakes, not for his.

Explain the meaning of the above passage? Nothing will injure me, not Meletus nor yet Anytus—they cannot, for a bad man is not permitted to injure a better than himself. I do not deny that Anytus may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him into exile, or deprive him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may imagine, that he is inflicting a great injury upon him: but there I do not agree. For the evil of doing as he is doing—the evil of unjustly taking away the life of another—is greater far.

Socrates argues that Anytus and Meletus are harming themselves much more than they harm Socrates. He makes a definition argument regarding “injure.” They cannot injure him by attacking because he knows that they are performing the attack without honor.

Explain Socrates’ analogy of the gadfly.

He describes himself as an annoyance that pushes the state by creating an analogy. He is the fly that spurs a lazy horse into action. Though the bite (his truth-telling) is unpleasant, the motion (self-examination and improvement) is necessary.

Use a dictionary to define “dissonance.”  Paraphrase the above footnote.

Lack of harmony—essentially, he can hear the harmony of the divine, so people’s actions that do not match that harmony create a bad “sound.”

Use a dictionary to define the word “acquittal.” Explain how this word relates to the word “indictment.”

An indictment is a formal charge that a person has broken a law. Acquittal basically quits the indictment, negates it.

Paraphrase Socrates’ claims about politicians—do you agree?

I thoroughly disagree with Socrates here. Although some level of compromise is necessary in order to achieve grand aims, the choice to enter politics can be rather noble, as seen through Jimmy Carter and his house building.

If you were a juror, would you be put off by Socrates’ defiance or impressed by his steadfast belief in himself? Explain

Socrates’ superior tone could be off-putting, in particular if I had heard him attack the entire practice of politics or had caught him in any hypocrisy.

What synonym could replace the word “want” in this context?

This is an archaic usage that translates to “lack” in modern usage. He claims that his refusal to put his family on display is not out of a lack of respect for the court, but rather a refusal to use emotional manipulation.

Look up the term “apophasis,” and explain how Socrates uses this tactic here.

Basically, the tactic of claiming that he will not use his family to manipulate their decision with pathos is actually achieving his goal without appearing to rely on emotional, illogical argument.

How does Socrates’ disdain for judges’ “making a present of justice” fit his character?

Just as he disdains pathos when logic should drive decision-making, Socrates refuses to offer any sort of reward to a judge who would offer acquittal as a gift, or a quid pro quo. He refuses to use corruption to escape a charge of corruption.

What can we infer about how the Greek court system works from Socrates’ claim above?

We can infer that frivolous lawsuits are avoided by fining any person who sues and has only minimal (less than 1/5 of the votes) support.

Why might Socrates’ counter-proposal of maintenance in the Prytaneum not be favored by the jury?

The jury has already decided with the prosecution that Socrates deserves punishment. Since he refuses to suggest any punishment at all, he instead claims they should honor him by letting him live in a lavish palace set aside for Olympic champions. Clearly, those who have voted him guilty would not agree to reward him.

What penalty does Meletus propose for Socrates? What penalty does Meletus propose for Socrates? 

Meletus has proposed death, presumably hoping Socrates would propose banishment so that he would at least go away.

Evaluate Socrates’ use of hypophora in the passage above.

He anticipates the questions many would ask, as most of his accusers would rather see him simply stop bothering them than go all the way to death. By listing all of the expected and preferred punishments, Socrates can refute each one effectively.

Explain Socrates’ reasoning regarding why he refuses to “hold [his] tongue.”

As he has mentioned earlier, he believes keeping quiet would be disobedience to the gods. Since death could be good, he reasons that being faithful and dying is better than living silently and upsetting Apollo.

If we are to accept that Socrates does not believe himself to be wise, he implies a specific definition argument about what the word “wise” means. What is wisdom if even Socrates lacks it?

Wisdom is knowledge of matters beyond life, something for the gods only to know.

Why does Socrates reject the idea of exile as his penalty?

Actually, this appears more in paragraph W. Exile is a clear evil, and death is a possible good since the afterlife is unknown. Plus, he would just wind up on trial somewhere else.

What two specific services does Socrates claim he has been performing for his accusers?

He has helped them by showing them how to improve their lives, and he has “hitherto restrained” others (we can infer they are mostly his students) who will be even more harsh in their attacks than Socrates has been.

Compare and contrast Socrates’ tone in the above passage with the tones of his remarks to those who condemned him.

His language is filled with positive reflections of their judgment (“for you I may truly call judges”), and his intimate and reassuring language claiming that signs from the oracles indicate his death will be a reward here helps relieve them of any guilt they may suffer from being unable to convince enough voters to help save him.

What assumptions about dreams does Socrates make? Explain why you agree or disagree. 

Socrates indicates that death will be a sort of dream world, either like a dreamless sleep or one that allows for meeting heroes who have suffered similar injustice.

What does Socrates reveal about himself as he catalogs of some of the greatest figures of ancient Greek culture?

He believes that he could offer guidance even to the great heroes of the past, and that he would reveal all of their wisdom whether it was genuine or more like the feigned wisdom of the living people he has questioned.

Paraphrase Socrates’ claim for why he “may gently blame” his accusers.

He offers an ironic twist, that death will not harm him. He blames them for their intent—because they did not ever specifically mean to do him good (as he means to do for everyone he encounters), he can “gently” blame them.

Do you believe that this passage is an effective conclusion to Socrates’ speech? Explain.

It has a haunting quality, but offers the ideal attempt at securing legacy. Not only does Socrates wish his biological legacy to thrive through specific improvement of his heirs, but also he wishes his intellectual legacy to thrive through application of his methods on everyone. By asking that his sons experience the harsh treatment that his accusers saw fit to put him to death for, Socrates solidifies all the more his claim that he was actually trying to help them rather than harm them with his criticisms.