PHL 201: Apology, Protagoras, Socrates

Apology first accusations and later accusations distinction

What was the delphic oracle story?

Socrates’ friend asks the Delphic oracle if anyone is wiser than Socrates, and the Delphic oracle said no. Socrates was confused by the oracle’s answer and sought to disprove it by finding someone who was wiser than him. Socrates questions politicians, artists, and craftsmen, who all claim to have some type of wisdom, but found that none of their arguments stood the test of elenchus and none of them knew what they claimed to know. Socrates’ response to the riddle besmirched his reputation as he was questioning those with power and proving they were not wise, while an audience followed Socrates’ questioning.

What is socratic wisdom?

After questioning those who claimed to be wise and discovering that they were not in fact knowledgeable about what they claimed to know, Socrates accepts that he is wise because he is the only person aware of his own ignorance. Socrates’ human wisdom is the fact that he knows that he is not wise about anything, giving him more knowledge than everyone else in Athens. 

What is the unity of virtue?

The unity of virtue is Socrates’ unstated beliefs about virtue in the Protagoras. Socrates asks Protagoras if he thinks that virtue is a species or a genus, and Protagoras answers that virtue is a genus (being composed of dissimilar parts.) However, Socrates believes that the virtues are all similar parts of one thing: knowledge. If one possesses one virtue, then they must possess all of them. If someone possesses knowledge, then they will possess all the cardinal virtues because they are knowledge. 

Akrasia

Akrasia: when someone does bad, knowing that it is bad, while being overcome by pleasure (for example: knowing I’ll get a stomach ache if I eat cheese because I’m lactose intolerant, but eating the cheese anyways because it tastes good).

Hedonism

The hedonists believe that pleasure is good and that pain is bad.

What did Socrates believe about Akrasia?

 Socrates believed that the existence of akrasia was incompatible with the hedonistic views the many assented to. Akrasia: when someone does bad, knowing that it is bad, while being overcome by pleasure (for example: knowing I’ll get a stomach ache if I eat cheese because I’m lactose intolerant, but eating the cheese anyways because it tastes good). The hedonists believe that pleasure is good and that pain is bad. If we substitute the vocabulary used in the definition of akrasia with the hedonist vocabulary you get: a person does something painful, knowing it is painful, because they are overcome by pleasure. This definition is absurd, and shows that akrasia is incompatible with hedonism 

What did Plato believe about akrasia?

Plato’s tripartite soul allows for akrasia (incontinence) because someone can rationally know that something is bad while acting on the spirited/ appetitive parts of their soul that allow for unjust actions. When I eat the cheese, I rationally know that it will give me a stomach ache but the action is not following from the just harmony of the soul. Instead, my appetitive part of the soul acts, allowing for the akratic behavior.