Introduction to Plato: The Apology, Meno, and Historical Context

Vocabulary terms covering course administration details, the structure and arguments of Plato's Apology, historical details surrounding Socrates' trial, and key concepts from Meno.

Stephanus numbers

The standardized marginal numbers and letters (e.g., 17a, 70a) originating from an edition edited by Stephanus, used as a universal reference system across all modern editions of Plato's dialogues.

Main speech

The first and largest of the three main sections of Plato's Apology, during which Socrates presents his legal defense before the jury votes on his guilt.

Free meals

The alternative punishment Socrates famously proposes for himself during the penalty phase of his trial to make a statement about his beneficial role in Athens.

Socratic wisdom

In the Apology, the state of knowing what you do not know, as opposed to falsely believing you possess knowledge that you lack.

Apollo

The Greek god who speaks through the oracle and who Socrates claims appointed him to question citizens and fulfill a specific purpose within Athenian society.

Meletus

One of the primary accusers who brought charges against Socrates, whom Socrates cross-examines in the Apology to show that his accusation of outright atheism is incoherent.

399 BCE

The historical year in which Socrates was convicted and executed by the city of Athens.

The Academy

The school founded in Athens by Plato roughly a decade after Socrates' execution, which operated for centuries until it was closed down under a Christian Roman emperor.

Academic skepticism

A philosophical movement adopted by leaders of Plato's Academy roughly a generation after his death, arguing that knowledge is impossible and claiming to embody the true Socratic spirit.

Xenophon

A contemporary mentee of Socrates who attended the trial and wrote an alternative account of Socrates' defense, differing from Plato's Apology by using descriptions such as 'more free, more just, more sound of mind' rather than focusing on wisdom.

Early dialogues

Plato's initial group of writings—including the Apology—which scholars generally view as more historically accurate depictions of Socrates' actual life, personality, and purely question-asking method.

Meno

A dialogue by Plato (often viewed as transitional between his early and middle periods) that begins by questioning the nature of virtue and whether it can be taught.

Theory of recollection

The epistemological theory introduced in Meno (around Stephanus 81c–d) proposing that learning is not acquiring new knowledge from scratch, but remembering knowledge already present within us.

Slave boy geometry demonstration

An episode in Meno where Socrates guides an uneducated boy through a mathematical problem concerning squares and measurements through questioning alone to prove the theory of recollection.

Ned Block

A prominent American philosopher scheduled to deliver a lecture on artificial intelligence (AI) at the University of Delaware on October 15.

Ware Center

A local performance venue hosting classical Indian musicians for performances on October 18.