Notes on Socrates' Defense (Apology)

Socrates' Defense (Apology) by Plato

Introduction

• Socrates addresses the Athenian men, noting the persuasive, yet untruthful, speeches of his accusers.
• He expresses amazement at being warned against his eloquence, claiming his deficiency will be evident.
• Socrates asserts his eloquence lies in truth, contrasting it with his accusers' falsehoods.
• He promises to deliver the whole truth using plain language and arguments that come to mind naturally.
• He requests that the Athenians not be surprised by his familiar style of speech, as he is not a seasoned orator and is unfamiliar with court procedures.
• He emphasizes the importance of focusing on the justice of his cause rather than his manner of speaking.

Responding to Older Charges

• Socrates distinguishes between older and more recent accusers, fearing the former more.
• The older accusers spread rumors from his audience's childhood, depicting him as a wise man speculating about celestial and terrestrial matters, and making the worse appear the better.
• He believes that these accusers are more dangerous because they have had a longer time to influence people's minds, and he cannot confront them directly.
• He asks the jury to consider that these accusations were made long before the current trial.

Defense Against Slander

• Socrates aims to dispel the long-held negative opinions about him.
• He acknowledges the difficulty of this task and defers to God's will.
• He identifies the core accusation: he is an evil-doer, a curious person who investigates the heavens and the earth, makes the worse appear the better cause, and teaches these doctrines to others.
• He references Aristophanes' comedy as a source of this slander, which inaccurately depicts Socrates as studying things he knows little about.
• He clarifies the he does not mean to disparage those who study natural philosophy.
• Socrates denies being a teacher who takes money, unlike figures such as Gorgias, Prodicus, and Hippias.
• He recounts an anecdote involving Callias, who spent considerable money on Sophists.
• Socrates expresses his skepticism regarding the wisdom that can be taught for a fee.

The Origin of Socrates' Reputation

• Socrates explains that his reputation for wisdom stems from a certain kind of wisdom attainable by man.
• He distinguishes this from superhuman wisdom, which he claims not to possess.
• He references Chaerephon's inquiry to the Oracle of Delphi, who stated that no one was wiser than Socrates.
• Socrates explains the Delphic Oracle's pronouncement led him to investigate its meaning, as he knew he possessed no significant wisdom.
• He sought someone wiser, hoping to prove the oracle wrong, leading to encounters with people who thought they were wise but were not.
• His attempts to reveal their lack of wisdom resulted in animosity towards him.
• Socrates concludes that he is better off because he does not think he knows what he does not know.
• He continued his quest, approaching politicians, poets, and artisans to understand the oracle's meaning.

Encounters with Poets and Artisans

• Socrates went to the poets, including tragic, dithyrambic, and all sorts, hoping to find that he was more ignorant than they were.
• He questioned them about their writings and found that they could not explain them as well as others could.
• He realized that poets write not by wisdom, but by genius and inspiration, like diviners or soothsayers who do not understand what they say.
• He also observed that poets believed they were the wisest of men in other things, in which they were not wise.
• He then went to the artisans, knowing that they possessed knowledge he lacked.
• The artisans did know many things he did not, but they also fell into the error of thinking they knew about high matters because they were skilled workmen.
• Socrates concluded that he was better off neither having their knowledge nor their ignorance.

Consequences of Socrates' Investigation

• Socrates' investigation led to many enemies and calumnies; he is called wise because his audience imagines he possesses the wisdom he finds wanting in others.
• He explains that God alone is wise, and the oracle meant that human wisdom is worth little or nothing; Socrates' name is used as an illustration of this.
• He obeys the god by questioning anyone who appears wise and showing them their lack of wisdom.
• This occupation absorbs him, leaving him no time for public matters or his own concerns, resulting in poverty.
• Young men of richer classes follow him and imitate his examinations, leading to anger from those they examine.
• These individuals repeat the common charges against philosophers: teaching things up in the clouds and under the earth, having no gods, and making the worse appear the better cause.
• His accusers are Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon, representing the poets, craftsmen, and rhetoricians, respectively.
• Socrates knows he cannot get rid of this calumny quickly.

Defense Against Meletus

• Socrates addresses the charges brought by Meletus: corrupting the youth, not believing in the gods of the state, and having other new divinities.
• He argues that Meletus makes a joke of a serious matter and is too ready to bring men to trial without genuine interest.
• Socrates questions Meletus about who improves the youth, pointing out Meletus' silence as evidence of his lack of interest.
• Meletus claims the laws and the judges improve the youth.
• Socrates satirically remarks on the abundance of improvers, including the audience and the senators, with the exception of himself.
• He uses an analogy of horses to argue that typically only one man (the trainer) can improve them, while others may harm them.
• Socrates asserts that Meletus has shown carelessness and lack of thought about the young.

Socrates' Examination of Meletus

• Socrates asks Meletus whether it is better to live among good or bad citizens, establishing that good citizens do good and bad citizens do evil.
• He asks Meletus if Socrates corrupts the youth intentionally or unintentionally.
• Meletus claims it is intentional.
• Socrates argues that it is illogical for him to intentionally corrupt those he lives with, as they would likely harm him.
• He restates that if his offense is unintentional, the law does not recognize it, and Meletus should have warned him privately instead of indicting him in court.
• Socrates questions Meletus about how he corrupts the young, suggesting it is by teaching them not to acknowledge the state's gods but some other new divinities.
• Meletus emphatically agrees.
• Socrates asks Meletus to clarify whether he accuses Socrates of believing in no gods at all or believing in different gods.
• Meletus asserts that Socrates is a complete atheist.

Inconsistencies in Meletus' Accusation

• Socrates expresses disbelief at Meletus' statement, questioning if he denies belief in the sun and moon as deities.
• Meletus accuses Socrates of believing that the sun is a stone and the moon is earth, attributing this to Anaxagoras.
• Socrates mocks Meletus for accusing him of Anaxagoras's doctrines, which are publicly available.
• Socrates challenges Meletus' claim that he believes in no god at all.
• He suggests that Meletus is being reckless and impudent, creating a riddle-like indictment to test him.
• Socrates asks the court to examine what he believes is Meletus' inconsistency.
• He questions if a man can believe in human things without believing in human beings, or in horsemanship without believing in horses.
• Socrates asks whether a man can believe in divine beings without believing in spirits or demigods.
• Meletus concedes that he cannot.

Exposing Meletus' Contradiction

• Socrates reminds Meletus that he swore in the indictment that Socrates believes in divine or spiritual agencies, which implies belief in spirits or demigods.
• He questions what spirits or demigods are, establishing that they are either gods or the sons of gods.
• Socrates highlights the contradiction: Meletus claims Socrates does not believe in gods but admits he believes in demigods, who are either gods themselves or offspring of gods.
• He uses the analogy of mules to horses and asses to illustrate the absurdity of affirming the existence of demigods while denying the existence of gods.
• Socrates concludes that Meletus' accusation is a mere trial without any real substance.
• He asserts that no one with understanding would believe that the same man can believe in divine and superhuman things, and yet not believe that there are gods and demigods and heroes.
• He argues that his many enemies will be his downfall, not Meletus or Anytus, but envy and detraction.

Socrates on Facing Death

• Socrates states that a good man should not consider the chance of living or dying but only whether he is doing right or wrong.
• He refers to heroes who faced death rather than disgrace, such as Achilles, who chose to avenge his friend Patroclus, knowing he would die soon after killing Hector.
• Socrates argues that one should remain at their post, whether chosen or assigned, and think only of disgrace, not death.
• He states that it would be strange if he, who remained at his post when ordered by the generals at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium, were now to desert his post through fear of death, when God orders him to fulfill the philosopher's mission.
• He believes that fearing death is a pretense of wisdom, as no one knows whether death may not be the greatest good.
• He says he is superior to men in general in that he does not suppose that he knows what he does not know.
• Socrates says that he knows injustice and disobedience to a better, whether God or man, is evil and dishonorable, and he will never fear or avoid a possible good rather than a certain evil.

Socrates' Unwavering Commitment to Philosophy

• Socrates declares that even if the Athenians offer to let him go on the condition that he ceases his philosophical inquiries, he would refuse.
• He asserts that he will obey God rather than them and will continue to practice and teach philosophy as long as he lives.
• He describes his practice of exhorting and cross-examining individuals, questioning their values and priorities.
• He challenges them to value wisdom, truth, and the improvement of the soul over wealth, honor, and reputation.
• Socrates states that he believes his service to God is the greatest good that has ever happened in the state.
• He goes about persuading people not to care for their persons or properties but to care about the greatest improvement of the soul.
• He teaches that virtue is not given by money, but from virtue come money and every other good of man.

Socrates on Death and Justice

• Socrates asserts that he will not alter his ways, even if it means facing death many times.
• He claims that killing a man like him will injure the Athenians more than it will injure him because it is not in the nature of a bad man to injure a better one.
• He argues that the evil of unjustly taking away another man's life (as Anytus is doing) is far greater.
• Socrates insists that he is not arguing for his own sake but for theirs, that they may not sin against God by condemning him.
• He compares himself to a gadfly given to the state by God, arousing, persuading, and reproaching them.
• He suggests they will not easily find another like him and advises them to spare him.

Socrates' Explanation for Avoiding Politics

• Socrates explains that he does not venture to advise the state publicly because of an oracle or sign that comes to him, which Meletus ridicules in the indictment.
• This sign, a voice, has been with him since childhood and always forbids him to do something he is going to do but never commands him to do anything.
• He believes that if he had engaged in politics, he would have perished long ago and done no good to anyone.
• He asserts that no man who struggles against unrighteousness and wrong in the state will save his life; one must have a private station to fight for the right and live.
• He provides examples from his own life of when he defied unjust commands.

Socrates' Actions During the Oligarchy

• Socrates recounts an incident during the oligarchy of the Thirty when they ordered him and four others to bring Leon the Salaminian from Salamis for execution.
• He showed his disregard for death and his fear of doing an unrighteous thing by refusing to participate.
• While the other four went to Salamis, Socrates went home, risking his life.
• He argues that he could not have survived if he had led a public life, always supporting the right.
• Socrates states that he has always been consistent in his actions, never yielding to those termed his disciples or anyone else.
• He clarifies that he has no regular disciples but anyone can come and listen to him, whether young or old, rich or poor.
• He never taught anyone anything in private that the world has not heard.

Why People Converse with Socrates

• Socrates explains that people delight in conversing with him because they enjoy the cross-examination of the pretenders to wisdom.
• He believes this is a duty imposed upon him by God, assured by oracles, visions, and other forms of divine will.
• Socrates challenges anyone who claims to have been corrupted by him to come forward as an accuser or have their relatives do so.
• He points out several individuals in the court who could testify against him if he had truly harmed their families.
• Socrates emphasizes that these individuals are ready to witness on his behalf and support him with their testimony because of truth and justice.

Socrates on Recourse to Prayers and Supplications

• Socrates addresses the potential offense some may take at his refusal to resort to prayers, supplications, and bringing his children into court, as others do.
• He states that he is a man like other men, with a family and sons, but he will not debase himself by petitioning for an acquittal.
• He believes that those with a reputation for wisdom should not demean themselves in this way.
• He criticizes those who behave as if they could be immortal if allowed to live and sees such behavior as a dishonor to the state.
• Socrates asserts that judges should not be petitioned but should make judgments based on the law, not on their own pleasure.
• He refuses to do what he considers dishonorable, impious, and wrong, particularly when being tried for impiety.
• He argues that attempting to overpower the judges' oaths would be teaching them to believe that there are no gods, thus contradicting his own defence.
• Socrates affirms his belief in the gods and commits his cause to God and the judges to be determined as is best for all.

Socrates' Response to the Guilty Verdict

• Socrates expresses that he is not grieved by the vote of condemnation, as he expected it.
• He notes that the votes were nearly equal and suggests that without the assistance of Anytus and Lycon, Meletus would not have met the legal requirement for votes.
• He acknowledges that Meletus proposes death as the penalty and questions what he himself should propose as his due.
• Socrates proposes maintenance in the Prytaneum, a reward fitting for a poor man who is a benefactor and desires leisure to instruct others.
• He argues that he deserves this reward more than those who win prizes at Olympia, as he gives the reality of happiness, not just the appearance.
• Socrates denies that he is braving the court, but speaks out of conviction that he has never intentionally wronged anyone.

Socrates Rejects Proposing a Penalty

• Socrates argues that his short conversation with the court has made it impossible to prove his innocence.
• He recognizes that time constraints have made it impossible to refute great slanders.
• He will not wrong himself by proposing any evil or penalty. He doesn't want to propose death because he does not know wheter death is a good or evil thing.
• He rejects imprisonment because it would make him a slave of the magistrates.
• He rejects a fine because he has no money and would have to remain in prison.
• Socrates dismisses exile because he knows that his discourses and words would be found grievous and odious. He would be driven out again and again.
• Socrates knows if he holds his tongue, he would be disobeying a divine command.

Socrates on the Value of the Examined Life

• Socrates believes that no one would think it worth living an unexamined life.
• He thinks he deserves no punsihment. He could offer a fine if he had money.
• He suggests for a payment a mina, and offers to pay thirty minae, with Plato, Crito, Critobulus, and Apollodorus as sureties.

Socrates' Comments on His Sentence

• Socrates, addressing those who condemned him, says they will gain little time in return for the evil name they will get for killing a wise man.
• He asserts that his conviction was not due to a deficiency of words but to his unwillingness to act in a manner they would have liked, such as weeping and wailing.
• He would rather die having spoken in his own manner than live by speaking in their manner.
• Socrates believes that avoiding unrighteousness is more important than avoiding death.
• He says he departs condemned to death, while his accusers are condemned by the truth to suffer the penalty of villainy and wrong.

Socrates' Prophecy

• Socrates prophesies to his murderers that a punishment far heavier than they have inflicted on him will await them after his death.
• He claims that there will be more accusers of them, younger and more severe, whom he has restrained until now.
• He argues that killing men will not avoid the accuser from censuring their lives and improving themselves.
• He delivers this prophesy to the judges who has condemned him.

Socrates' Remarks to Those Who Would Have Acquitted Him

• Socrates addresses those who would have acquitted him, expressing his desire to discuss the event while there is still time.
• He tells them of a wonderful circumstance: the familiar oracle within him, which usually opposes him even about trifles, made no sign of opposition during the trial or as he was going to court.
• He interprets this as a sign that what has happened to him is a good, and that those who think death is an evil are in error.
• He believes the oracle would have opposed him if he were going to evil, not to good.

Socrates on the Nature of Death

• Socrates suggests that death is either a state of nothingness and utter unconsciousness, or a change and migration of the soul to another world.
• If death is like a dreamless sleep, it is an unspeakable gain, as eternity would be like a single night.
• If death is a journey to another place where all the dead are, it would be a great good to converse with true judges like Minos, Rhadamanthus, Aeacus, and Triptolemus.
• He imagines the pleasure of conversing with Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, and Homer in the world below.
• He looks forward to comparing his own sufferings with heroes who suffered death through unjust judgment and continuing his search for true and false knowledge.
• He believes that he will discover who is wise and who only pretends to be wise.

Final Words

• He encourages them to be of good cheer about death, knowing that no evil can happen to a good man, either in life or after death.
• He declares that his approaching end did not happen by mere chance, and it was better for him to die and be released.
• He says he isn't angry with his accusers or his condemners, though they meant him no good.
• Socrates asks his friends to punish his sons if they seem to care about riches or anything more than virtue, or if they pretend to be something when they are really nothing.
• He concludes that the hour of departure has arrived, and they go their ways: he to die, and they to live, with only God knowing which is better.