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In Plato's Apology, Socrates is on trial to defend himself against an allegation made by Meletus, a fellow Athenian. Meletus has accused Socrates of corrupting the youth of Athens by not believing in the Gods of the city-state. Socrates begins his defense by acknowledging that he also has other adversaries from the past and present. He states that their opposition is not a recent phenomenon. "These people are ambitious, violent, and numerous; they are continually and convincingly talking about me; they have been filling your ears for a long time with vehement slanders against me" (Apology, 27). Throughout his trial, Socrates addresses the true reason for his bad reputation. He challenges the allegations made against him, and declares that his accusers have not given enough thought to their claims. Socrates also explains why he never held public office, and gives an overview on the life he has chosen to live. He proclaims to his fellow Athenians that their obsession with wealth and the material world must never take precedence over the care of the soul. Socrates also discusses his inevitable sentencing to death, and gives his truthful perspective on death and the afterlife. In his trial, Socrates addresses the true reason for his bad reputation. He implies that it has nothing to do with corrupting the youth or being an atheist. "What has caused my reputation is none other than a certain kind of wisdom. What kind of wisdom? Human wisdom, perhaps" (Apology, 24). Socrates then tells the story of his friend Chairephon, who went to an oracle when they were younger. The oracle told Chairephon that no one is wiser than Socrates. Upon hearing this, Socrates made it his duty to question men with established reputations, who were believed to be the wisest in Athens. Since his youth, Socrates' goal was to see if he could find one man truly wiser than him. Politicians, poets, and theologians were among the many he pursued. Socrates found that after examining their moral values, they were not wise, as they had appeared. "In my investigation in the service of the god I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable" (Apology, 26). Ultimately, Socrates earned a bad reputation because his scrutiny exposed the men's ignorance. Socrates acknowledges that there may be people wondering if he is ashamed for having an occupation that is dangerous and which may bring death. He answers this by saying, "You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or a bad man" (Apology, 31). Socrates also explains why he has led a private life, which has allowed him to practice philosophy. He explains this in two parts. First, he says he has a divine sign, which is a voice he hears that tells him when he should avoid doing something. His divine sign has been with him his whole life. On the matter of public service, the sign has steered him against it. Second, Socrates declares that if he were to enter public office, he would not have survived long. He asserts that a person who is true to their morals will reach conflict in public service, because there is no such thing as a politician who is not morally compromised. Socrates recalls the experience he had in public service. He was summoned, along with a few other citizens, to execute a man that the government had considered guilty. He says that the government "gave many such orders to many people, in order to implicate as many as possible in their guilt" (Apology, 35). Socrates immediately removed himself from involvement in this. He said it would be unethical to allow himself to be used as a tool of a totalitarian regime, which intended to spread guilt through their citizens. Most importantly, in his trial, Socrates makes a final attempt to reveal to the citizens of Athens that they are corrupting themselves by pursuing material objects and by having no concern for the state of their souls. Socrates constantly challenges the value priorities of his fellow citizens in the attempt to flip their priorities upside down. "Good sir, you are an Athenian, a citizen of the greatest city with the greatest reputation for both wisdom and power; are you not ashamed of your eagerness to possess as much wealth, reputation, and honors as possible, while you do not care for nor give thought to wisdom or truth, or the best possible state of your soul?" (Apology, 32). Socrates believes that people place too much value on wealth, honor, prestige, and the body. He says these things are of no comparison to the most valuable, eternal, and highest good: the soul. "Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively" (Apology, 33). Socrates is saying that wealth is only valuable and worth having if you do something worthwhile with it. People should use the less valuable, material goods in a way that is subordinate with the most valuable good, the soul. Socrates attempts to reveal to the court that the soul is eternal and endures forever. He believes that it exists even before the person does. He explains that a person must bring the moral potential of his soul to actualization - to manifest the eternal goodness within, so that it gains power over the personality. When the court asks Socrates what he believes his proper punishment should be, he says it should be free meals at the Pyrataneum. This is a celebration hall for Olympian athletes. Socrates thinks he should receive high treatment like the Greek sports heroes. To Athenians, sports heroes are the source of happiness and entertainment. Socrates asserts that the happiness people get from watching sports heroes is illusory. He believes that people do not derive real happiness from it. He says that people can find true happiness by engaging in philosophy. Socrates' belief in the purity and goodness of the soul is truly revealed when he responds to his verdict, which is a sentence to death. He accepts the verdict with composure, as he had anticipated this. Socrates tells the jury that he cannot be harmed by the so-called punishment of death. It is only his physical body that can die, but his true nature is an eternal soul made of purity and goodness. His soul cannot be vanquished. He makes it clear that despite the court's verdict he will not resort to dramatic emotions or petition to live even a little longer. He does not do what other humans might do, for example, plead for more time or bring his wife and children to court so that the jury will have mercy on him. He says that his death sentence "may well be a good thing, and those of us who believe death to be an evil are certainly mistaken. I have convincing proof of this, for it is impossible that my familiar sign did not oppose me if I was not about to do what was right" (Apology, 41). Socrates offers the jury some provocative insights on the nature of death. To begin, he tells them that he is not afraid of death. He says that emotions follow from knowledge, and since he has no knowledge of what death is, he has no feelings or emotions about death. Socrates only has emotions if they are first authorized by reason, so it is illogical for him to be afraid of death when he knows nothing about it. "To fear death, gentleman, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know" (Apology, 32). Socrates asserts that there is "good hope that death is a blessing" (Apology, 41). And he has two viewpoints on what death could be. He believes that death is either an eternal, dreamless sleep where the dead do not perceive anything, or death is when the soul gets relocated to another place. To Socrates, the second possibility is the greater blessing because he will have the opportunity to go to a world where he can meet his predecessors and continue to examine and question people - to practice philosophy eternally. "I could spend my time testing and examining people there, as I do here, as to who among them is wise, and who thinks he is, but is not" (Apology, 41). Socrates says that it is not difficult to avoid death, but "it is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death" (Apology, 40). Socrates also states that by sentencing him to death, the Athenians are not harming him. Rather, they are harming themselves. By killing him "haphazardly," they corrupt their own souls. Socrates says that though the jury condemns him to death, they are condemned "by truth to wickedness and injustice" (Apology, 40). And despite his increasingly sorrowful tone, he accepts that this is all as it should be. In the end, Socrates prophesies to those that convicted him. "I say gentleman, to those who voted to kill me, that vengeance will come upon you immediately after my death, a vengeance much harder to bear than that which you took in killing me" (Apology, 40). In reality, Socrates' accusers actually think that by putting him to death and eliminating him, they will no longer have to give an account of their lives and risk being exposed as ignorant. However, Socrates says that there are many people like him who will approach the court, who are younger and who will be resented far more than him. He ends his prophesy by saying: "You are wrong if you believe that by killing people you will prevent anyone from reproaching you for not living in the right way. To escape such tests is neither possible nor good, but it is best and easiest not to discredit others but to prepare oneself to be as good as possible" (Apology, 40). In the conclusion of his trial, Socrates states: "a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods" (Apology, 42). Socrates declares that he has led a good life, a life of morality and virtue. He states that although people have judged him and sentenced him to death, their opinions and verdicts will have no bearing on him once his body has perished. They cannot harm the most pure, true, and everlasting essence of his existence.  |
