READING ASSIGNMENT
–Plato, Apology (in Plato: Five Dialogues, 2nd ed., trans. G. M. A. Grube,
revised by John M. Cooper, 21-44)
–Armstrong, 223-225 (on early Greek philosophy); 295-302 (on the Sophists);
305-312 (on Socrates)Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions. New
York: Anchor Books, 2007. (ISBN 978-0-385-72124-0)

In the questions below, I give the page numbers that you should focus on to
answer each question in the book, Plato: Five Dialogues. That little paperback
was required for the course, but if for some reason you do not have it, you can
also find The Apology on line. A classic translation by Benjamin Jowett is
available at the Internet Classics Archive. If you use that or any other
translation, you will need to locate the relevant pages for each question on
your own. That should not be too hard if you read the dialogue carefully.

One caution: please base your answers on the actual reading assignment and do
not draw on summaries such as Spark Notes or similar sources.

BACKGROUND
The Apology is one of the most famous, influential and widely read
philosophical works in the western tradition. It is a rendition of the speech
Socrates gave in his own self-defense at his trial in Athens in 399 B.C.,
written by his student Plato several years after the trial. The 70-year-old
Athenian philosopher was charged by fellow citizens with two major crimes: 1)
not believing in the gods of Athens and 2) corrupting the minds of the city?s
youth. The former charge was brought by a religious fanatic named Meletus. The
second was brought by Anytus, a wealthy manufacturer whose son wanted to become
a pupil of Socrates, but who took to drink when his father would not let him do
so. The first charge was totally unfounded: far from denying the existence of
the gods, Socrates believed strongly that good and rational gods ruled the
universe. (It was the Sophists and some pre-Socratic philosophers, not
Socrates, who denied or doubted the existence of the gods.) He did indeed speak
of a ?daemon? or supernatural ?voice? that since childhood had sometimes warned
him against taking certain actions, but that hardly meant that he denied the
Athenian gods. The validity of the second charge depends, of course, on whether
one views philosophy as a corrupting force or not. I
In any case, that Athens would put on trial and later execute such a prominent
citizen suggests the intensity of hatred Socrates had aroused among powerful
people by exposing their ignorance and stupidity in public philosophical
discussions. It also reflected the widespread but mistaken suspicion that he
was the mastermind behind the antidemocratic faction in Athens. It is true that
some of Socrates? aristocratic students had become leaders of this faction,
influenced by his argument that public officials should have the knowledge and
wisdom needed to do their jobs well (whereas many high offices in Athens were
actually chosen by lot on the assumption that any citizen could handle almost
any job). But Socrates loved and was loyal to Athens, which he had fought for
with extraordinary courage during the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. As we
will see next week when we read the Crito, he was deeply devoted to its
laws?laws that had made Athens the world?s first democracy (albeit one that
excluded women, foreigners, and slaves from power).
        Present at Socrates? trial was his devoted student Plato, a young aristocrat
who later wrote the Apology from memory. (The title comes from the Greek word
?apologia??which means defense, not apology.) Historians believe that most of
the speech as Plato presents it is a fairly accurate account of what Socrates
actually said. Note that in the Athenian legal system there was no difference
between judges and juries. Socrates addressed 501 jurors/judges who had been
chosen by lot to serve in this trial. Also note that wherever in the speech he
mentions ?the god? he is referring to Apollo (for reasons that become clear in
the course of the speech).

I want to make some preliminary points about the speech to help bring into
clear focus a few important but sometimes confusing statements that Socrates
makes about his role as a philosopher. (What follows isn?t a summary of the
speech.) At the start of his self-defense Socrates focuses not on refuting what
he calls the ?lies? of his accusers, but rather on the question of why they
hate him so much that they tell these lies (In other words, he focuses on the
psychic motivations of his accusers, who he believes were corrupted by their
desire to destroy him). He soon makes it clear that there are actually two
kinds or groups of accusers?the new ones who had just brought him to court and
older anonymous ones who had been damaging his reputation for years.
Specifically, he refers to Meletus and Anytus as his ?recent? or new accusers.
But many other people (including the comic playwright Aristophanes), whom he
calls his ?first? or ?old? accusers,? had been spreading similar lies about him
for years. In fact, he tells the jurors that they are probably already
prejudiced against him because of lies they have been hearing about him since
they were children or adolescents.

In order to rid them of this prejudice so they can judge him fairly, he says he
must explain why people originally began to hate and slander him. That leads to
the story of how he became a philosopher in the first place. It all began, he
says, when his friend Chaerephon went to the Delphic oracle and asked the god
Apollo if any man was wiser than Socrates. The Pythian priestess, whose job was
to communicate Apollo?s answers to humans, responded that no one was wiser than
Socrates.

For reasons that Socrates explains to the jury, and that you will discuss if
you answer he first question, he then began questioning various Athenian
citizens in the hope of finding a truly wise person. (He never does say exactly
what he asked them or what their answers were.) He gradually realized that this
questioning process, which he refers to as an investigation, was a mission that
Apollo had given him, as he puts it, ?to live the life of a philosopher, to
examine myself and others.? But in carrying out this mission, as he tells the
jury, he began to awaken the hostility of his fellow citizens. This frightened
him, but he believed he had a sacred duty to persist.

A careful reading of Socrates?words suggests that he thought this philosophical
mission had two components. One was to question people at all levels of
Athenian society about key philosophical issues, to engage them in a dialogue
to make them realize that they were ignorant, so they would then begin to seek
true knowledge. The second part of this mission was to exhort and persuade his
fellow citizens to change their lives and their values for the better, in ways
that you will discuss if you answer the fourth question.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT:
Please answer six of the following eight questions. For each answer you should
write a paragraph of 4-8 sentences. (You can write more if you wish.)

1 Why did Apollo?s statement that no one was wiser than Socrates surprise and
shock Socrates? Why did he then begin to seek out and question political
leaders in Athens who were considered to be wise? What did he discover when he
questioned them? What other types of people did he question after that, and
what were the results? Did he ever find a truly wise person? What did he
finally conclude was the real reason that Apollo said no one was wiser than he
was? (pp. 25-28)

2 In his cross-examination of Meletus, how does Socrates refute his accuser?s
claims that he corrupted the young and did not believe in the gods of Athens?
It is a complex argument, but try to summarize the major points that Socrates
makes. (pp. 28-32) (Note that this cross-examination is typical of the way that
Socrates conducted philosophical discussions, except that in this case there is
a strong note of anger and hostility absent in other contexts.)

3 Why does Socrates say that no one should fear death? (p. 33). What are
Socrates?s final thoughts about death? (pp. 43-44)

4 Exactly how does he want people to change their lives and values? What goals
should they pursue? Why does he compare himself to a ?gadfly? and why does
Athens need such a gadfly? (pp. 34-35)

5 Why does Socrates say he always tried to avoid taking part in public affairs,
contrary to what a good Athenian citizen was supposed to do? What examples does
he give of the corrupting effect of politics? Do you think these examples
necessarily amount to a condemnation of democracy and democratic politics? (pp.
35-37)

6 Why does Socrates refuse to play on the jury?s emotions by pleading with it,
weeping, or bringing his friends and family court to awaken pity? (pp.38-39)

7 Despite Socrates? eloquent self-defense, a small majority of jurors find him
guilty of the charges. He then has the right under Athenian law to suggest what
his penalty should be, presumably something less severe than death penalty
urged by his accusers. What penalty does Socrates propose for himself? How does
he justify that? Does he not realize this will probably infuriate the jury, so
that they would be more likely to impose the death penalty? Why does he not
make the more realistic proposal that he be exiled from Athens? (pp. 40-41)

8 After the jury finally sentences him to death, what is his reaction? How does
he denounce the jurors who voted for his guilt? What is the dark prophecy that
he makes for the future of Athens? (pp. 41-43)