FREE ESSAY ON AN APOLOGY FROM SOCRATES

AN APOLOGY FROM SOCRATES

An Apology From Socrates'
The Apology is Socrates' defense at his trial. As the dialogue begins, Socrates notes
that his accusers have cautioned the jury against Socrates'eloquence, according to
Socrates, the difference between him and his accusers is that Socrates speaks the truth.
Socrates distinguished two groups of accusers: the earlier and the later accusers. The
earlier group is the hardest to defend against, since they do not appear in court. He is
all so accused of being a Sophist: that he is a teacher and takes money for his teaching.
He attempts to explain why he has attracted such a reputation. The oracle was asked if
anyone was wiser than Socrates was. The answer was no, there was no man wiser. Socrates
cannot believe this oracle, so he sets out to disprove it by finding someone who is
wiser. He goes to a politician, who is thought wise by him self and others. Socrates does
not think this man to be wise and tells him so. As a consequence, the politician hated
Socrates, as did others who heard the questioning. I am better off, because while he
knows nothing but thinks that he knows, I neither know nor think that I know (Socrates).
He questioned politicians, poets, and artisans. He finds that the poets do not write from
wisdom, but by genius and inspiration. 
Meletus charges Socrates with being a doer of evil, and corrupter of the youth, and he
does not believe in the gods of the State, and has other new divinities of his own. In
his examination of Meletus, Socrates makes three main points: 1) Meletus has accused
Socrates of being the only corrupter, while everyone else improves the youth. Socrates
then uses an analogy: a horse trainer is to horses as an improver is to the youth. The
point is that there is only one improver, not many. 2) If Socrates corrupts the youth,
either it is intentional or unintentional. No one would corrupt his neighbor
intentionally, because he would harm himself in the process. If the corruption was
unintentional, then the court is not the place to resolve the problem. The other
possibility is that he does not corrupt them at all. 3) In frustration, Meletus accuses
Socrates of being a complete atheist, at the same time he claims Socrates teaches new
gods. Thus, Meletus contradicts himself. 
Socrates argues that fear of death is foolish, because it is not known if death is a good
or an evil, thus there is no reason to fear death. Socrates claims that his mission is in
service to God. This is to condemn people's pursuit of money, honor, and reputation,
while ignoring wisdom, truth, and the improvement of the soul. When talking about
politicians, he states that he was a Senator once, and opposed the majority when several
generals were brought to trial. He points out that several of the corrupted youth. And
their fathers were present, but none of them were accusing him; rather, they were there
in his defense. Socrates refuses to ask for pity. He does not throw himself on the mercy
of the court. Many would bring in their children to win pity. However, he does mention
that he has three young children. He tells the jury about their responsibility to ignore
the appeals to pity and judge the truth. Despite Socrates' speech, the jury finds him
guilty as charged. Meletus proposes death as punishment. Instead, Socrates proposes
retirement in a home for benefactors of the state. He examines possible penalties: death,
imprisonment, a fine, or exile. Then, he realizes that exile is not an option since he
believes that The unexamined life is not worth living. He finally proposes a fine of 30
minae, guaranteed by Crito, Plato, and others. The jury sentences him to death. Socrates
remarks that his internal, guiding voice, which at times would warn him to refrain from
certain actions, had not once interrupted his actions in his defense. He argues that
death might be a good: either it is a dreamless sleep, or he will travel to the place of
the dead where he can question anyone and not be executed for it. He states: No evil can
happen to a good man. He asks the jury to punish his sons, and provide guidance. If so,
then he will have received justice. We go our ways: me to die you to live; only God knows
which is better. 
Throughout the Apology, Socrates believes himself to be a teacher, though he does not say
that of himself. He finds reputed wise men and questions them. If Socrates finds that
they believe themselves to be wiser than they really are, he points out their mistake,
thus educates them and himself. This allows Socrates to learn when he finds other people
who know more about a subject than he. Socrates tells the judges that he will not be
found guilty because of evidence and testimony; if he is found guilty, it will be because
of the reputation that he has obtained. As Socrates deals with the charges, he is
constantly talking about himself. If Socrates wanted to appease the judges so that he
would not be found guilty, he could have made up or omit the parts about himself that
caused so much trouble. The fact that Socrates knows that he is being persecuted for who
he is and that he honestly describes him self, shows that he is staying true to himself
and his beliefs through his trial. Through reason, Socrates is constantly searching for
the truth of what others think. When Meletus accuses Socrates of not believing in any
gods, Socrates then uses reason to refute him. Socrates tells a story about an oracle,
which he states that he believes in, and says that since an oracle is a divine thing he
must believe in divinities. Socrates used reason to question Meletus and led him to state
inconsistent statements: (1) Socrates corrupts the youth intentionally. (2) Nobody
intentionally harms himself. (3) People who corrupt society ultimately harm themselves.
If (1) Socrates corrupts the youth intentionally and (3) people who corrupt society
ultimately harm themselves, then (2) must be false. However, if (2) nobody intentionally
harms themselves and (3) people who corrupt society ultimately harm themselves is true,
then (1) must be false (since Socrates cannot be corrupting the youth intentionally). If
that is the case, then the court is not the proper place to discuss it. 
The second section of the Apology is the speech that Socrates gives after he is found
guilty. In this speech, he is to propose a penalty for his crimes. Socrates gives, at
first, what he believes that he should receive for his the actions, and he proposes that
he should receive free room and board. This remark shows Socrates still believes in his
mission. Had he proposed anything else, it would have been to indirectly admit that his
beliefs were wrong. For punishment, Socrates explores the idea of exile. However,
Socrates admits that, if exiled, he would continue to question men about themselves.
Socrates could have escaped death here by submitting to exile and promising to change his
ways, yet again, that would undermine his beliefs. He then proposes a fine. In all the
punishments that he proposes, he never admits to being wrong or promises to reconsider
his ideas. Had he agreed to exile and silence, he would not have stayed true to himself
and his beliefs. 
Socrates' philosophy of using reason to find the truth prevents him from telling the jury
what they would like to hear. Each time Socrates proposes a punishment, he reasons
himself out of it and into a worse punishment. The last section of the Apology deals with
Socrates' speech after he has been sentenced to death. Though Socrates becomes indignant,
he does not become angry. Socrates does not do any of the weeping and wailing...[or the]
many other things which [he] maintains are unworthy of [himself]. Socrates believes that
if he did, it would bring shame on himself and his beliefs and that it would be much
worse than death. Socrates claims that he, unlike many others who appear before the jury,
will not appeal to their pity by having his family brought before them.
However, he does describe his family in some detail -- including his sons. Here, he seems
to be appealing to pity in a very subtle way.
Speaking about his children, he asks the jury punish them...if they seem to care about
riches or anything, more than about virtue; or if they...are something when they are
really nothing. Once again, he seems to be instructing or teaching the jury about his
beliefs. Socrates uses reason, once again, to convince himself that death is not an evil.
...the state of death is one of two things: either a dead man wholly ceases to be and
loses all consciousness or, as we are told, it is a change and a migration of the soul to
another place. Socrates goes on to say that, since neither of those two states of being
can be bad, death shouldn't be feared. His philosophy of reason allows him to look at
death in a way that he does not have to be afraid of it. 
Socrates believes in holding on to his principle regardless of the consequences, even if
they involve death. Concern for him self is not nearly as important as the pursuit of the
good, the true, and the just. As a result, it is far better to suffer injustice than,
through ignorance, to cause it. Justice seems to be the prevalent theme, since this
dialogue deals with the injustice against Socrates. One inconsistency is that in Crito he
seemed universally opposed to violating the law, while in the Apology there seem to be
exceptions to this belief. For example, he opposed the government actions (the law of
the
State) on two occasions. The speech that Socrates gives reflects the indignation he feels
over injustice that he has received. However, a theme of courage in the face of death
seems to be emphasized. Also, the point about staying true to oneself and beliefs, and
the search for truth by way of reason is a policy we should all adopt.