Plato's Apology

Outlined Notes on the Apology
Notes on the Apology (1)
Key Passages
Social, Philosophical, & Political Views on the Apology
Questions on the Apology (1)
Questions on the Apology (2)
Questions on the Apology (3)
Questions on the Apology (4)
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• The Accusation (p23): Socrates is guilty of wrongdoing in that he busies himself studying things in the sky and below the earth; he makes the worse into the stronger argument, and he teaches these same things to others.
• The Accusation #2 (p27): Socrates is guilty of corrupting the young and of not believing in the gods in whiom the city believes, but in other new spiritual things.
• Socrates goes to an oracle, proving that he has some belief in the gods.
• “[After going to politicians and poets,] finally I went to the craftsmen, for I was conscious of knowing practically nothing, and I knew that I would find that they had knowledge of many fine things. In this I was not mistaken; they knew things I did not know, and to that extent they were wiser than I. But, men of Athens, the good craftsmen seemed to me to have the same fault as the poets: each of them, because of his success at his craft, thought himself very wise in other most important pursuits, and this error of theirs overshadowed the wisdom they had, so that I asked myself, on behalf of the oracle, whether I should prefer to be as I am, with neither their wisdom or their ignorance, or to have both. The answer I gave myself and the oracle was that it was to my advantage to be as I am… [for this, I acquired much unpopularity].” (p26)
• “Because of this occupation [/investigation], I do not have the leisure to engage in public affairs to any extent, nor indeed to look after my own, but I live in great poverty because of my service to the god. Furthermore, the young men who follow me around of their own free will, those who have most leisure, the sons of the very rich, take pleasure in hearing people questioned.” (p26)
• “It would have been a dreadful way to behave, men of Athens, if, at Potidaea, Amphipolis, and Delium, I had, at the risk of death, like anyone else, remained at my post where those you had elected to command had ordered me, and then, when the god ordered me, as I thought and believed, to live the life of a philosopher, to examine myself and others, I had abandoned my post for fear of death or anything else. That would have been a dreadful thing, and then I might truly have justly been brought here for not believing that there are gods, disobeying the oracle, fearing death, and thinking I was wise when I was not. To fear death, gentlemen, is no other than to think oneself wise when one is not, to think one knows what one does not know. (p32)
• “Men of Athens, I am grateful and I am your friend, but I will obey the god rather than you, and as long as I draw breath and am able, I shall not cease to practice philosophy, to exhort you and in my usual way to point out to any one of you whom I happen to meet: 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?” (p32)
• “Wealth does not bring about excellence, but excellence makes wealth and everything else good for men, both individually and collectively.” (p33)
• “I am the kind of person to be a gift of the god to the city you might realize from the fact that it does not seem like human nature for me to have neglected all my own affairs and to have tolerated this neglect now for so many years while I was always concerned with you, approaching each one of you like a father or an elder brother to persuade you to care for virtue. …It may seem strange that while I go around and give this advice privately and interfere with private affairs, I do not venture to go to the assembly and there advise the city. [I hear a divine or spiritual voice that turms me away from something I am about to do – it never encourages me to do anything; this has prevented me from taking part is politics.] (p34)
• “This much I ask from [those who accused and convicted me]: when my sons grow up, avenge yourselves by causing them the same kind of grief that I caused you, if you think they care for money or anything else more than they care for virtue, or if they thing they are somebody when they are nobody. Reproach them as I reproach you, that they do not care for the right things and think they are worthy when they are not worthy of anything. If you do this, I shall have been justly treated by you, and my sons also.” (p42)
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  All page numbers are reference to Plato: The Trial and Death of Socrates, Third Edition, Translated by G.M.A. Grube and Revised by John M. Cooper, Copyright 2000 by Hackett Publishing Company

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