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On the Apology of Socrates: A Rebuttal
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The Good City, but about political or practical wisdom about this city (Athens) and what is good for it.
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On questioning a politician with a reputation for wisdom, Socrates concluded neither of
them knew what was “noble and good.” But what is “noble” and “good” for a politician amounts to what “serves a good purpose,” that is, what enhances peace within a divided city or what enhances the wealth and security of the city. Jurors therefore had reason to suspect that Socrates, in exposing the ignorance of politicians, actually sought to prove that he was as practically wise or cunning (sophos) than were they, men of the Agora.
Even though, he tells the jurors, he knew he was hated by those he examined, and by the
spectators to these conversations, he did not cease from doing so. It wasn’t a matter of choice that he made people angry with him. He was driven by a message from a god, a commandment that he was compelled to obey. His defense amounts to denying that he was responsible for his own actions. (One can imagine that pursuers of profit had justified their actions in the same way when Socrates exhorted them to consider other things as the best way to live.)
It was out of this kind of compulsion, he claims, that he investigated the wisdom of the
poets, “those of tragedies and dithyrambs, and the others, in order that there I would catch myself in the act of being more ignorant than they.” Poets, he discovered, could not explain what they meant by their poems. Their “wisdom” is the result of inspiration, “like diviners and those who deliver oracles” (such as the Pythian priestess?). The poets could not prove what good purpose divining the will of the gods had in enhancing the city. In light of the “liberal” ethos of current Athens, jurors could infer that Socrates was questioning whether gods who do not threaten severe punishment for deceptive behavior actually enhance a commercial city like Athens.
When he conversed with artisans, men who make things by hand, he discovered that they
too assumed, incorrectly, that knowledge of their arts made them competent in other “most important matters,” namely, how what they made enhanced the collective good of the city.
On the basis of all his examinations, Socrates concluded that it “profits” him to be just as
he is. To the jurors, this means that Socrates is unrepentant for any injury he may have caused by his public inquiries. They could readily reaffirm their belief that he was doing so out of a desire to make himself look superior and those he questioned look inferior.
Aware of this conclusion on the part of the jury, Socrates, acting like a diviner or
deliverer of oracles, tells the jurors that the Pythian priestess’ divination means that the gods wanted someone to demonstrate that ordinary human cleverness, whether in politics, poetry or artisanship, inclines men to overwhelming pride, which does not enhance the city. He wants the jurors to believe that it was the gods’ aim, and not his own, that led him to deflate human pride and seek to induce modesty. In another appeal for sympathy, he tells the jurors that for being a prophet, an emissary of Apollo, he has paid a serious price. He reminds them that he is poor, he has not participated in the public life of the city (and is therefore viewed as a slacker) and he has not been the best husband and father and is treated with contempt by his family.
As for the young sons of the wealthiest men in the city, whom people refer to as his
students, he again eschews responsibility, this time for what they have done in embarrassing men in the Agora.
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One might wish to argue that this makes Socrates sound Aristotelian. The point of my entire enterprise is to
demonstrate that when other voices in the dialogues are taken seriously, Plato’s dialogues are not Platonic in the traditional sense of the term, that is, on this level, Plato was not a Platonist and that Aristotle’s distinction between theoretical and practical wisdom had already been made by Plato.
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The Good City, but about political or practical wisdom about this city (Athens) and what is good
for it.
On questioning a politician with a reputation for wisdom, Socrates concluded neither of
them knew what was “noble and good.” But what is “noble” and “good” for a politician amounts
to what “serves a good purpose,” that is, what enhances peace within a divided city or what
enhances the wealth and security of the city. Jurors therefore had reason to suspect that Socrates,
in exposing the ignorance of politicians, actually sought to prove that he was as practically wise
or cunning (sophos) than were they, men of the Agora.
Even though, he tells the jurors, he knew he was hated by those he examined, and by the
spectators to these conversations, he did not cease from doing so. It wasn’t a matter of choice
that he made people angry with him. He was driven by a message from a god, a commandment
that he was compelled to obey. His defense amounts to denying that he was responsible for his
own actions. (One can imagine that pursuers of profit had justified their actions in the same way
when Socrates exhorted them to consider other things as the best way to live.)
It was out of this kind of compulsion, he claims, that he investigated the wisdom of the
poets, “those of tragedies and dithyrambs, and the others, in order that there I would catch myself
in the act of being more ignorant than they.” Poets, he discovered, could not explain what they
meant by their poems. Their “wisdom” is the result of inspiration, “like diviners and those who
deliver oracles” (such as the Pythian priestess?). The poets could not prove what good purpose
divining the will of the gods had in enhancing the city. In light of the “liberal” ethos of current
Athens, jurors could infer that Socrates was questioning whether gods who do not threaten
severe punishment for deceptive behavior actually enhance a commercial city like Athens.
When he conversed with artisans, men who make things by hand, he discovered that they
too assumed, incorrectly, that knowledge of their arts made them competent in other “most
important matters,” namely, how what they made enhanced the collective good of the city.
On the basis of all his examinations, Socrates concluded that it “profits” him to be just as
he is. To the jurors, this means that Socrates is unrepentant for any injury he may have caused
by his public inquiries. They could readily reaffirm their belief that he was doing so out of a
desire to make himself look superior and those he questioned look inferior.
Aware of this conclusion on the part of the jury, Socrates, acting like a diviner or
deliverer of oracles, tells the jurors that the Pythian priestess’ divination means that the gods
wanted someone to demonstrate that ordinary human cleverness, whether in politics, poetry or
artisanship, inclines men to overwhelming pride, which does not enhance the city. He wants the
jurors to believe that it was the gods’ aim, and not his own, that led him to deflate human pride
and seek to induce modesty. In another appeal for sympathy, he tells the jurors that for being a
prophet, an emissary of Apollo, he has paid a serious price. He reminds them that he is poor, he
has not participated in the public life of the city (and is therefore viewed as a slacker) and he has
not been the best husband and father and is treated with contempt by his family.
As for the young sons of the wealthiest men in the city, whom people refer to as his
students, he again eschews responsibility, this time for what they have done in embarrassing men
in the Agora.
10
One might wish to argue that this makes Socrates sound Aristotelian. The point of my entire enterprise is to
demonstrate that when other voices in the dialogues are taken seriously, Plato’s dialogues are not Platonic in the
traditional sense of the term, that is, on this level, Plato was not a Platonist and that Aristotle’s distinction between
theoretical and practical wisdom had already been made by Plato.
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