In the introduction of Socrates:
A Very Short Introduction, C.C.W Taylor describes Socrates as one of the
most influential and most elusive of all philosophers. His influence was due to his personality, the
impact he had on Plato, and of being the ideal model of the philosophic life.
His elusiveness is attributed to the fact that he wrote
nothing and the only complete examples left are from Plato’s dialogues and the
writing of Xenophon with a few scrapes written by others. There are enough
differences in these writings to presume the writing were presented with their
own purposes in mind.
To
summarize the Life chapter, Taylor tells us Socrates’ father was a stonemason
and his mother was a midwife and he had three sons from a bad-tempered wife. A
second wife named Myrto is mentioned in the writings, but little is known of
her. Little is known of the first half of his life other than he was a pupil of
Archealaus who was interested in natural philosophy and ethics. He believed the
just and the disgraceful exist not by nature, but by learned behavior. Socrates
early philosophic interest are shown in Plato’s Phaedo.
Historically, Socrates emerged on the scene with his
courageous service in the Peloponnesian war. Plato described him as having
tremendous physical endurance, wore simple clothing and walked barefoot. He was
talkative and was a joke for his eccentric and simple lifestyle. His odd
physical appearance, strange religious beliefs, and talk of nonsensical
philosophy added to this “strange” portrayal. These characteristics were
stressed by the comic playwright Aristophanes in his play Clouds. In the play, students pay Socrates to learn techniques to
avoid paying debts by learning how to make the weaker argument defeat the
stronger or as Taylor describes it as the Unjust argument defeats the Just
argument. Socrates is also portrayed as a philosopher who was fascinated by the
heavens and rejected traditional religion in favor of natural gods replacing
Zeus. The play concludes with his house burning down as a symbolism of his
punishment.
Taylor talks about the views of Socrates being caricatured
as a representative of the new learning and out of the norm for the conservative
Athenians. but the citizens of Athens were probably aware of this exaggeration since
there was a signification difference between the wealth of the Sophist and Socrates
who gave his time away at no charge and lived in poverty.
Drastic changes occurred in Athens after its defeat in the
Peloponnesian war. No longer a democracy, Athens fell under the tyranny of a
group of 30 which killed or exiled thousands of people. From the writings,
Socrates remained apolitical during the tyranny as he did under a democracy
even though he did have associations with a few of the thirty.
Socrates was indicted and brought to trial in the Spring of
399 BC for not recognizing the gods of the city, bringing in new gods and corrupting
the youth. Meletus who brought on the indictment caricaturized Socrates as
having eccentric beliefs and guided by an inner voice which warned him against being
involved in politics. There’s no record of the trial, no writings on the speeches
for the prosecution, but there are two written for the defense, one by Xenophon
and one by Plato.
I learned from this chapter the accusations against Socrates
were vague and seemed political. His associates among the 30 were anti-Athenian
and anti-democratic and were part of a religious scandal in 415 BC.
Aristophanes in the Clouds portrayed
Socrates as an antagonist of traditional religion and was involved in the
occult.
The defense against these accusations written by Plato and
Xenophon were very different from each other. In Plato’s version, the
accusations against Socrates were misrepresented by the caricature of
Aristophanes in two ways – that he claims to be a natural philosopher and he
teaches for pay. Also, mentioned in the defense was his divine mission. I thought
this divine mission was fascinating. Socrates’ friend asked the oracle of
Apollo at Delphi if there was anyone wiser than Socrates, in which the answer
was no. Socrates was puzzled by this answer, since he didn’t claim any
expertise. As a result, he went out to find someone wiser than he. When he questioned,
them he discovers none are as wise as they claimed to be. From this he
concluded, the reason he was the wisest is that he was aware of his own
ignorance and had a mission to show others their claims of their wisdom were
false. This examination of others was a large part of his unpopularity, but
what he believed to be a great benefit to the society.
In Xenophon’s defense, the oracle said no one was more free-spirited
or self-controlled than Socrates and that his defense to the charges were to
refute the claims of not recognizing the local gods and the charges of the new
gods were his own divine sign.
I wondered why the
defenses offered different versions of the oracle story and the author does a
good job explaining this for he questions whether the story of the oracle is
true or an invention of Plato. He believes it is true, and raises great points in
defense, such as asking the question; why name a specific person (Chaerephon)
as the person who asked the question of the oracle and points out that after
the death of Chaerephon his brother testified the story as being true at the
trial. As far as the differences? Just like
today we all see circumstances through our own experiences. I believe both defense told the story with
their own opinion and purpose in mind. As for which defense captures the moment
more authentically, I believe everyone has a need for a purpose in their lives
and Socrates divine mission fits that bill and I can’t help but thinking of today’s
term of ‘fake news’ when reading of the effects of Aristophanes caricature of
Socrates.
Questions:
Is there any evidence of the Delphi oracle?
What does Socrates mean by the phrase “the best of one’s
soul”?
Good summary, Pete. "Fake news" definitely swirled around Socrates the gadfly, who - like gadflies of every age - made many enemies by pursuing his "mission" and resolving to die rather than renounce philosophy. I'm quite sure he'd recognize the phenomenon in our own time, and would affirm that the best of our critical inquirers in the Fifth Estate are still our best hope for revealing the genuine fakes among us. Socrates, when you think of it, had far more in common with free-lance investigative journalists than with the typical academics of our day. Those who seek truth selflesly, fearlessly, and relentlessly, who do not obfuscate with "alternative facts" or ridicule "the reality-based community," must be the sorts he'd laud for not compromising “the best of [their] soul” - the truth-and-wisdom-loving parts.
ReplyDeleteThere is indeed evidence for the Oracle, archaeological and geological. For instance, see http://www.nature.com/news/2001/010717/full/news010719-10.html
and
http://theconversation.com/friday-essay-secrets-of-the-delphic-oracle-and-how-it-speaks-to-us-today-61738