Apology

“In my investigation in the service of the god I found that those who had the highest reputation were nearly the most deficient, while those who were thought to be inferior were more knowledgeable.”

Socrates is deeply mistrustful of public reputation as a signifier of wisdom or goodness. This likely stems from a broader conviction that the life of a public servant is not conducive to moral, ethical, or spiritual integrity, as he learned when he served on the council and was the lone voice of opposition against the unlawful executions of six generals. In turn, he acknowledges the wisdom of lower-class citizens like craftsmen, who at least possess useful knowledge in their fields.

“This man among you, mortals, is wisest who, like Socrates, understands that his wisdom is worthless.”

Socrates frames his philosophical journey as an effort to determine why the oracle of Delphi claimed he was the wisest man in Athens. Given that his life is one of constant questioning and introspection, Socrates’s only rational conclusion is that the greatest expression of wisdom is to acknowledge how little one knows. Furthermore, the weight Socrates places on the oracle’s pronouncement contradicts his accusers’ contention that he is an atheist.

“Does any man, Meletus, believe in human activities who does not believe in humans? Make him answer, and not again and again create a disturbance. Does any man who does not believe in horses believe in horsemen’s activities? Or in flute-playing activities but not in flute-players?” 

Socrates engages in the Socratic method. Instead of merely contending that he is not an atheist and explaining why, Socrates presents his argument as a series of questions designed to highlight the flaws in Meletus’s reasoning. In this case, he forces Meletus to acknowledge the contradictions inherent in the argument that Socrates, despite believing in spirits and demigods, does not believe in the Olympian gods who lord over these lesser spiritual entities.

“You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or a bad man.”

Above all else, Socrates values moral integrity in himself and others. For him, there are no circumstances under which individuals may sacrifice their integrity and still be labeled “good”—not even under threat of death. This also speaks to Socrates’s sanguine view of death; whether death is a dreamless sleep or a soul’s migration to another plane of existence, he is prepared to die.

“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. No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew that it is the greatest of evils. And surely it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one knows what.” 

Socrates combines two of his key themes. This quote rebukes those who would deny their own ignorance and acknowledges that death is the ultimate mystery. To Socrates, it is never advisable to fear the unknowable; rather, it is better to admit and accept the unknown so it may be faced with courage. These sentiments are particularly poignant given that Socrates is all but certain of his impending execution, despite his skillful and vigorous defense.

“Indeed, men of Athens, I am far from making a defense now on my own behalf, as might be thought, but on yours, to prevent you from wrongdoing by mistreating the god’s gift to you by condemning me; for if you kill me you will not easily find another like me.” 

Socrates shows his skillful use of rhetoric by recasting the proceeding as one in which Athens is on trial, not Socrates. He is confident that his is a just case, to the degree that if the jury rules against him, they will only condemn themselves. In the same breath, Socrates accepts that his condemnation is a foregone conclusion, situating himself as a martyr for the cause of objective truth and goodness.

“A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time.” 

This shows Socrates’s contention that public service is not conducive to living a just existence. The argument is supported by at least two instances from Socrates’s career in Athenian government. The first is when he was the lone voice of opposition against the execution of six generals who abandoned their army’s dead and wounded after a grievous battle during the Peloponnesian War. The second came during the Thirty Tyrants era, when Socrates engaged in civil disobedience by refusing to carry out orders to fetch a general for an unlawful execution. To live an uncompromised life, Socrates believes, he must remain outside official government channels.

“Nothing is more suitable, gentlemen, than for such a man to be fed in the Prytaneum—much more suitable for him than for any one of you who has won a victory at Olympia with a pair or a team of horses. The Olympian victor makes you think yourself happy; I make you be happy.” 

In another example of irony, Socrates claims that his “punishment” should consist of a huge celebration in his honor at the Prytaneum, a venue generally reserved for feasts honoring Olympian warriors returning home from battle. Socrates knows that his jury, which just convicted him of impiety and corrupting the youth, would find such a sentence absurd. Yet he poses it anyway—in part as an ironic joke, and in part because he truly believes the role he plays in Athenian society is at least as important as any warrior’s.

“But Socrates, if you leave us will you not be able to live quietly, without talking? Now this is the most difficult point on which to convince some of you. If I say that it is impossible for me to keep quiet because that means disobeying the god, you will not believe me and will think I am being ironical. On the other hand, if I say that it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for men, you will believe me even less.” 

This passage builds to one of Socrates’s most famous quotes: “the unexamined life is not worth living.” To the extent that Socrates’s philosophy could be boiled down to a single sentiment, this may be it. For him, the questioning of others and oneself represents an essential struggle for human beings, should they wish to live worthy lives of virtue and integrity. The fact that the jury chose to convict him proves to Socrates that Athenians would rather shut out uncomfortable questions than do the hard but rewarding work of introspection.

“I was convicted because I lacked not words but boldness and shamelessness and the willingness to say to you what you would most gladly have heard from me, lamentations and tears and my saying and doing many things that I say are unworthy of me but that you are accustomed to hear from others.” 

Throughout the trial Socrates sees several escape routes through which he might avoid execution. Yet just as he rejects exile or imprisonment as unjust punishments, here he refuses to supplicate the jury with disingenuous tears because they would show a lack of integrity. Socrates values personal integrity above all else, to the point that he would rather die than sacrifice any ground in that respect. Moreover, he hopes that he will be a source of inspiration for generations to come by choosing to die proudly for his beliefs.

“It is not difficult to avoid death, gentlemen; it is much more difficult to avoid wickedness, for it runs faster than death.”

Once again, Socrates addresses the fact that if he must choose between death and a life of compromised integrity, the decision is easy. In his view, life cannot be simply about avoiding death. By allowing oneself to be driven chiefly by survival instincts, it opens the door for wickedness to compromise a person’s moral, ethical, and spiritual integrity. Through his own death, Socrates hopes he may show others that it is better to live honorably and risk death than to live without honor and die anyway.

“If death is like this I say it is an advantage, for all eternity would then seem to be no more than a single night.” 

While many fear that death is nothing more than senseless oblivion, Socrates welcomes this possibility. As a man of intense introspection who lives in a state of poverty with few creature comforts, a dreamless sleep is darkly appealing to him. That said, this may also be another example of irony, in that it allows him to cast his decision to die for his integrity as uncourageous.

“You too must be of good hope as regards death, gentlemen of the jury, and keep this one truth in mind, that a good man cannot be harmed either in life or in death, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods.” 

The idea of “harm” is a major preoccupation for Socrates. In his view, an individual with integrity is impervious to harm; his trial illustrates this, in that he sees his conviction and death sentence as the Athenians harming themselves by depriving the community of a man like Socrates. He even ties integrity to the divine, suggesting that the gods will look for individuals who live good and honorable lives, once again calling into doubt his accusers’ contention that he is impious.