Background:
Socrates gets accused of breaking the law against ‘Impiety’. Socrates takes the occasion to explain and defend his devotion to philosophy. Socrates suggests that what the gods want more than anything else is that we must be good. Goodness depends upon the quality of our understanding of what to care about and how to behave in our lives. Philosophy, through Socratic discussion, is the pursuit of that understanding.
Key Lessons:
1. Being one’s own judge and jury:
Though Socrates claims a pious motivation for his philosophical work, he defers to human reason as his final arbiter for what is right and wrong.
He requests that the jury think honestly and dispassionately to decide the truth of the charges by a way of reasoning from the facts as they were.
2. True wisdom lies in examining oneself:
Socrates states that in his disbelief of being the “wisest of all men”(Which was said by the oracle of Delphi), he ventures out to question the reputable citizens of Athens (e.g. The Politicians, Poets and the Craftsmen). He finds that though these men were skilled in their respective art, they knew nothing worthwhile.
This is a testament to all occupations of men, where they busy themselves for the sake of money, power and status but none can truly justify their busyness or decipher the meaning of their existence. They charm their patrons with no hope of benefiting them. They look to themselves for answers without doing their due diligence of asking the right questions. This is why Socrates says that he’s the wiser man for “neither of us likely knows anything worthwhile, but he thinks he knows something when he does not.”
3. Acquiring wisdom through ignorance:
Socrates makes it clear that he isn’t afraid/delighted of death, for he does not know what comes after death or whether it is good or evil, he states that his wisdom is in being aware of his ignorance and not letting it dictate his character irrationally. He also proceeds to say that people who fear death are showing their ignorance.
Examine your ignorance with indifference.
The right course of action can always be found through a calm and reasoned mind.
