Apology - Home - Cathedral High School
Apology
1. Why is Socrates on trial? Who are his accusers? What are the old and new accusations against him? About which accusation is Socrates more concerned?
2. What is Socrates’ general philosophical method? How does Socrates test people’s convictions and characters? How has this method caused him problems?
3. Socrates often uses a negative dialectic; that is, he tears down through his rhetoric what people think they know. He dismantles their opinion by poking holes in them. Give examples of the negative dialectic. What problems occur from this strategy? Explain why negative dialectic must precede positive dialectic.
4. What was the Oracle’s message about Socrates? What was Socrates’ response to the news? What point is Socrates trying to make about the nature of wisdom by telling this story? What comment is Socrates making about politicians, poets, and craftsmen?
5. Both at the beginning and end of the Apology, Socrates distances himself from the sophists. Why was he so concerned about not being considered a sophist? What Socratic attitude of argument is illustrated by his expression of admiration for Gorgias, Prodicus, Hippias, and Evenus?
6. Describe the exchange between Socrates and Meletus. What is Socrates able to demonstrate in this exchange? Why does he not question his other accusers?
7. Explain the nature of Socrates’ divine voice or divine guide. How has this voice affected his life?
8. How does Socrates define wisdom? How does human wisdom differ from divine wisdom? What does Socrates mean when he says, “The unexamined life is not worth living”? How does Socrates define knowledge?
9. What usual practice of defendants in Athenian law courts does Socrates refuse to follow? Why does he find this practice objectionable?
10. Why doesn’t Socrates fear death? How are his thoughts about death different from those of Homer?
11. Socrates makes several references to Homer’s Iliad. Which characters from the Iliad does Socrates seem to admire? Why?
12. What are Socrates’ thoughts about the nature of punishment? What punishments does he suggest for himself? What is the effect of this suggestion?
13. What is the true purpose of education? To transmit social mores intact or to examine and reevaluate social norms? Why do upholders of custom view thinking as threat?
14. Whom would you consider to be a gadfly in modern America? Explain your choice. Do gadflies contribute positively or negatively to society?
15. Socrates discusses several points we discussed during our reading of Oedipus: punishment, guilt, oracles, responsibility, wisdom. Find an idea or line from Oedipus that correlates to a point that Socrates makes. Quote both lines.
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