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Section 2 Beginnings of Western Philosophy:On the Trial and Death of SocratesLecture Notes: Wed. 1/23BackgroundSocrates was born a little outside the city of Athens, in Ancient Greece, two thousand, five hundred years ago: 470 BC.Around the beginning of the Athenian Golden Age. Athens was the center of intellectual, cultural, and political power in the Greek world.In 399 BC, when Socrates is 71 years old, Athens puts Socrates on trial for his life. Athens has just lost to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War;Athens’ empire is in shambles;.In other words: this is the twilight of the Athenian Golden Age.We’ll touch on relevance of this in later lecture.Charge of ImpietySocrates is charged with breaking the law against impiety (or unholiness/ungodliness)This seems to have been a vaguely defined law.What we know about the concept of piety is that it meant something like: “Showing reverence for the gods, one’s parents, the dead; and doing so in accordance with the traditional religious practices.”Also, Athens was known for allowing a good bit of leeway when it came to “freedom of speech,” as we now call it;So, except in those cases of temple-robbing or desecrating religious statues, it was not always clear cut that an Athenian was guilty of impiety.Therefore, it’s still very much a matter of debate whether or not Socrates was innocent or guilty.There was also little difference between the “political” and the “religious” in Ancient Athens. Being a good citizen meant honoring and respecting the city’s gods;So being charged with impiety was sort of like being charged with treason.Socrates: An Example of Philosophical ConsciousnessSocrates’ defense speech is not only his defense against the accusations leveled against him (new and old).But his speech also amounts to a defense of the philosophical way of life.Socrates embodies that “philosophical consciousness” discussed in first week of class Philosophical consciousness: A way of thinking or being in the world characterized by a skeptical attitude with regard to the presumed—or “ready-made”—validity of the world on offer;Along with the world’s dominant forms of life;The dominant institutions that shape the world;And the dominant set of ideas used to justify those institutions.The Formal IndictmentSocrates’ had three accusers: Meletus, Anytus and Lykon.Anytus was a major player in Athenian politicsHe very likely orchestrated the whole trial. But Meletus was Socrates’ primary accuser and the face of the prosecution.Young poet; A religious fanatic;And a reactionary.He appears to be a part of a growing conservative movement in Athens that:Reasserted the city’s traditional values in the face of subversives and intellectuals;Meletus and this movement likely identified these forces as responsible for Athens’ loss of hegemony in the Greek world.. It was Meletus who swore the indictment before of the city magistrate.It included three specific charges1. Socrates does wrong by not recognizing the gods that the city recognizes;2. But instead introducing new spiritual entities [daimonia];3. Socrates also does wrong by corrupting the youth. The penalty demanded is death.More Historical BackgroundSocrates is considered to be the founder of the tradition of Western Philosophy.The first among the “the big three” philosophers of the Ancient period:SocratesPlato, Aristotle. Socrates is teacher to Plato;Plato, in turn, teaches Aristotle.Plato, then in his mid-twenties, is present during Socrates’ trial. Plato records his master’s speech and disseminates it not long thereafter.This was a popular tradition;There were doubtless many records of Socrates’ defense, but his history has left us with only two accounts:Plato’s and Xenophon’s (another of Socrates disciples).Much like Jesus of Nazareth, born some 400 years after these events, Socrates never writes anything down of his own philosophy.Similarly, it was Jesus’ followers who wrote the Gospel, not Jesus himself.So almost everything we know about Socrates comes from the writings of Plato.And to a lesser extent, from Xenophon and Aristotle (and a few other Ancient historians).Over the course of his life, Plato writes dozens and dozens of philosophical pieces known as dialogues. These dialogues always featuring Socrates in conversation with companions about some philosophical topic. After Plato was done writing about him, Socrates becomes one of the most consequential human beings in living history.He was a prominent public figure for only the second-half of the 5th century BC;But Socrates’ influence has reverberated throughout the next twenty-five centuries.The Opening of Socrates’ DefenseThe opening of Socrates’ defense speech is itself sort of fascinating.He starts by very unceremoniously blurting out to the jury: “Whoa! I don’t know about you, but I just forgot who I was! That was the effect of the prosecution speeches! Every word was a lie” (paraphrased)Socrates identify this as the biggest falsehood told about him:“Be on guard; Socrates will deceive you with the force of his eloquence.”Socrates contradict this, saying:“I’m not eloquent; you saw as much as soon I opened my mouth just now—unless by the “force of eloquence” you mean the “force of truth.” For I do indeed admit that I am eloquent in that sense. Oh, but how my eloquence is so different from theirs.”It’s subtle, but there is something fishy in his retort. Socrates argues for his ineloquence before the jury;Yet does so perhaps in the most eloquent way possible.Socrates is a master of language.In fact, he’s often been accused of “making the worse argument appear the stronger.”Masters of LanguageSome people are brilliant, but also pair there intelligence with an extraordinary “language-command.”They render their own perspective on a matter with such clarity, such beautifully constructed in wordsYou are seduced to that perspective. You only realize later that maybe something fishy was going on.That you abandoned your position, your own premises, too easily.Masters of language can also be edifying and inspiring.Helping you make sense out of your vague thoughts and feelings:What you believe, but are unable to clearly articulate yourself.They help you make sense out of who you are.As though they enter your soul and helped organize your beliefs in particular ways.We might also call this the “art of persuasion.”It can feel wonderful when someone helps you organize your own thoughts and beliefs. But this can be dangerous, too?A powerful skill-set that can be used to subtly manipulate people’s perspectives.Maybe we should be on guard against Socrates.We definitely want to keep this critique of Socrates in mind when we review his “cross interrogation” of Meletus.The Pythia and Socrates’ Evil ReputationSocrates says the prosecution is lying about him, but he also freely admits that has an “evil reputation” among the Athenians. That he’s an “intellectual” who despises his own country (or city)That he doesn’t believing in the gods and engages in a type of proto-science.That he turns the youth against their parents and against the traditions.“There’s a reason people slander me with such accusations,” Socrates says. It all begins with my friend Chaerephon who took a pilgrimage to see the Pythia.”Outline of Oracle StoryChaerephon asks the oracle: “Is anyone in Greece wiser than my friend Socrates.”The oracle responds: “there is no man wise than Socrates.”Yet Socrates doesn’t believe he’s wise at all.At the same time, Socrates believes it is impossible for the god to lie. So he devises a method for uncovering the meaning of the Pythia’s riddle.He’ll question those Athenians who have reputations for wisdom;And once he finds a person wiser than himself, he’ll return to the oracle “with a refutation in his hand,” saying:“Here is someone wiser. Now explain your meaning.”Socrates labors with this method for a while. He ultimately discovers that those with the greatest reputations for wisdom are actually quite ignorant.Socrates, of course, demonstrates to these people their pretense of wisdom.Publicly humiliating them, undermining their reputations.Thus, many powerful Athenians come to develop animosity for Socrates.As a result, they engage in a mass slander against him:Socrates puts it like this:“And there are plenty of persons in Athens who think that they know something but really know very little or in fact know nothing at all. And when these pretentious types are examined, instead of becoming angry with themselves, they become angry with me.“This confounded Socrates,” they say, “Socrates pollutes and corrupts the youth!” And then if somebody asks them, “why, what evils does Socrates practice or teach?” They do not know, and cannot tell. But in order that they may not appear to be at a loss, they repeat the ready-made charges which are always marshaled against philosophers, namely that philosophers teach about things up in the clouds and under the earth, that they teach against the gods, and that they make the worse argument appear the stronger one. They make use of these ready-made slanders because the masses of people do not like to confess that their pretense of knowledge has been detected, which in fact is exactly what has happened. These sorts of people are as ambitious and violent as they are numerous.—Pages 13–14 Details of Socrates’ “Method”Socrates interrogates three classes of citizens. Each represents three sites of social authority in Athens:Politicians / Statesmen: Representatives of political and legal authority.Poets: Representatives of religious-educational authority,Artisans / Craftsmen: Representatives of the middle class, “everyday” Athenian.During these interrogations, Socrates is followed around by a group of young men from the aristocratic classes.We’ll perhaps discuss the relevance of this in later lecture. Socrates’ Interpretation of the Pythia’s OracleAt the end these labors, Socrates believes that he has deciphered the meaning of the oracle: Human wisdom is worth very little or nothing.And that the god only is wise.As Scorates puts it:The god only is wise. And that what the oracle meant was that human wisdom is worth little or nothing at all. And so when the oracle says that “Socrates is wise,” she is simply using my name as an example, as if the god were saying: “The wisest man among you mortals is the man who, like Socrates, understands that his wisdom is worthlessSocrates notes a distinction between human wisdom and superhuman (absolute) wisdom:Human wisdom: the awareness of one’s ignorance.“Superhuman” wisdom: possessing knowledge of the true nature of things.Socrates’ philosophical awakening is his recognition that being conscious of one’s ignorance becomes the condition for the possibility of knowledge. And it provides you with an advantage over those who are unconscious of their ignorance.Socrates’ interpretation of the god’s words doesn’t stop here however.Socrates believes that the god gave him a message: attached him to the Athens.He believes he is doing the god’s work.His divinely appointed mission is to engage in philosophy: to wake up the Athenians from their slumbering, automated existences.He wants them to re-evaluate the values that they live byTo interrogate the dominant forms of life that shape Athens.Two Classes of Accusers: New and OldSocrates distinguishes two classes of accusers:Later (current) accusers:A small group of Athenians who are now brining against Socrates the charge of impiety;They’ve had a prejudiced against Socrates for years.They are acting on behalf of the those three earlier classes of Athenians whom Socrates publically humiliatedMeletus: On behalf of the poets;Anytus: On behalf of the craftsmen;Lykon: On behalf of the statesmen.Early accusersSocrates say that they are far more dangerous than his current accusers;Because they have mass slandered Socrates for decades.Poisoned the city against him.He could never undo such ingrained prejudices in the short amount of time that he has been provided for his defense.Their accusations were accepted by default by Athenians.Socrates was not present to defend himself from their slanders.These accusations took possession of people’s minds when they were young and impressionable.These early accusers are made up of a large number of people, including: Many of the Athenian power elite.And the famous poet Aristophanes, who ridiculed Socrates in a famous play.Socrates argues that fighting with these earlier accusers is like “fighting with shadows.”They are many;They are anonymous;They have been around for decades.Socrates says that because they had nothing of any substance to accuse him of, The accusers made use of the stock lies that are often told of philosophers.Socrates finds it quite unlikely that he will be found innocent.Because for so many, the prejudices against him are all-consuming.The Content of the Early AccusationsSocrates identifies the early accusations as the “ready-made” slanders that are always applied to philosophers.Socrates is an evil-doer, a dangerously curious person who:Searches into things under the Earth and in the heavens;i.e., practicing natural philosophy:Denying religious explanations for the natural world.Makes the worse argument appear the strongeri..e., practicing sophistry:Using rhetoric to manipulate people for his personal gain. Teachers others to do the samei.e., corrupting the youth: Undermining the basis of Athenian education.Earlier Accusation 1That Socrates Practices Natural PhilosophyThe accusation that Socrates “searches into things under the Earth and in the heavens” implied that he practiced “natural philosophy.”Natural Philosophy or “philosophy of nature:The philosophical study of the natural world that was dominant before the development of modern science.The early Greek natural philosophers are known, now, as the “pre-Socratics.”The natural philosophers replaced religious explanations with “natural” explanations, when it came to:Describing the nature of the heavenly bodies ;Identifying the basic “stuff” that made up what we refer to as “matter.”Accounting for natural phenomenon:like eclipses, rainbows, meteors.Socrates simply denies that he has ever practiced natural philosophy.Arguing that no one has ever heard him suggest that the moon and sun were anything but the gods.“Meletus must have me confused with Anaxagoras,” he says.A famous, Greek philosopher who argued, among other things, that the sun was actually a great fiery mass.Earlier Accusation 2 and 3That Socrates Makes the Worse Argument the Stronger and Teaches Others to do the Same The substance of this accusation is that Socrates uses rhetoric not in the service of truth, but rather for personal gain.In other words, Socrates was being charged with practicing sophistry.We still use this word today: Sophistry: using fallacious arguments, with the intention to deceive or manipulate.But in Ancient Greece, sophistry was a profession.A relatively new profession, emerging in the 5th century BC.The sophists would teach only those who could afford it, the wealthy classes.Sophistic education emphasizedRhetoric: Learning how to influence fellow citizens in political gatherings through rhetorical persuasion.Moral skepticism: Often claims there is no absolute or universal “right and wrong.” .Relativism: The truth was whatever could be persuasively argued; the truth is not absolute but relative.The sophists were nomadic: Perceived as skipping from one town to the nextFostering the growth of power-hungry citizensTeaching them to abandon moral principles and respect for tradition.Sophists were widely unpopular among many Athenians. The profession was sparking a social crisis in the Athens. In Athens, for generations upon generations, as far as education of the youth was concerned:The accepted traditions were the best teachers;One’s parents were the best teachers;The laws and religious customs were the best teachers.The profession of sophistry undermined all of this.The important Greek Concept here is that of nomos:LawCustomConvention TraditionNomos was a concept having to do with: The social norms.The accepted ways of doings things in a particular society Nomos was the teacher in Athens.Nomos reigned as King Understanding the sophistical and philosophical attack on the authority of nomos is absolutely essential when it comes to understanding:Socrates’ stated philosophical mission in Athens;The social crises which formed the backdrop of his trial; Further discussion of nomos and sophistry will continue next class. ................
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