Plato’s APOLOGY, Part 4

The Apology is one of the most important texts in all of Western thought. Prior to the explicit dumbing down of Western education accomplished in the 20th century's Marxist educational revolution, knowledge of Socrates' trial and death was one of the anchors of Western cultural awareness. If we are to recover our culture we must return to our foundations, and Plato is the perfect place to start!

The Apology is Plato’s account of Socrates’ defense (which is what the Greek word apologeo means) before an Athenian jury of 501 citizens. It is ironic that the English transliteration of the Greek term carries connotations of saying “I’m sorry,” because this type of apology is nowhere to be found in Socrates’ speech. All trials of this type in Athens were required to be completed in a single day. The order of the trial was: 1) prosecution’s case, which we do not have, 2) defendant’s case (this is the point at which the Apology opens), 3) jury deliberation and verdict, 4) penalty phase, in which both the prosecution and the defense propose a penalty for those found guilty, 5) jury deliberation on penalty, and 6) closing words of the defendant.

As necessary background for the Apology, we must review some information on the paid itinerant teachers called Sophists. The most famous of these teachers was Protagoras, who famously claimed that “man is the measure of all things.” “Sophist” means ‘wise one,’ though by Plato and Socrates’ time it had morphed into a less-than-flattering appellation. As a result, our English term “sophistry” means clever but misleading reasoning. The reason for this reversal of meaning is that the Sophists were relativists, who taught rhetoric, the art of persuasive speech. If, as Protagoras maintained, all standards are human in origin, then there is no right and wrong. Much of Socrates’ speech in the Apology is meant to distance himself from the Sophists, with whom he was popularly associated.

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