Plato's Apology
Details
Hi All,
This week Tanner's hosting the topic on Plato's Apology. Here's the write-up below:
A Discussion of Plato’s Apology
Plato’s Apology is an account, likely invented, of Socrates’ legal defense against charges that he corrupted the youth of Athens. Famously this defense fails, and the story of Socrates’ acceptance of the consequences is played out in two more Platonic dialogues: Crito, which tells of a visit from Socrates’ friend Crito while imprisoned waiting for execution, and the Phaedo, the account of a fictional conversation–supposedly about the nature of the soul–Socrates had with his friends before drinking hemlock.
If you would like to, you can read the 23 page Grube translation of the Apology here. My presentation will aim to be about 30 minutes and will highlight key moments and characters. I’ll share contextual background from Plato scholar Deborah Nails, who compiled the best historical data on the names of Socrates’ accusers in her book The People of Plato. As with so much of antiquity, this information is incomplete and we’re largely left to speculate about the facts of the case.
Historical record isn’t what draws me to the Apology. Plato was an artist, and the flourishes of Socrates’ speech confront the allegedly sluggish Athenians throughout. Socrates knows his life is at stake, but he doesn’t hesitate to bite the hand. He demonstrates a contradiction in the charges with a brief interlocution of one accuser named Meletus, and repents for none of his actions while venerating a contemplative philosophical life concerned with the state of one’s moral character and the nature of truth.
Near the end the guilty verdict is given, and Socrates’ sense of humor takes center stage when death is the proposed punishment. The dialogue’s denouement also gives us a meditation on the fear of death that I always find moving. Join us for a discussion of all these ideas! Be prepared to share why you’re interested in the topic at the beginning of our night, and to share whether you believe yourself to be wise.
See y'all at Charlie Brown's!