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Pretext for pretext, truth for truth:

persuasion in Plato's Apology.

by

Elizabeth Sheppard BA DipEd ACertCM

M9801-00l

Catholic Institute of Sydney, Strathfield, 7th April 2000

WSBI06 : The Beginnings of Western Thought

Lecturer: Fr. Andrew Murray

Short Assignment (1000 words) 20%

WSBI06 : The Beginnings of Western Thought Elizabeth Sheppard

SHORT ASSIGNMENT: Plato's Apology M9801-001

Socrates' defence of himself as written by Plato in the Apology is convincing, and was
I
/
intended to convince the jury of his innocence.'. Socrates covertly reveals pretexts with pretexts,

and overtly demonstrates truth with painfully honest truths. The effectiveness of his defence is

based on the contrast between appearance and reality, between a ruined reputation and private

honour, between embellished slander and plain, blunt truth. Blaming his failure to convince the

entire jury of his innocence on insufficient time (37a), he turned even this apparently unfavourable

circumstance to his advantage by finding that death was preferable to a life without philosophy

(29c-29d; 38a). Socrates' enforced death (which ensured his immortality) is his final , irrefutable

argument against the misconceived charges of impiety and corrupting the young.
/
He presented himself before the court as an elderly, unworldly man unversed in court

language (17c, d) and customs, and unconcerned with the minutiae of city affairs (36b). Yet the

intellectual adroitness of his defence, its comic touches and metaphorical illustrations did not

indicate an untutored or contemptuous attitude to the Athenian city-state itself, but rather an

intelligent appeal to the sophistication of his audience, who were well used to convoluted rhetoric-.

He strongly refuted those (the "old accusers" and Aristophanes) who had defamed him in the past

(19c), and rejected association with the cosmological beliefs of Anaxagoras (26d) and sophism. He

used self-deprecating humour, persuasive argument, the combined elenchus and erotesis against

Meletus (24b-28a), all in the plain language of the agora (of the people rather than the court).

Openly displaying a deeply held belief that his philosophic activity was divinely governed

by his daemonium (20e-22a; 4Oa-40c) he clearly hoped to bring the hubris -laden Athenian

IThomas C Brickhouse and Nicholas D Smith, "Socrates on Trial", Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1989,

are in agreement with this view. They argue that Socrates makes a sincere attempt to persuade the jury of his

innocence.

C D C Reeve , "Socrates in the Apology: An Essay on Plato's Apology of Socrates", Hackett : Indianopolis, 1989,

also agrees, stating that Socrates is a nonironical figure who presents himself as a philosopher se rvant of Apoll o.

David Gallop, "Socrates, Injustice , and the Law : A Response to Plato's "Crito" ", in Ancient Philosophy, 1998; 18

(2),251-265, notes Socrates' stand as a champion of intellectuallibcrty but also notes that in the Crito, obedience to

state law is morally paramount - making Socrates' death inevitable under the circumstances.

2Steven Nadler, "Probability and Truth in the "Apology" , in Phil-Lit. 1985; 9,198-202,

also Kenncth Seeskin, "Is the "Apology of Socrates" a Parod y?", in Phil-Lit. 1982 ; 6, 94-105, and

Thomas Lcwis, "Parody and the Argument from Probability in the "Apology" , in Philo sophy and Literature, 1990;

359-366. All three articles discuss parodies of deceptive rhetoric in the "Apology."

WSBI06 : The Beginnings of Western Thought Elizabeth Sheppard

SHORT ASSIGNMENT : Plato's Apology M9801-001

1.

aristocracy to its senses, and create a rigorous model of the search for wisdom (2lb-23c). In this

intention he ultimately succeeded, despite the fact that he was condemned to death. There is a

definite progression in Socrates' argument from "base rhetoric'< in which he answers the shallow,

slanderous pretexts of his accusers with witty rhetoric (eg the reductio ad absurdum on horse

improvement used in refuting Meletus at 25b) , to a truthful statement describing how and why he

came to lead the philosophic life of enquiry and examination (23a-23c).

His success in swaying the jury towards his case was remarkable, for his political position

was tenuous because of his communications with the Spartans and the recently deposed Thirty

Tyrants (32c). His defence actually convinced all but sixty people in ajury of 500 (or 501) that he

was innocent of the charges of impiety and corrupting the young brought against him by Meletus,

Anytus and Lycon. This vote substantially affirms the convincing nature of Socrates' case. Plato

records Socrates' comment on the jury's vote - " if a mere thirty votes had gone the other way, I

should have been acquitted." (36a) Furthermore, Socrates considered that had it not been for

Anytus' and Lycon 's support of Meletus, he would have been acquitted, since he claims to have

adequately refuted Meletus' charges (36a).

Socrates claims to be a loyal Athenian, a valuable and gifted citizen who acts as the

conscience of Athens (29d-30a) at the command of his god. He characterizes himself as a stinging

gadfly, who irritates a somnolent horse (Athens) out of its slumber (30e, 3la). He cites his military

(28e) and diplomatic (32a-32e) record as proof of his loyalty. He later maintains his claim to loyal

citizenship, proposing that the state "penalize" him by awarding him free maintenance, (30a) the

prize awarded to victoriou s athletes.

Socrates declared that wisdom consists not in overweening pride (hubris), as practised

by the prominent Athenians he had interviewed (2lc-22e), but in honest acknowledgement of

ignorance when one does not know, and lifelong persistence in critically seeking the truth. Behind

his argument is the unstated proposition that people who become puffed up with hubris are a threat

3Nadler, Steven (1985) pp 198-202

WSBI06 : The Beginnings of Western Thought Elizabeth Sheppard

SHORT ASSIGNMENT: Plato's Apology M9801-001

:3

to the good order of society; they may misapply their authority to matters in which they are neither

skilled nor wise. The need to monitor the powerful and wealthy leads to philosophic activity and the

proclamation of the truth, for

"wealth does not bring goodnes s, but goodness brings wealth and every other blessing, both
to the individual and to the state." (30b)

Socrates' argument in his own defence is convincing not only because of its matter and

rhetorical brilliance (particularly in his refutation of Meletus where he combines the elenchus and

erotesis 4), but also because of the integrity of his character in both private and public life, which he

does not hesitate to place before the jury. Compared to the scurrilous behaviour of his accu sers,

who do not even call witnesses to support their charge that he has corrupted the young (33d-34b),

his own examined life stands up to scrutiny .

Socrates assumed a hostile audience, and addressed this situation in a forensic speech

which censured while amusing, and praised while truth-telling. His unexpected initial strategy

magnified the number of his accusers , implicating many of the jury, then proceded to describe their

misconceptions. Socrates at the outset confidently expressed a readiness to defend his position no

matter how great the odds. This also applies when he defends himself against the charge of impiety

by stating that he recognizes divinities- (and proves this by making his last act an instruction for a

sacrifice to Asclepius, the god of healing - Phaedo 118a). Play-goers at The Clouds who had

laughed at the sight of "Socrates " swinging around in a basket, may have felt compunction in the

face of the real Socrates' imminent death. Socrates also convinced by his poverty , his willingness

to endure humiliation, and his cross-examination of Meletus, who was shown to be ignorant of the

education of the young, unable to connect spiritual things with divinites , and confused about

4Dorion, Louis Andre, "La subversion de l'''elenchos'' juridique dans 1"'Apologie de Socrate", in Revue Philosophique

de Louvain, 1990; 3 11-344 . Dorion concludes that the cross-examination of Meletus in the Apology unites erotesis

with elenchus to inaugurat e the dialectic practice of refutation.

SCf. Burnyeat, M F "The Impi ety of Socrates" , in Ancient Philosophy 1997: 17(1), 1-12, who maintains that

Socrates was guilty of impiety becau se he did not believe in the gods the city believed in, and that the "Apolo gy"

reflects a clash of religions analogous to that experienced with the publication of S. Rushdie's "Satanic Verses."

WSBI06 : The Beginnings of Western Thought Elizabeth Sheppard

SHORT ASSIGNMENT: Plato's Apology M9801 -001

Anaxagoras'teachings. Socrates refused to use his family to appeal to the jury; he considered this

practice disgraceful.

In his defence Socrates upheld intellectual freedom and the right to seek true wisdom as the

highest good , under divine guidance. Unifying theory with practice by personal example, he

illustrated how the fallible human life of a person who "knows that he does not know" could be

lived with moral integrity. His defence was a public feat of rhetorical brilliance and great moral

courage , enacted with full knowledge of the risk to his life. He exposed his accusers' hypocrisy,

taking no account of possible consequences for himself, placing the interests of the Athenian

community before his own. By condemning Socrates, his accusers actually harmed themselves.

They, not Socrate s, are now seen as impious and unjust.

Bibliography 5

Bri ckhouse, Thomas C. Socrates on Trial

and Smith, Nicholas D. Princeton University Press: Princeton, New Jersey, 1990

Burnyeat, M. F. "The Impiety of Socrates",

in Ancient Philosophy Vo\.17,no.1 (1997),pp.I-12.

Dorion, Louis-Andre "La subversion de I"'elenchos" juridique dans 1" 'Apologie de Socrate"" ,

in Revue Philosophique de Louvain , 1990, pp. 311-344.

Gallop, David " Socrates, Injustice and the Law: A Response to Plato's Crito "

in Ancient Philosophy, Vo\. 18 no. 2,1998

Kennedy, George A. Aristotle on Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse

Oxford University Press: Oxford , 1991

Lewis, Thomas "Parody and the Argument from Probability in the "Apology" "

in Philosophy and Literature, 1990, pp. 359-366

Nad1er, Steven "Probability and Truth in the "Apology" "

in Philosophy and Literature Vol. 9,1985, pp. 198-202

Reeve, C. D. C. "Socrates in the Apology:

An Essay on Plato 's Apology of Socrates"

Hackett: Indianopis, 1989

Seeskin, Kenneth "Is the "Apology of Socrates" a Parody?"

in Philosophy and Literature Vol. 6, 1982, pp. 94-105

Stumpf, Samuel Enoch Socrates to Sartre : A History of Philos ophy

5th ed. McGraw-Hill, Inc.: New York/London, 1993