Socrates' Trial: Defense, Death, and the Examined Life

Introduction: Socrates and the Duty to Examine Life

Socrates' defense and his decision to accept the death sentence show that he acted the only way he was capable of acting — according to what he believed in: one's duty to examine life and question the truth.

Socrates' thinking has been a continuous source of inspiration to people ranging from politicians to writers and religious thinkers. As Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Autobiography: "Humility: Imitate Jesus and Socrates" (Franklin). Some could argue that Socrates was anything but humble in his reasoning before the jury that sentenced him to death — a jury that convicted him for having attempted to "study all things in the sky and below the earth" (Plato, 22) and for having made "the worst argument the stronger" (Plato, 22). The accusations of questioning everything and taking nothing for granted were based on the false conclusion that the accused was challenging the natural order of things and therefore did not believe in the gods. Society felt threatened in its most important foundation: religion.

Socrates' defense in Plato's Apology indicates that he was not questioning the righteousness of believing and acting according to divine law. Rather, he was examining only the way human society used and explained those laws to younger generations.

The Charges Against Socrates and His Defense

Some might argue that, according to Christian doctrine, Socrates' attitude before the jury was not humble but bold — even arrogant. He might have been committing what would be seen as a suicidal act, which would appear even worse in the eyes of a Christian. But five hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ, Socrates acted the only way he could. He was by no means a martyr. He was simply unable to deny himself. He believed in a greater power and trusted that the destiny assigned to him by a superior force was directing him to act according to what the gods had reserved for him.

He trusted the voice of destiny that restrained him from certain actions and did not restrain him from accepting the death sentence — precisely because he was doing what the gods intended for him. His posture before the jury is far from showing humility in the sense of throwing himself on his knees to beg for mercy or compassion. But Socrates did not act as he did because he lacked the capacity for humility before his accusers; rather, he was being humble before humanity and its destiny as a whole.

Humility, Destiny, and the Divine Mission

Socrates explained that the Oracle indicated he was no more worthy or wiser than any other of his fellow men. The difference between him and those who accused him of spreading harmful ideas did not stem from any virtues he wished to claim, but from a permanent quest for truth. He was unwilling to accept everything his ancestors left as spiritual heritage. He used his ability to find new meanings in ordinary things and demonstrated that humanity's capacity to understand the world still had a long way to go. He recognized his own limitations, along with those of everyone else, and pointed out that no one is wise in every field.

According to Socrates, humans are subject to poor judgment in some areas despite performing well in others. Society as a whole is, in his view, a body that needs all of its members in order to aspire to finding the truth. G.M.A. Grube, in his introduction to The Trial and Death of Socrates, stresses that Socrates' search for the meaning of life as a means of living rightly led him to a central paradox: "virtue is knowledge and when men do wrong it is only because they do not know any better" (Grube, v). As one might say today, ignorance resulting from an unwillingness to search for knowledge is no excuse. Socrates' thinking was aimed at making those willing to listen aware of the dangers of doing wrong by refusing to question what was accepted as truth.

Conclusion: Accepting Death as a Philosophical Act

One cannot help but wonder what would have happened if Socrates had accepted the jury's forgiveness in exchange for giving up his beliefs. Certainly, a lifelong work would have gone to pieces and been destroyed. His credibility before his contemporary disciples — Plato and all those who followed — would have been forever shattered. Even if they understood his fear in the face of what appears to be humanity's most formidable opponent, death, they would never have accepted his denial of everything he believed prior to his trial.

His choosing the jury's clemency would have proven, in his own view, that life was worth living under any circumstances. Instead, he trusted in the higher power that inspired him to accept death as a gift he preferred over living out his remaining days unable to search for truth. Socrates believed that living in a prostrating state of ignorance — and being satisfied with it — was not an eligible choice for the man who transformed the philosophical tradition and continues to inspire those who are thirsty for knowledge and eager to find guidance, even in a mentor who died over two and a half millennia ago.

As Benjamin Franklin recognized, the legacy of Socrates endures precisely because he refused to separate how he lived from what he believed. His trial and death were not a defeat; they were the ultimate expression of his philosophy.

References

Grube, G.M.A., and Cooper, J.M. The Trial and Death of Socrates: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Death Scene from Phaedo. Hackett, 2000.

Phillips, J. "The Wisest of the Greeks." 1991. Retrieved March 4, 2009. Available at

"Socrates." Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2005. Retrieved March 4, 2009. Available at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/socrates/#4