Background
Athens, Greece, 399BC
Athens has suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Its citizens are struggling to maintain their identity and understand their place in the world.
Socrates has angered the elites of Athens by his insistence on including folks from all walks of life in debates using the Socratic method. He’d attacked Athenians for clinging to past glories and fixating on physical beauty rather than wisdom and ethics. The capper? He’d targeted the wrong people with his acidic sense of humor.
Now, his enemies have him hauled off to court where he’s tried for the crime of impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. Worst case sentence for a conviction would be death, but numerous opportunities present themselves to avoid such a fate.
- Rather than pacifying his accusers, Socrates presents a defiant defense, declaring himself as a protector of his community. Challenging authority has been his duty and honor, he says. The fuming jury convicts him 280 to 221.
- NOTE – Socrates’ history of associations with oligarchic rulers contributed to lingering animosities toward him.
- Phase II of the trial. Socrates is permitted to propose an alternative punishment, such as exile.
- What does he suggest instead? That he be honored and paid by the city for his enlightenment. “I am a gift of the gods to Athens,” he says.
- Not the best plan to curry favor in high places. His insolence is rewarded with a death sentence.
- Socrates’ friends hatch an idea. They’ll bribe the guards and sneak him off into the sunset, far away from Athens. “No,” he says. “I won’t be better off anywhere else. I’m a loyal citizen of Athens, and I’ll abide by their laws.”
- Sadly, the friends watch as he voluntarily drinks the hemlock. With his last words, he describes his death as a release of the soul from the body.
- NOTE – Socrates’ age and health may have contributed to his defiance and decision to end his life. But we’ll set that aside for the purpose of this discussion.
Your verdict – Should Socrates have drunk the hemlock?
Of course not. Live and fight another day
- What about his credibility? Wouldn’t everything he stood for be shattered if he took an easy way out?
- He’d always taught about obeying the laws. He’d been found guilty. Wouldn’t his integrity be violated if he chose another way out?
- Might he have been trying to disgrace his enemies one last time?
Clearly. He made the honorable choice. The ultimate way of proving his point.
- So, just give up?
- How is honorable to end your life?
- Why not propose exile, and then defame his detractors from afar?
The Socratic Method
What you’ve just engaged in is the Socratic Method. Learning by asking questions and following-up with more challenging questions. This is how Socrates engaged with his students.
- Should the Socratic Method be used in our educational system?
- Why or why not?
- Did you learn more about Socrates by thinking about the initial question? Or were you just bored and skipped to the end?
Share and Comment?
- Do you typically enter comments on blog posts you read?
- When you do, what makes you decide to comment?
- Do you think this post deserves your time and energy to enter a comment?
- Or is this a pathetic attempt by the blog author to manufacture engagement?
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