I.F. Stone - The Trial of Socrates

A red herring - religious impiety

General free speech in Athens

Abundant rationalistic interpretations and criticism of gods in the theatre

The accusation of 'disbelieving in the gods of the city' actually hides a rejection of the democratic nomos, re-deified by the polis

Zeus Agoraios

Peitho

Hephaistos and Athena, gods of the craftsmen

The real deal - Socrates' and his disciples' Philolaconism

Political reasons avoided in the Platonic texts

Socrates as mentor and intellectual inspiration for the radical antidemocratic dictatorships: 411, 404, 401

Xenophon's story about Socrates' half-hearted opposition to the 30, as opposed to his antidemocratic vehemence

Plato's intense antidemocratic beliefs and ideals

'Noble lies', eugenics, clean slates and caste system in the Republic

The 'Critias' - an alternative view to democratic Athens

Plato's silence about the 30, and positive representations of Charmides and Critias in the dialogues

Socrates' main accuser: Anytus, the democratic politician

a democratic general, active in overthrowing the 30

a moderate who renounced the possibility of recovering his confiscated wealth

Motivations - the general and the personal - Anytus' son

Two Roman-period lies - Anytus was murdered and Athenian repentance at Socrates' death

Named sitophylakes

Aeschines's speech

Socrates the Suicidal - boycotting his own case

Defiance and arrogance towards the court

Prytaneion as punishment

Socrates as the wisest of mortals

Why did Socrates want to die?

Red herrings? Old age, obeisance to the law

Philosophically held strong beliefs

Philosophy as a preparation for death

soma-sema: body as a prison for the soul

Immortality of the soul and pleasant Afterlife

Martyrdom and self-fulfilling demonstration of the wickedness and inferiority of democratic rule

The trial of Socrates as an issue of free speech

Socrates' accusation was based on his beliefs, not on deeds

Slim majority in condemning probably reflects the unease of the jury

While highlighting this might have saved Socrates, he clearly had no interest in doing so

In spite of all his case for the prosecution, the writer finds the city of Athens wanting in this case where is freedom of speech is put to the test

Very well written and very persuasive

Probably, a bit hash on Socrates

The Plague of the Present in analyzing the Past

Idealization of Athenian Democracy?

Pericles as Thomas Jefferson

The author as journalist and late-time classicist

Men as a herd animals that should obey their betters

"Only the learned should rule"

Idealized kings, with some inspiration from pre-classical texts (Homer, Lyrical poetry)

Virtue = Knowledge, but Knowledge can't be taught

At most, a human can be aware of his 'lack of knowledge', and only a few can aspire to learn even this.

'True' knowledge is abstract, pure, perfect, and conceptually clear

Socrates' negative dialectic - striving for impossibly perfect definitions

Paradox: people can be courageous (or any other virtue) without being able to define the concept precisely

Paradox: mixing knowledge and virtue is plainly contradictory

Socrates' wise, unruly and morally wicked disciples: Critias and Alcibiades

Paradox - disciples get to choose between plain skepticism (Anthistenes) or dualism (Plato)

Delphi Oracle - Socrates a the wisest of men

Socratic Irony: while reducing to ridicule the administrators and citizens of Athens, is he (and followers) really humble?

"He who knows the truth can do no evil"

Rhetoric as mere flattery

One shouldn't devote oneself to public service (politics), but to cultivation of self

Danger and moral dereliction of duty? Why didn't Socrates advice against harsh policies (Melos, Mytilene) or against tyrannical rule?

The real philosophers avoid stepping in the public spaces of the democracy

Spartans as 'closet' philosophers

Idealized view of the Spartan and Cretan constitutions, models for a self-centered, totalitarian and xenophobic state

Men as citizens (zoon politikon)

Citizens should rule. Only issue of dispute is if citizens should be few (oligarchy) or many (democracy).

All humans have basic moral and political knowledge - otherwise, any community would be impossible.

Knowledge can be learnt by everybody - Sophists as teachers of the emerging middle class

Aristotle, Rhetoric: "Man has sufficient intelligence to be reached by reasoned argument"

Rhetorical syllogism - from true premises to the probable

Courts and Assemblies

Dialectical syllogism - from true premises to the necessarily and always true

Moral obligation of participating in the city business and common weal - ἰδιώτης