Plato's Apology

0:06All right. Hi everybody. I hope you're

0:08doing great out there. Uh once again, uh

0:11in this video, I'm going to talk about

0:13uh Plato's apology. So, we segueed um in

0:18our last video to the apology. So, now

0:21we're ready to dive in um to uh that

0:24text. So, we're not going to cover this

0:28um text cover to cover, but I want to

0:30talk about a few of the main themes from

0:32the text, and we'll get to those main

0:33themes. So, we'll do just a little bit

0:35of summary of the text so we're familiar

0:37with what's going on in it. Uh and then

0:41get to some of the major philosophical

0:43points that I want to focus on from it.

0:45Okay? So, please read the entire uh

0:47apology. Um you're responsible for doing

0:50so. Um it's required reading. um but

0:53there'll be a certain focus on um

0:56certain philosophical topics. Um but

0:59still I want to go through some of the

1:00important setting points too and

1:02important um um summary points from the

1:05from the dialogue.

1:07Okay. So Plato's apology, Socrates on

1:10trial. That should make sense now by the

1:13by the time you're watching this video

1:14if you've been keeping up with the

1:15course material. So let's go to slide

1:18one.

1:20So the charges get Socrates and I've

1:23introduced this a brief bit but I'll say

1:24a little bit more now. So the um

1:28informal charges again Socrates these

1:30are the earlier charges as the asterisk

1:33uh points out um were studying things in

1:37the sky and below the earth making the

1:39weak argument appear stronger and

1:41teaching these things to the youth um or

1:44to others and then we learn that the

1:45relevant others would be the youth um

1:47the youth of Athens. So here we are um

1:50reading the apology and pretty early on

1:52this is um page 23. The middle of the

1:56first full paragraph we get a

1:58formulation of the informal charges

2:00against him. Uh and then we also get

2:02them again on page 24 in the second uh

2:04full paragraph in the middle of the

2:06second full paragraph there. Okay. So

2:09that's just some textual support places

2:11to look um for where um these informal

2:14charges were stated in the text. So

2:16again, studying things in the sky and

2:18below the earth, making the weak

2:20argument appear stronger and teaching

2:22those things to others. Okay, maybe we

2:24add to this something like how um the

2:27informal charges will include Socrates

2:28being a wise man who studies things in

2:30the sky and below the earth, etc. That

2:32bit about being a wise man is not a

2:34throwaway because I think it's trying to

2:35capture the fact that he is um a

2:38philosopher. Okay. So, Socrates is is

2:42identified with a kind of philosopher um

2:45in ancient Athens. Okay. So, that's um

2:50um at least a a summary of the informal

2:53charges and in some ways um almost point

2:57for point for what you would see in the

2:58text. Okay? Just maybe presented

3:01slightly differently here. Um, again,

3:04these are the earlier charges, meaning

3:05these were the charges that that

3:07occurred earlier in Socrates's life.

3:09Okay, they're more long-standing. They

3:12um were

3:14um accusations against Socrates's

3:17um sorry, accusations against Socrates

3:20to people who are now in the jury, but

3:22they were accusations against Socrates

3:24when these members of the jury were

3:25quite young. The members of the jury are

3:27going to consist of people who are 30

3:29years or older. So um these would be

3:32people's lives who were in part shaped

3:34by the accusations against Socrates. So

3:36that's um one of the reasons why

3:38Socrates um as you know was more

3:40concerned with the earlier informal

3:43charges against him. Now the formal

3:45charges we've discussed these very

3:47briefly as well um but just so we

3:50remember them and you can see them um

3:52written out. The formal charges these

3:54are the later charges involve corrupting

3:56the youth and impiiety believe in

3:58falsies about the gods. So A and B

4:00capture uh the formal charges against

4:02him. Um so these are the charges that

4:04Socrates is criminally accused of. Okay.

4:08Um and if found guilty very serious

4:11sentence uh penalties um would be

4:14brought forth. So

4:17um there's it turns out there's a

4:19connection between the charges A and B.

4:21Um the way Socrates corrupts the youth

4:23is through his being in pious. Okay. his

4:27belief in falsities about the gods. Um,

4:29and falsities about the gods in relation

4:33to, you know, Athenian theology, what

4:36the Athenians believe about the gods.

4:40Okay,

4:41so these are the formal charges against

4:44Socrates. Um, now you might wonder

4:47what's the connection between the

4:49informal and the formal charges um or

4:51the earlier and the later charges. Well,

4:54they're related to each other. It's not

4:55obvious how they are. Let's see if we

4:57can work that out um to some degree.

4:59There's not like a perfect overlap, but

5:01there is enough that makes sense for us

5:04to say that there's a connection between

5:05them. So, remember the um informal

5:09charge of studying things in the sky and

5:11below the earth. Well, what is um

5:13someone do when they study things in the

5:14sky and below the earth? Well, let's

5:17focus on the things in the sky bit.

5:19Well, you're studying things like the

5:20heavenly bodies. you're studying the the

5:23sun and the moon and the stars. Well,

5:26many Athenians um thought that those

5:28were deities or those were divine

5:31objects, gods as it were. Um so when

5:35you're studying these things, you're

5:36you're you're studying what Athenians

5:38believe were gods. And these aren't the

5:40kinds of things that are that should be

5:42understood as objects of scientific or

5:44natural study. Okay? So many times um

5:48philosophers who studied these things

5:50were um called natural philosophers

5:54um they're interested in trying to

5:56account for uh the na the happenings in

5:58the natural world as much as they

5:59possibly can in terms of natural causes.

6:02Um this is be contrasted with a

6:04worldview that Socrates found himself in

6:07um which was dominated by thinking that

6:10the natural events have ultimate at the

6:12very least supernatural um causes right

6:16so um there's a shipwreck at sea um you

6:21know Otis is on his way home so think

6:22about the Odyssey um if that's helpful

6:25there's a there's a storm at sea what

6:27ultimately explains that well Poseidon

6:30right the god is is unhappy

6:32Okay. Um, there's a war between the

6:34Trojans and the Greeks and you have a

6:36winner and loser of various battles

6:38within that war. Well, what helps

6:40explain winners and losers is what

6:42happens with the gods that are

6:44participating on either side. Okay.

6:46Which god gains ascendancy in the

6:48battle, something like that. Okay. So,

6:51supernatural causes for natural um

6:54events that occur um at least partially.

6:57So um the natural philosophers they

6:59tried to break away from that in the

7:01ancient Greek tradition try to

7:03understand the natural world uh in

7:05purely natural terms as much as they

7:07could. Um so natural uh events have

7:10natural causes.

7:12So sometimes this is considered a kind

7:15of revolution in in human or at least

7:17western human thinking whereby we

7:19attempt to do something more scientific

7:21with our thinking. Um so we find this in

7:23the ancient Greek world. It's called

7:25natural philosophy. um what we call

7:28science used to be called natural

7:29philosophy in the tradition until um um

7:32um it got started getting called

7:34generally science and then philosophy

7:36was its own thing and then um those who

7:39practiced natural philosophy in

7:41Socrates's day get we're thinking here

7:44about the fourth and fifth centuries BCE

7:47um you were accused of um um being

7:51atheists and thus impas um so why would

7:55that be Because if you're going to claim

7:57that the sun isn't is something that

7:59could be studied like any other object

8:01can be studied, then you're basically

8:03taking away the divinity of the sun,

8:06which is the sun should be Apollo,

8:08right? The god. So,

8:12so that's um the accusation here. Um so

8:15if you saw things in the sky and the

8:16blow the earth, then um then you're a

8:19natural philosopher. If you're a natural

8:20philosopher, you're open to the atheism

8:23impiety charge. Okay. So, think about

8:26the first charge is uh or the second

8:28charge that uh against Socrates is

8:30second informal char second formal

8:32charge, excuse me, against Socrates

8:34doesn't believe in the Athenian gods. Um

8:37he's impas um and it turns out that in

8:40the dialogue um when Socrates

8:43cross-examines the lead prosecutor

8:45against him, the lead witness against

8:47him, the he gets accused of atheism. So,

8:51Socrates is being confused with being a

8:54natural philosopher as it as it turns

8:55out, as we'll see.

8:58Now, um the second um informal charge

9:01was making the weaker argument stronger.

9:04Technically, nothing like illegal about

9:07about doing this, but doing so would um

9:11make you a suspicious character. So

9:13there were those who went around uh the

9:15ancient Greek citystates and they um

9:19they they taught people how to speak

9:22publicly to speak persuasively in public

9:25and and the reason one of the reasons

9:27why they did this was because there was

9:30a bit of a demand for um

9:33debating on the public stage on the

9:36public in the public arena um as some of

9:39the ancient Greek citystates

9:40experimented with democracy and open

9:43debate in public arena was um was

9:46encouraged at least between some uh

9:49members of the community. So there was a

9:50kind of protodemocracy where the

9:52democracy applied really only to a small

9:54subset of the population at large and

9:57we've seen over time that that um

9:59democracies have um developed in more

10:02universal ways

10:04definitely not perfectly but definitely

10:06better than the way things were in the

10:08ancient Athenian world in the ancient

10:09Greek citystate world. So the sophist

10:13gained a reputation for um helping

10:15people become persuasive, not

10:17necessarily make good arguments.

10:19So the sophists are oftenimes connected

10:22with teaching rhetoric, teaching people

10:25how to be rhetorically effective in

10:26conversation as opposed to um being

10:29truth tellers.

10:31And the people here are called sophists.

10:33So these these are these quotequote

10:35teachers who go around helping people

10:36become more persuasive. They taught a

10:38they they charged a lot of money

10:40teaching this uh form of persuasion. Um

10:43sometimes it's called kind of the logic

10:45of rhetoric that they taught I suppose

10:47the logic of truth. Okay. And

10:51um Socrates is getting confused in these

10:54informal charges with being a sophist or

10:56at least he's being accused of being a

10:57sophist. Um Plato many of Socrates in

11:00many of his works is at pains to show

11:04that that Socrates is distinct from

11:06sophists. Okay. In fact, uh Plato um he

11:11seems quite clearly to paint a target on

11:13Sophist and have Socrates um argue with

11:16them in in in many of the dialogues. And

11:18some of the dialogues are even aimed

11:19after sophist

11:21figures. So this isn't technically

11:24illegal. Wasn't illegal to be a sophist

11:25but he who were looked at with suspicion

11:28at least by many if you were a sophist.

11:30And then the third informal charge is

11:33teaching these things to others. Well,

11:35that was teaching things to the youth.

11:36That's where the the first uh formal

11:38charge comes from at leis as we've

11:40identified it as corrupting the youth.

11:43So we see a connection especially with

11:45one and three uh of the earlier to the

11:47later charges. Two just helps in a way

11:49kind of solely Socrates's reputation in

11:51as much as he's um claimed to be a

11:54sophist someone who is interested in

11:55rhetoric and not truth.

11:58And if you've read the first few pages

11:59of the dialogue, which I hope you have,

12:01you know that Socrates is pretty clear

12:03early on that um that he's not

12:06interested in in rhetoric. He's

12:07interested in sort of plain speaking,

12:09getting after the truth. Okay. Um in

12:12many places in Plato's dialogues, he has

12:14the um the the sophist um seem like they

12:19speak so beautifully that um that even

12:22true seekers could be misled by them to

12:25think that wow, what they're

12:28must piece. We have to kind of guard

12:29ourselves against flowery um um uses of

12:33language um or persuasive uh uh uses of

12:36language as opposed to just plain

12:38speaking, getting after what's true.

12:41Okay, so that's um connecting the

12:44earlier and the later charges. I

12:45promised I would do that at the end of

12:46my last video. So, let's move on to um

12:49Socrates's defense and just give kind of

12:52a brief summary of what's going on with

12:53the various stages of defense. So I

12:55identify four stages of defense. I've

12:57told you those I think very briefly um

12:59but I'll say a bit more now that we're

13:02there. So stage one is defense by

13:04explanation the human wisdom story. So

13:07here Socrates wishes to take on the uh

13:10informal charges or informal accusations

13:13against him. Okay. So stage one is all

13:16informal charges against him. And then

13:19as I see it, stage two is going after

13:21the formal and then three and four or

13:24three is going after perhaps both of

13:26them. It's not explicit in the text. And

13:28the fourth one is just a kind of

13:29different nature of defense. Um and

13:32we'll come to that. Um so so again stage

13:36one is related to

13:40the informal accusations. the the so we

13:43have here defense by explanation human

13:44wisdom story. I've got a

13:48PDF around here. Oh yeah, here it is. Um

13:52might be helpful for you. So um

13:58so here I call it the human wisdom story

14:00because on page 25 Socrates he's trying

14:04to explain where the charges come from

14:05initially by talking about how um his

14:08reputation was caused by a certain kind

14:10of wisdom. What kind of wisdom? Human

14:12wisdom. Okay, so this is the um last

14:16paragraph on page 25, which carries over

14:19to page 26 um middle of the paragraph

14:22there. So that's where I get the human

14:24wisdom story idea. And then

14:28um here's some apology moves that might

14:31be helpful. Just use this PDF to guide

14:33us here. So stage one, defense by by

14:36explanation. You know, I want to just

14:37try to give you some some summarizing

14:39points here. I'll let you read the text

14:41and help and and this should help you

14:43with um with organizing uh the text

14:45yourself. But the slanderous accusations

14:47against Socrates were simply default

14:49accusations it turned out leveled

14:51against him. The same accusations

14:53leveled against any philosopher studying

14:55things in the sky and blow the earth

14:56making the weak argument stronger and

14:58teaching these things to others namely

14:59the youth. So the thought is is that

15:02Socrates thinks that if if you see where

15:04where the the accusations against him

15:07come from, namely these default

15:09accusations against him, then you'll see

15:11that they're wrong because Socrates

15:13wasn't um a natural philosopher. He

15:16wasn't a sophist. Um and he did teach

15:19things to others, but he didn't teach

15:20sophism or naturalism to the youth.

15:23Okay, so that's you know big picture way

15:26of understanding the defense by

15:27explanation. But the um um um the the

15:33basic story here that leads up to the

15:35default accusation point is that um uh

15:38Socrates's friend goes to an oracle um a

15:42godlike being and asks if there's

15:44anybody who's wiser than Socrates.

15:46Socrates has been gaining a reputation

15:47for being wise. Is anyone wiser than

15:50Socrates? The oracle says no. or uh and

15:53so Socrates's friend goes back to

15:55Socrates and says, "Hey, um there's no

15:57one wiser than you." And Socrates is

15:59like, "Well, that can't be because I'm

16:00not wise or I'm not very wise." So he

16:02sets out to try to interpret what the

16:04oracle means. Maybe the oracle was just

16:05joking, you know? So the oracle probably

16:09wasn't speaking literally true, he

16:10thinks. So he goes around trying to see

16:12if there's anybody wiser than he to see

16:14if there was some like nonliteral

16:15interpretation of what the oracle meant.

16:18Well, it turns out that Socrates

16:19discovers as he systematically goes

16:21around talking to poets, politicians,

16:23and crafts people um well, politicians,

16:26poets, and crafts people in that order,

16:27he finds out that um each of these

16:29groups claims that they have the

16:31relevant philosophical wisdom, but in

16:33fact, they don't. And only Socrates is

16:35one who's aware of the fact that he

16:36doesn't have that wisdom. And that alone

16:38is what makes Socrates wiser than um

16:41people in these groups.

16:43Um so that Socrates does this. He ends

16:46up um getting um youth who follow him

16:49around because you know the youth like

16:51to see people argue and debate with each

16:53other and they like to see Socrates

16:56take down these people in terms of what

16:58they claim to know. So they claim to be

17:00so wise, but Socrates kind of brings

17:02them down to size and

17:05so um so then they try to imitate

17:08Socrates and all they end up doing is

17:09making fools of themselves um around

17:12their parents and and and other adults.

17:14And so other adults are like and are

17:16like what's going on? So so the adults,

17:17excuse me, are wondering like what's

17:20going on with our youth and they point

17:21to Socrates and say that Socrates is

17:24corrupting them. How Socrates is

17:25corrupting them? He's corrupting them by

17:28teaching them natural philosophy, right?

17:30Which is a kind of atheism, teaching

17:31them natural philosophy. And he's and

17:33teaching him sophism, teaching him what

17:35the sophist teaches him how to be uh

17:37rhetorical, teaching them the logic of

17:38rhetoric as opposed to the logic of

17:40truth, right? And so um um Socrates

17:45claims that well those are just default

17:47accusations against anybody who's a

17:49philosopher. Um and he's gonna say I'm

17:51not that. I'm not any of those things.

17:54Okay, so that's the um the basis of the

17:58um defense by explanation in the human

17:59wisdom story. At the end of the day,

18:01Socrates ends up claiming that human

18:02wisdom is very insignificant. Um human

18:05wisdom being among those who are the

18:07wisest really just means um being such

18:10that one is aware of the fact or one

18:12knows that they're that they don't have

18:14the relevant wisdom philosophical

18:17wisdom. And Socrates um himself uh seems

18:20to seems to suggest I think quite

18:22explicitly says that um it's the gods

18:25who have the relevant wisdom and humans

18:27don't have it.

18:29Um okay. So that's stage one. Stage two

18:32is defense by cross-examination here.

18:35And again I'll just give you some of

18:36this uh some of the key moves that are

18:40made here. So this um this part of the

18:43defense is Socrates taking on Malitus to

18:46show that he's unreliable. So Socrates

18:48attempts to show that he's not guilty of

18:49the formal charges against him

18:51indirectly by attempting to cast out on

18:54Molita's reliability as a witness. So

18:56it's classic cross-examination, but also

18:59what's going on here. Socrates ends up

19:01having the right to explore what the

19:04charges ex exactly are against him. So

19:08we have this these formal charges

19:09against him. what do they amount to?

19:11Okay. And again, I want you to read this

19:14section carefully. Um I'm going to give

19:16you summary, but I want you to see if

19:18you can um work out um some work out

19:20more of the details. So B uh so to be

19:23molita.

19:24Um

19:26let me actually before I before I say

19:28get to be uh to be let me just say that

19:32um Socrates deals with um the three

19:37charges the two charges against him but

19:38he develops three arguments two against

19:41the first charge the corruption of the

19:42youth charge and then one against the um

19:45the impiiety charge. Okay. and he thinks

19:48that um that by running these three

19:50arguments he'll be able to show that

19:52that Malise is an unreliable witness. So

19:54that's the strategy. So so B and C will

19:57be focused on Socrates's challenge to

19:59the corruption charge and D will deal

20:01with the with the impiiety charge which

20:03becomes an atheism charge. So B Mal 2B M

20:07doesn't care about the education of the

20:08of the youth and their well-being as he

20:10claims to. Socrates claims it would be

20:12great if Malas did care about the youth.

20:14Um this is seen by the fact that Mus's

20:16claim that everyone but Socrates

20:17contributes to the excence of the youth

20:19youth conflicts with the very clear

20:21truth that very few people contribute to

20:22the excellence of the youth as he says

20:25that Socrates says the scene in the

20:26analogous case of horse breeding or

20:28animal breeding more generally. Okay. So

20:31the idea there supposed to be that when

20:33it comes to horse breeding or animal

20:34breeding it's really the few who are the

20:36experts who improve the animals. Well,

20:39likewise, it should also be the case

20:41that um when it comes to raising humans,

20:43lots of difference between raising

20:45animals and humans, but we can make them

20:46better or worse. That's what connects

20:48them analogously for Socrates. Um we we

20:52it should also be the case that it's the

20:54few who improve the youth and the many

20:56who don't improve them or corrupt them.

20:59Uh so um in any case, Malise had thought

21:02about these issues enough for Socrates

21:04uh to then claim, well, you're

21:06unreliable and not caring about the

21:08youth in the way that you claim.

21:10Okay, so the horse breeding point is

21:12sometimes very tricky for students. Um

21:15but hopefully what I just said will help

21:17out with with those passages. It goes

21:20kind of quick um in the text too. So um

21:23I think understand the key is

21:25understanding the uh presupposed

21:27analogous connection between horse

21:28breeding or raising animals and raising

21:30humans despite the many differences they

21:32may have they do share some things in

21:34common. Um and in particular they they

21:37have in common the fact that animal that

21:39that which is raised or those whom are

21:42raised can be either benefited or

21:44improved or harmed by those who are

21:46raising them.

21:48All right. So that's the the first

21:50argument um against the first charge.

21:52The second argument against the first

21:54charge is captured in 2C

21:57where Socrates um tries to bring out

22:00Mitus' unreliability by saying that he

22:02bring Socrates to court irresponsibly by

22:05failing to realize that if Socrates

22:06willingly corrupted the youth uh he

22:08would also have willingly brought harm

22:10on himself which Mit Socrates claimed

22:12was impossible. So, Socrates um gets um

22:16uh Malitus to accept the idea that

22:17nobody willingly brings harm on

22:19themselves. But Socrates would have to

22:21willingly bring harm on himself if he

22:23intentionally or willfully um corrupted

22:26the youth. Moreover, Socrates doesn't

22:28belong in the court if he corrupted the

22:30youth unwillingly, which is the only

22:32other option. So,

22:35Molinus contradicts himself if if he

22:36says that Socrates will willingly

22:38corrupted the youth. Um and then the

22:41only other option would be that's

22:42awkward. He's didn't do so willingly,

22:43but then he shouldn't be brought to

22:44court. He should be um you know

22:46privately u corrected.

22:49Okay. So there's no um legal requirement

22:53to bring someone to court if they are

22:56unwillingly doing the relevant wrong. So

22:59those are the two arguments then um

23:01against the first charge. Now the the

23:05one and only argument against the second

23:07charge the um the impiiety charge is

23:12this is that you know Malius he deals

23:13frivously with serious matters namely

23:15religious matters. Um so he accuses

23:18Socrates of atheism. So Socrates says

23:20what do you mean that I don't believe in

23:22the Athenian gods? Do you mean that I'm

23:23just a heretic and I believe in other

23:25things about the gods or do you mean

23:27that um that I just don't believe in the

23:28gods at all? Well Molita says you don't

23:31believe in the gods at all. Socius is

23:32like, "This is crazy. You must have me

23:35confused with um another uh another

23:38philosopher, a natural philosopher who

23:40in the text is identified as

23:42Anexagoras." Okay? Who is a naturalist

23:45philosopher who was a naturalist

23:47philosopher um and we know some things

23:51about him and and if you were to take a

23:53prescratics course or an ancient Greek

23:54philosophy course here um in particular,

23:57you would study savicagas likely.

24:00Okay. So um Mitus' very sworn deposition

24:03though implies that Socrates does

24:05believe in the gods. He ridicules um

24:07Socrates for um for claiming that there

24:10is this personal god. This is the words

24:11called damon that guides him in his

24:14life. So he can't at one at the same

24:16time um claim that Socrates is an

24:18atheist meaning he doesn't believe that

24:20they're gods when so when he ridicules

24:22Socrates for believing in this personal

24:23god uh that guides him. So he can't be

24:25an atheist.

24:29Okay. So, um, sometimes a lot of time is

24:32spent when people, um, analyze and

24:35discuss the apology. They, we spend a

24:37lot of time on the cross- examination.

24:39I'm going to be kind of quick on it. Um,

24:40I think there's interesting things that

24:41are going on there, but there's more

24:43interesting things elsewhere, too. So, I

24:45want to focus on those. Hopefully, the

24:47discussion here is clear. If not, um,

24:50let me know how I can help. Um, I know

24:52I'm being kind of quick with the

24:53discussion here. I'll turn to the text

24:55because I know I want you to read it.

24:57You know, I want you to as well. Um

25:00want to show you where the

25:03um the cross- examination begins begins

25:06here on page 28

25:09and we get the statement of the charges

25:11the corruption charge and the impiiety

25:13charge and then he deals with them point

25:15by point. He then goes on Socrates then

25:17goes on to say that he's going to show

25:18that um bleed is unreliable in three

25:21different ways. I think captured by the

25:23three different arguments that we see.

25:24It turns out in reverse order that you

25:26see the presentation um there but um but

25:29still um that's what happens. We get the

25:31first argument running to here

25:35um running to the top of page 30 and

25:37then you get the second argument

25:41and then

25:44um and then we get to the

25:47uh the third argument here. the

25:50challenge to the his cross- examination

25:52with respect to the um impiiety atheism

25:56charge on bottom of page 30. Okay.

26:02Okay. And then by the bottom of page 32

26:06um last full paragraph Socrates is like

26:09I've done what I needed to to to

26:12discharge and uh respond adequately to

26:15the formal charges against me. Okay.

26:18still I think he's concerned um that the

26:21early accusations against him make his

26:24testimony against um Mitus

26:27all right an unlikely an unlikely by um

26:31okay

26:33so that then gets us to the real

26:34Socrates which I really kind of build

26:36off of the discussion here bottom of

26:39page 32 where Socrates considers

26:42hypothetical jury person um claiming

26:45something like well Socrates must have

26:47done something wrong to have put himself

26:49in this position even even if he's not

26:50guilty of the formal charges against

26:52him. He must have lived a shameful life.

26:56Um, and Socrates is like, "Well, you're

26:59wrong in assuming that just because I'm

27:00here with my life at risk that um that I

27:03must have lived shamefully because if

27:05you claim that, then you're also

27:06claiming that Achilles, right, the

27:08famous um Greek hero, um, is also

27:12shameful because he lived his life in

27:13such a way that he put his life at

27:15risk." And on top of page 33 here um

27:21Socrates gives the Achilles example uh

27:24as a way of showing that you can have

27:26you can live a courageous life even if

27:28you um have put your life at risk by

27:31saying that like when someone has killed

27:33a friend of yours like someone like

27:34Hector killed Patrick who was um

27:38Achilles's great friend um Achilles

27:42would put himself at risk by um of going

27:45to kill Hector. in revenge. So, if

27:48you've seen Troy, you know how this

27:50plays out. Um, if you haven't seen Troy,

27:51well, check it out. You might find uh

27:53you might understand what's going on on

27:56here in this passage a bit better. But

27:58it was a sort of a great move by

27:59Socrates because Achilles is a terrific

28:03um hero for the ancient Greeks and the

28:04jury would have would really recognize

28:06this example. Um so

28:10um moreover he also appeals to other

28:12Greek heroes who died in the Greek uh

28:15Trojan War, Greek versus Tro uh the the

28:18Trojan War where the Greeks fought the

28:19the um the Trojans. Um

28:23and um

28:27or Greece was again was fighting was

28:28fighting Troy. Um well of course when

28:33the Greek heroes went to battle they put

28:35their their lives in danger as well.

28:37Okay. So then from here Socrates has to

28:39say that he's relevantly like the Greek

28:41heroes relatively like Achilles even

28:43though he's doesn't have to claim that

28:44he's as amazing as they are. And he goes

28:46on to say like look I put my myself at

28:47my life at risk by um by fighting in um

28:52all these battles Poa Amphipilis and

28:54Delium right he risked his life his life

28:57in danger and he didn't flee. Okay so he

29:00didn't live shamefully either he lived

29:02courageously. So he put his life in

29:04danger in his own his life at risk in

29:06his own life um and um wasn't there by

29:11uh living shamefully. He was actually

29:13living courageously. And then he goes on

29:14to say look um just under that he goes

29:18on to say um I also put my my life at

29:20risk by practicing philosophy. Um and I

29:22was ordered to practice philosophy by

29:24the gods. Um and so um I put my life at

29:28risk because now my life's at risk

29:30because I practice philosophy. Um, and

29:33I'm not living shamefully. So, like what

29:36did I do in my life to put myself in

29:38this position? Well, I started

29:40practicing philosophy and put me in this

29:42position that I'm now in. Um, but just

29:46as before I put my life at risk in um as

29:50being part of the um the Athenian

29:53military, I wasn't shameful. I was

29:55actually courageous. So then the same

29:56thing could be said about my practicing

29:57philosophy, my life being at risk.

30:00So, um, Socrates is saying that he's not

30:03fleeing from from, um, what he's

30:05commanded to do by his superiors,

30:07whether they're military, earthly, you

30:09know, or, um, or godly. The command

30:12comes from a god as he claims here. He's

30:16claiming that that the gods

30:18commanded him, ordered him to practice

30:20philosophy. Okay. So, the real Socrates

30:24is coming out here. be someone who is

30:25actually heroic, who follows the

30:27commands of his superiors, be they a

30:30military commander or a god. Okay. Um,

30:35and then we learn like a bit more. Well,

30:38what's the nature of the command? Well,

30:39the nature of the command is found in

30:43found on top of page 34. And that's to

30:46get and really um um um down. So starts

30:50at top page 34 and then you you learn

30:53what Socrates is what the what the

30:55command um what the god commanded

30:58Socrates to do by continuing reading 34

31:02and you see that it's to get people to

31:04care about virtue. Okay, to get people

31:07to prioritize what's valuable, what's

31:09most valuable.

31:11And then stage four is um the defense of

31:15uh of Athens against itself. So after we

31:19get a sense of who he was, uh page 35,

31:23um really middle of the page roughly and

31:26on, he goes on to say that he's

31:28defending Athens against itself because

31:30it's about to um kill an innocent man.

31:34Okay, he says this, this is the

31:37paragraph that carries over from page

31:3934. He has um um I think he is doing

31:44himself much greater harm when he's

31:46doing now attempting to have a man

31:47executed unjustly. He says indeed men of

31:50Athens I'm far from making defense now

31:51on my own behalf as might be thought but

31:53on yours to prevent you from wrongdoing

31:55by mistreating the god's gift to you by

31:57condemning me. Okay. So we go back to

32:01our you know moves um sheet here the

32:03real Socrates just so we can recap the

32:05points. Um 3A

32:09um the third stage of defense um a

32:11Socrates responds to the objection that

32:13he must have lived shamefully by living

32:14a life in such a way that put his life

32:16at risk in two steps. First he argues

32:18that it's false to assume one live

32:19shamefully by putting one's life in

32:20danger. Right there he just used the

32:23precedence case. He uses Achilles and

32:25other Greek heroes at Troy. And second

32:27he argues that like Achilles and other

32:29Greek heroes he acted honorably by doing

32:31what is right even though he put his

32:32life in danger by doing so.

32:35Okay. And then B, Socrates response to

32:38the possibility of a conditional

32:40quiddle. So Plato creates the

32:43um the conversational possibility,

32:46right, for Socrates

32:48that um uh yeah, the conversational the

32:52speech possibility for Socrates to um

32:56state what the gods ordered him to do by

32:58having Socrates consider the possibility

33:00of a conditional acquitt. Okay. Um, and

33:03if you're looking for that in the text,

33:06that's the um

33:11top of page 34.

33:14Okay.

33:16Um,

33:18so um,

33:22so the conditional quiddle would

33:23basically maintain that if Socrates,

33:25that's why it's called conditional. If

33:26Socrates were to cease practicing

33:28philosophy, then he'd be acquitted.

33:30Well, Socrates says that he would never

33:32cease practicing philosophy. Um, he

33:35would he would die many times over. Um,

33:39so, um, if that were the case, because

33:42he's that committed to following what

33:43the god commands him to do. Socrates

33:46ends up claiming um with in the section

33:49the 3A section um that one could have

33:53called him impious um and the formal

33:57charges could have held against him if

33:59you will um had he um at once in his

34:03life followed the military commander and

34:05then later in his life um um not

34:08followed uh what the gods commanded him

34:11to do um because his life was at risk.

34:14Okay, but he said that's not what he

34:15did. Okay, he believed in the gods. He

34:18trusts the gods uh and does what they

34:20command him to do. Even if that means

34:22his that means that he's in danger,

34:24life's at risk, etc. Okay, and then the

34:28stage four defense, the table turning

34:29move as I sometimes call it uh 4A here.

34:32Socrates ceases defending himself for

34:34the sake of defending Athens. Socrates

34:36senses that Athens is about to try to

34:38kill a person unjustly, to kill an

34:41innocent person. um which is a true

34:43harm.

34:45Socrates makes a surprising claim that

34:47neither Mitus nor Anitis nor nor Lyken

34:50can harm him even if they were to banish

34:51or kill him. And we'll get to that point

34:54a bit later. Okay.

34:57So, a bit of surprising claim. You might

34:59think that one of the most severe ways

35:01you could be harmed is to be killed, for

35:04example.

35:07Okay. So, that's a brief summary of the

35:09sages of Socrates defense. There's a lot

35:11more detail in the text, but I'm just

35:12trying to give you a sense of the text

35:14and hopefully that helps you with

35:15understanding as you as you read through

35:17it. Now, the verdict of Socrates's

35:19sentence, well, a jury of 5001 5001

35:21people found Socrates guilty. Um, he

35:24lost by I think about 60 votes if I

35:25remember from the text um accurately

35:27here. Correct me if I'm wrong about

35:28that. Um, let me know.

35:32So, it may have been a closer vote than

35:34um than many were expecting. Maybe

35:36Socrates was even expecting.

35:39And then he was then he was sentenced to

35:40death. Okay. You know, Socrates had say

35:44had a say in in terms of being able to

35:47offer a proposal for what his sentence

35:50should abandon. He said something like,

35:51"Well, either a small finer or or a

35:55large one." But he has friends with

35:56money, so that wasn't really a problem

35:58for him. He actually kind of in a tongue

36:00and tongue-in-cheek kind of Socratic

36:02irony way I think um which I developed

36:04last time said that um well his penalty

36:08quote unquote penalty should be to be

36:09rewarded and given free meals for the

36:11rest of his days at Pretanium where

36:13Olympic heroes are fed. Okay, imagine

36:16didn't like hearing that.

36:19Um, if you're interested in more on

36:22Socrates's um what happens to Socrates

36:25um

36:27um

36:30um like like as he's last day, you're

36:34interested more about his death, you

36:36could check out Plato's Fedo in the five

36:38dialogues. Um, I don't have it in the

36:41PDF that I provided you. Um, but you

36:44could always likely find a free u uh

36:48source of the Fedo online.

36:51Um, and that's a jail house classic

36:53Plato wrote that captures Socrates's

36:55last day. Okay. He drinks hemlock. So,

36:58in a way, um, Athens forc Socrates to

37:01commit suicide.

37:03Okay. There's another work in the text

37:04that I actually provided you. It's

37:06called the Krio. And that's Socrates's

37:09um uh time in prison where his friend

37:12Kaido comes to him and tries to convince

37:15him to um break out of uh the Athenian

37:18prison he's in to flee uh elsewhere. And

37:21I'll say a bit more about that when we

37:22get to the Mino. So moving on, I want to

37:26just now talk about a few themes from

37:28Plato's apology. A few of the main

37:30philosophical themes of of interest for

37:32us.

37:34So, one, Socrates's philosophical

37:36mission, which we've already touched on

37:38briefly. Socrates's theory of the good

37:41uh or the good life sometimes is put

37:43Socrates on the unexamined life and

37:45Socrates's theory of death. Okay, we're

37:48going to talk about Epicurus's theory of

37:50death when we get there. So, that's one

37:51of the reasons why I'm touching on

37:52Socrates's theory of death. So, let's

37:54just go um through these one by one. U

37:57this won't take too long. I just want to

37:58give you again a sense of what's going

38:00on and encourage you to allow this u

38:04video to help out with understanding the

38:05text. So, um

38:09Socrates is philosophical mission. We

38:11know it's God commanded. So, it's a kind

38:13of like religious uh philosophical

38:16mission. Um I don't think that for

38:18Socrates there's a a strict division or

38:22distinction between philosophy and

38:23religion. Okay. Um, I think that it's

38:28sometimes overstated based on what Plato

38:30says in the UFO about um about piety and

38:36perhaps morality being in some sense

38:38independent of the gods that some have

38:41claimed that Plato and Socrates thought

38:42that religion and philosophy were

38:44separate from each other. U but I don't

38:46think that's the case at all. I just

38:47think that the way in which um

38:50philosophy is separate or the way in

38:52which like ethics or the way in which

38:54morality and piety are distinct or

38:56independent from the gods has to do with

38:58the gods loving the thing in question uh

39:01as determining or making piety or

39:03morality. Okay, I could talk more about

39:05that if you're interested in that in

39:06that topic. But um um I do think that

39:09Socrates's mission is a religious one.

39:11He's quite explicit about it. It's a

39:12it's God commanded. He follows what God

39:15the gods command him to do as a true

39:18believer.

39:20So God is saying that that the god

39:22ordered him to um take up philosophy.

39:25Remember um he's willing to take that to

39:27his death. Okay. He's willing to die for

39:30what the gods command him to do. Okay.

39:33So in a way like it's kind of

39:34interesting you you read the uifer where

39:36you get um an analysis or an attempted

39:39analysis at what piety is. Um um we know

39:44in the end we end up with Apora, right?

39:46But then you read about Socrates's life

39:49in the apology and you see a ver you see

39:52a pious life. Okay, at least

39:56by hypothesis you do, you know, um I

39:58don't think it's a stretch to say that

40:00you see a pious life, but again that'd

40:02be an example of of a pious life. But

40:03what does it mean to live um a a pious

40:06life? We could still then ask the

40:08question of the uifer. Okay. But it's

40:10nice to see sort of be given an example.

40:13Um you know Socrates is someone who is

40:15known for for having lived an exemplary

40:18life at least for many. You know many

40:20people um might disagree with that but

40:23there are many in the tradition as well

40:24who think that Socrates is worth

40:25emulating in various ways.

40:28We know that's also virtue centered. So

40:30Socrates claimed that the gods ordered

40:32Socrates to get people to focus on what

40:34truly matters and that's living a

40:36virtuous life. Okay. So the the passage

40:40from uh the euthiferos um

40:46really good here. This is that this is

40:48where the conditional equivalates

40:55considers it. I think Plato has Socrates

40:56consider it in order to keep the

41:00dialogue going and give some um textual

41:03way of establishing what the god ordered

41:06him to do. And he says, um,

41:10"Men of Athens, I'm grateful."

41:11Hopefully, you can see where I'm reading

41:13from here, where my cursor is at. Men of

41:14Athens, I'm grateful and I'm your

41:16friend. Some some translations that I

41:19love you, but I will obey the God rather

41:21than you. And as long as I draw breath

41:22and I'm able, I shall not cease to

41:23practice philosophy to exhort you and in

41:26my usual way to point out to any one of

41:28you whom I happen to meet, good sir,

41:30you're an Athenian, a citizen of the

41:32greatest city with the greatest

41:32reputation for both wisdom and power.

41:35Are you not ashamed of your eagerness to

41:37possess as much wealth, reputation, and

41:39honors as possible? Or you do not care

41:41for nor give thought to wisdom or truth

41:44or the best possible state of your soul?

41:47Then if one of you disputes this and

41:49says he does care, I shall not let him

41:51go at once or leave him, but I shall

41:54question him, examine him, and test him.

41:56and if I do not think that he has

41:58attained the goodness that he says he

41:59has. So if the person claims that

42:02they're interested in the truth that

42:03they claim that they're interested in

42:04wisdom and the health of their soul and

42:06the the excellence of their soul um if

42:09they're if they're not honest about that

42:12then um Socrates says he will approach

42:15him because he attaches little

42:16importance to those important things and

42:19greater importance to the inferior

42:20things. So he values less the things

42:22that are truly valuable than the things

42:25that are less valuable. I shall treat in

42:28this way anyone I happen to meet young

42:30and old citizen and stranger and more so

42:32to the citizens because you are more

42:34kindred to me like the fellow Athenians

42:37or closer to him

42:39be sure that this is what the god orders

42:41me to do. Okay. And then he goes on to

42:44say this like this is all I'm doing.

42:46Okay. is getting people to care about

42:48Athens in line to care about virtue in

42:50line with um what the God God commands

42:53me to do. What does it mean to care

42:54about virtue? To care about wisdom,

42:58truth, the best possible state of your

43:00soul, having an excellent soul. And he

43:02goes on to say, wealth does not bring

43:04about excellence. Wealth does not bring

43:07about virtue at a healthy soul

43:11but virtue or a healthy soul makes

43:13wealth and everything else good for men

43:15both individually and collectively.

43:18Okay. So in a way does a Socrates

43:20capture something significant to what

43:22many of us believe in the western

43:24tradition?

43:26We value of course, you know, our our

43:29reputation,

43:30worldly success,

43:32having financial means, security and and

43:35things like that, even things related to

43:38how we look and the like. Um, but we

43:42don't care for them, do we? Um, at least

43:45in our finer moments, uh, more than, um,

43:48we don't care for them in the same way

43:50that we care about having excellent

43:53souls, right?

43:55you know, like like our ideal selves or

43:59or more ideal selves or when we're

44:01carefully prioritizing like what we

44:04value, we're going to put being a good

44:08person

44:10uh over and above having a lot of money,

44:13over and above having a strong

44:17reputation,

44:18okay? Like being truly good as a person.

44:22That's what it means to be virtuous.

44:23Think about it. and to care about things

44:26like truth.

44:27Um, we think, don't we, at least many of

44:31us, maybe most of us, more important

44:33than how much money we have in our bank

44:34account.

44:36Okay. So, Socrates here is is putting

44:39emphasis on virtue. He the the term

44:43that's used in our translation is

44:45excellence. Excellence of soul. You

44:48understand that as terms of being like

44:49an excellent person, a good person, an

44:51exemplary person, which I'm guessing

44:55upon reflection, we would all think is

44:57most one of the most important things

44:58that we could possibly do if not the

45:00most important thing that we could do is

45:01focus on just being good people.

45:04Okay, going back to our presentation

45:07here. And it's proof Socrates claims

45:09that um he's lack care for his external

45:12well-being.

45:14Okay. Um, no one in their right mind

45:16would give up the lack of care for one's

45:18external well-being, like whe where

45:21they're going to get food, how much

45:22money they're going to make, whether

45:23they have proper clothing and the rest.

45:26Socrates like he's like, "Look, I'm Raga

45:28Muffin. Um, my friends give me bits of

45:31food to eat from time to time to hold me

45:34over. Um

45:37Um, I don't concern myself with these

45:39matters. I concern myself with what the

45:41God commanded me to do."

45:43So just one look at him and people would

45:44be able to see okay he looks

45:46impoverished. Okay he looks um he looks

45:51like he doesn't care for his external

45:53well-being but he deeply cares about

45:55virtue and doing what the god commanded

45:57him to do. Okay that's the way Plato um

46:02portraits uh Socrates often. Okay.

46:07So that's that's one, right? Going back

46:09to Socrates philosophical mission and

46:11Socrates's theory of the good. Um so

46:14whoops. Um Socrates

46:18um Socrates is part of a long-standing

46:20tradition um that has um focused on um

46:25what makes a life a good one. What makes

46:27um um um a person's life go well for

46:31them in terms of their well-being.

46:33Um

46:35those might not mean the same exact

46:37things depending on the context here but

46:39here we can understand like like living

46:40a good life is one where one has a lot

46:42of well-being. Okay. Um where one is

46:45living a good life for them. Um this is

46:49a central issue in ethics and one that

46:53um at the very least Socrates is a part

46:55of if not to be recognized for um

46:59inaugurating as having this central

47:01significance. again at least in the

47:03western tradition the one that emanates

47:05from the ancient Greek world

47:08um philosophers answer this question or

47:12answer this issue so the the question

47:15here is like what makes a life a good

47:16one okay so philosophers answered this

47:18question the question I just noted by

47:20providing a theory of goodness and a

47:22particular theory of like what's good

47:24for us okay and there could be perfect

47:26overlap between the two there's like a

47:28theory of what's good full stop versus a

47:30theory of what's good for us and those

47:32two just might the same thing. So the

47:35focus is on what's essentially or as we

47:38sometimes put it nowadays intrinsically

47:40good for us. Like what is good by its

47:42very nature for us? Um or what are like

47:45the basic or fundamental um things that

47:48contribute to our lives going well for

47:50us such that we're living a good human

47:51life.

47:53Okay.

47:56And um

47:58on Socrates's view, it's virtue.

48:00Surprise, surprise.

48:02um that is central to living a good

48:04life. In fact, it's the it is the one

48:07thing that's intrinsically good. It's

48:09the one thing that makes other good

48:11things good. So, if you notice the way

48:13Socrates put this uh put the point here,

48:16this is page 34 again um toward the

48:20bottom of the page says again wealth

48:21does not bring about excellence.

48:24Um um but excellence or virtue remember

48:27makes wealth and everything else good.

48:31So that's a strong claim here. There's

48:33one thing that's that's fundamentally

48:35good. That's virtue.

48:37And things that are fundamentally or as

48:40we say intrinsically good, things that

48:41are good by their very nature are things

48:44that make other things good.

48:48Okay. So, um, philosophers have long

48:51been interested in what things are

48:53essentially or intrinsically good

48:55because,

48:57um, those things explain why anything's

49:00good. They'll explain why even things

49:03that we don't consider to be good in

49:04themselves to be good, why they're good

49:06in the first place. Okay? So, the

49:08example here would be virtue makes

49:11wealth good.

49:14How does that work? Well, when when

49:16wealth um contributes to someone

49:19attaining virtue, well, then the wealth

49:22has a derived kind of goodness. It deres

49:24it from the um the virtue that it that

49:28it helped bring about.

49:31Okay. Um and then note what he says here

49:34is, you know, virtue, excellence again

49:37is the term that's used makes wealth and

49:40everything else that's going to be good.

49:42So you know friendship um freedom

49:46um and any other thing that you identify

49:48happiness

49:50um all these all these different things

49:52are going to be good in as much as they

49:53help one attain virtue.

49:56Okay.

49:57So the intrinsic good is virtue and by

50:00attaining it we make our lives better.

50:02All other good things pleasure,

50:04happiness, money, success etc are only

50:07exttrinsically good. Okay. To be

50:10extrinsically good means that um that

50:12the good that the kind of good thing you

50:14are is derivative from something that's

50:17intrinsically good. Okay. It's good

50:20because it helps bring about something

50:21that is um more valuable. Okay. So if

50:25it's helpful thinking about

50:26intrinsically good things as things that

50:28are internally or by their nature good

50:31and exttrinsic goods are things that are

50:34aren't good uh internally or by their

50:36very nature but get their goodness from

50:37something else.

50:39So the money example was maybe the

50:42easiest one to think about at least

50:43initially. Money is something that we

50:45would consider to be good. Um at least

50:48sometimes. When is it good? It's good

50:50when it brings about according to

50:52Socrates virtue when it brings about

50:54something else that's more fundamentally

50:56good.

50:57So that's why we call money an

50:59exttrinsic good as opposed to an

51:01intrinsic one. So that's a theory of the

51:04good. We're going to look at Aristotle's

51:05theory of the good um later in the

51:07course. um a bit later in the course and

51:10also Epicuruses. So we'll come back to

51:11this issue. So if there's any uh any

51:14questions you have again let me know let

51:16me know then but we will be coming back

51:17to this idea of a of a of a theory of

51:19goodness um

51:22moving forward. So now Socrates on the

51:25unexamined life. So many of you have

51:27likely heard about Socrates's claim that

51:29the unexamined life is not worth living.

51:32Um, so

51:36that happens a bit later in the text.

51:38Um,

51:41might not have it underlined or marked.

51:43Don't remember if I do. I don't have my

51:46Oh, yeah. Right here. I don't have my um

51:49marked up text uh in front of me. I left

51:50that in my office on campus. But um

51:53here's here on page uh 41 the first se

51:58uh second uh full paragraph um where

52:01Socrates discusses that again just point

52:03your attention to that. Um and some some

52:06people many of my students at least when

52:08they read this and talk to me about it

52:10they they tend to think that um what

52:11Socrates is claiming is that um we

52:14should just examine our life for the

52:15sake of examining it. So reflect for the

52:18sake of reflection. But that's not what

52:19Socrates means. What he means is that

52:22unless we're examining our values to see

52:24whether they align with living a

52:25virtuous life, our lives aren't worth

52:28living.

52:29Perhaps another way of thinking about it

52:30is that um is that what makes our lives

52:36um properly human and not say anim

52:39animalistic you might if I can put it

52:41that way the life of the animal has that

52:45humans aim for something noble like

52:46virtue as opposed to just a momentto

52:49moment pleasure or something like that

52:51short-term pleasure um game. So a life

52:55where we weren't concerned with valuing

52:58and prioritizing virtue in our life

52:59would be one that's akin to living like

53:02an animal would live. But for a human

53:04being that life really isn't befitting.

53:06Um and so that really that life just

53:08really isn't worth living for us. Okay.

53:12So we have to be clear here that when

53:14Socrates claims that the unexamined life

53:15is not worth living, he's not just

53:17saying it's examine examination for the

53:20sake of examination. Rather, it's a

53:22claim that we examine for the sake of of

53:25of of seeing whether or not our values,

53:28our personal values line up with

53:29objectively valuable things or the or

53:32the objectively valuable thing because

53:34Socrates claims there's one thing that

53:36is most valuable that is a source of all

53:39value and all goodness and that is uh

53:42virtue. living a virtuous life. That

53:44means things like living a wise life, a

53:48just life, a courageous life, a

53:50temperate life, um an honest life, okay?

53:55Uh a generous life, a kind life,

53:59um and these kinds of things, a

54:01hospitable life. Okay.

54:05Okay. So we think about like living a

54:07virtuous life that that usually means

54:09that it's something like we have

54:11developed the character traits that

54:14means that these things just flow from

54:16us. Okay. And of course you can't have

54:18wisdom without having truth. You're wise

54:21about what's true. Okay. Um again think

54:24about courage right? That means

54:26appropriately responding to fear, right?

54:28Where that flows from you such that you

54:30act even when you're in a state of fear,

54:34but you don't act in a rash way, but you

54:36act just the right kind of way with

54:37respect to fear. You act just you give

54:40other people what they deserve and what

54:41they're owed. Um that just flows from

54:45you as it were because you develop the

54:47relevant character traits by practicing,

54:48practicing, practicing. At least that's

54:50a common way of understanding how virtue

54:52gets instilled in us. We practice,

54:53practice, practice such that our

54:55character is formed to respond to our

54:58world in terms of our feelings and our

55:00actions in the right kinds of ways and

55:02the right kinds of moments and etc etc.

55:05Okay, we'll talk a bit more about this

55:08um habitual point about virtue when we

55:10talk about Aristotle and a bit more when

55:12we get to to Epipier as it turns out.

55:16Okay. So, prioritize um virtue. examine

55:19your life to see whether or not you are

55:21really prioritizing being a healthy,

55:24excellent soul person, etc.

55:28Okay. So, so lastly, under the key

55:30themes here, I want to talk about

55:31Socrates's theory of death. So, we're

55:34going to talk about Epicurus's theory of

55:35death soon. So, I want to give you um

55:38Socrates's Socrates's focus is going to

55:40be on whether or not it's rational to

55:42fear death. Um part of uh Epi's focus on

55:46death is that as well. um um but see

55:49they're going to give the same answer

55:51but use different arguments to arrive at

55:53their answer. So they're both going to

55:55say that's irrational to fear death. In

55:57other words, we shouldn't fear death.

55:59Okay. But why um why does Socrates claim

56:03that that's so? He claims that that's so

56:05because we don't know what happens when

56:08we die. We don't know what death brings

56:09for us.

56:11This is interesting um because typically

56:13people cite their fear of death based on

56:15their lack of knowledge. So he turns

56:16that argument on its head.

56:19And this is another interesting point as

56:20as Socrates as we've learned from the

56:22human wisdom story and from thinking

56:24about the euthorratic ignorance.

56:26Socrates claims that he doesn't have the

56:28relevant knowledge or wisdom. Um he

56:31claims that human wisdom is quite

56:32insignificant. Uh being humanly wise

56:35means um knowing that one doesn't have

56:37the relevant philosophical wisdom. Um um

56:41being humanly wise means that you

56:43recognize that only the gods have it.

56:45Perhaps I think that's Socrates's

56:47personal view.

56:49Um but uh Socrates claims that one of

56:54the ways that he's wiser than most one

56:57of so one of the reasons why there

56:59Socrates belongs to the group um of

57:03people who are such that none are wiser

57:05than they um is that uh is that he

57:09recognizes that we shouldn't fear death

57:12because we don't know what death brings

57:14for us. uh Socrates claims that there

57:16are many who think that death is a great

57:18evil. Uh but they believe that without

57:22sufficient evidence, without sufficient

57:25thinking about the topic, they cite the

57:28lack of knowledge about what about what

57:30happens when we die. Um but Socrates

57:33says we can turn that argument on its

57:34head. So that precisely it gives us

57:35precisely the reason not to fear it.

57:38Okay.

57:42So you know um Socrates just to say one

57:46one last thing here about um that human

57:48wisdom story that you're going to come

57:49across is um you know when Socrates's

57:52friend Kafon comes back to him and says

57:54hey the oracle says that there's none

57:55wiser than you um uh Socrates wants to

57:59interpret the oracle as saying that

58:00Socrates is one among um um perhaps many

58:04who come to realize that um that they

58:08don't have the relevant philosophical

58:09knowledge and it's that that makes

58:11Socrates wiser than others

58:14and is also going to be what makes

58:16others um who also recognize us wiser

58:19than others. So the way I read the text

58:21is that Socrates is claiming that um

58:24he's really just tied for the wisest.

58:27He's tied for the wisest with those who

58:29have the same kind of um you might say

58:32um humility with respect to what they

58:34know. Okay? They're aware of their their

58:37knowledge limitations.

58:39Okay.

58:41Um, so now just some concluding thoughts

58:43here. Um, so Socrates, he makes several

58:46final points after he learns about his

58:47penalty, death penalty. So he's going to

58:50be capitalally punished by way of

58:51drinking hemlock. Um, he says being

58:54killed won't bring him harm.

58:57So he he he tends to think that um being

59:00killed means um being made physically

59:02dead. It's it's so he understands um

59:05killing is entailing dying or death but

59:08death is just physical death. The soul

59:10is going to go on. So killing him

59:12doesn't harm him because he is a thing

59:14that goes on. So there's this kind of

59:17this view that Socrates has that that

59:20seems to be presupposed in the text that

59:22that um that he's not his body. Okay,

59:26he's the um the soul and the soul is

59:29what's going to go on and continue

59:30existing even though he doesn't know

59:32what's going to happen. It could be like

59:33a dreamless sleep or could be such that

59:35he continues practicing philosophy and

59:37hanging out with great poets and the

59:38like in the afterlife. Okay, those are a

59:41couple of possibilities he canvases

59:42claiming not to know which possibility

59:44is true. So being killed won't bring him

59:46any harm. Um so even if you weren't to

59:49have been killed, if you were to have

59:50been banished or disenfranchised, he

59:52couldn't vote or something like that. um

59:55um that wouldn't have harmed either

59:56because these are just sort of earthly

59:58physical harms, not soul harms. And

1:00:00Socrates thinks that the only way that

1:00:02you can be harmed, like the only way he

1:00:04could be harmed is if his soul were

1:00:07harmed. The only way that I could be

1:00:08harmed or you could be harmed is if your

1:00:10soul is harmed. And how is your soul

1:00:12harmed? You're made corrupt. You're made

1:00:14more vicious. You're made wicked. Okay?

1:00:17And Socrates claims that um that the

1:00:20good person, the person who strives to

1:00:22live a virtuous life, the person who's

1:00:24living the unexamined life and and and

1:00:26doing so in the right kind of way is

1:00:28someone the gods will look out for and

1:00:31the gods will protect you from the vice

1:00:33and the wickedness. Okay? So again, this

1:00:36is where we see some theology, more

1:00:38theology, more religion built into

1:00:40Socrates's philosophical worldview.

1:00:43And two, his followers will keep his

1:00:45message alive. I note this one because

1:00:48he also does claim that those who

1:00:50indicted him um and those who convicted

1:00:53him in the jury, those who found him

1:00:55guilty and all the rest like they're to

1:00:57blame. But he does claim this is follow

1:01:00his message alive. So he's not concerned

1:01:01with his message of being lost. And we

1:01:03can say this now, can't we? Here we are

1:01:052025.

1:01:07Um this was 2500 years ago roughly and

1:01:10we're still talking about Socrates's

1:01:12life. Now, the apology isn't a

1:01:15transcript of what happened at

1:01:16Socrates's trial. It's Plato's

1:01:20fictional work, maybe capturing the

1:01:21spirit of what happened at the trial to

1:01:23some degree, giving a sense who Socrates

1:01:25was, who what he wasn't, what what kind

1:01:26of philosophy he was and the like. Um um

1:01:30but still like Plato wrote about

1:01:33Socrates and it has withtood the test of

1:01:36time, withtood the test of philosophical

1:01:38time. Okay. So when Socrates claims that

1:01:41his followers would keep his message

1:01:42alive, he wasn't kidding. Okay, he was

1:01:44right. That was a prophecy that came

1:01:46true.

1:01:48And then he he he concludes um after

1:01:51arranging for his kids to be taken or

1:01:53asking for arrangements of for his kids

1:01:55to be taken care of, which is kind of

1:01:56interesting because here he is at 70

1:01:58years old on trial in Athens, yet he has

1:02:01children who be taken care of. Okay,

1:02:03I'll set that aside. Um uh he writes uh

1:02:06he says those who those present at the

1:02:08trial will go on to live. So members of

1:02:10the jury and all other observers are

1:02:12going to go on to live. Well, he goes to

1:02:14die. Um um but nobody but he claims

1:02:18nobody knows who has a better future.

1:02:19Only the god knows. So nobody human

1:02:21knows, nobody earthly knows, but the god

1:02:25uh the gods know.

1:02:27And that's the concluding thought. Okay.

1:02:29So now um in the course we're going to

1:02:32turn our attention if I'm right to yeah

1:02:34Plato's Mino. And there um we'll do

1:02:37something similar to what we did here

1:02:38with the apologies. We'll do some

1:02:39summary work with some of the some of

1:02:42the um key um summary moves in the text

1:02:45and then we'll focus on um a few key

1:02:48topics like we did here. Um and those

1:02:51topics are going to um be be related to

1:02:53thinking about um uh uh what virtue is

1:02:56and its relationship to knowledge or

1:02:59wisdom a kind of knowledge. Um so that

1:03:03discussion the the connection between

1:03:06virtue and knowledge trying to

1:03:07understand virtue in terms of knowledge

1:03:09takes place in the second half of the

1:03:11dialogue if you wanted to give special

1:03:13attention to that while you're uh

1:03:15reading the text. I'm going to go ahead

1:03:17and stop um sharing here. I'm going to

1:03:19sign off and wish you all well. Be sure

1:03:22to be in touch with any questions you

1:03:23have about anything that I've said. I'm

1:03:24happy to clarify. Um, take care and have

1:03:27a good one. Bye-bye.