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Socrates' Understanding of His Trial: the Political Presentation of Philosophy

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Socrates' Understanding of His Trial: the Political Presentation of Philosophy View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by eScholarship@BC Socrates' Understanding of his Trial: The Political Presentation of Philosophy Author: Kazutaka Kondo Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/3926 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2011 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Political Science SOCRATES’ UNDERSTANDING OF HIS TRIAL: THE POLITICAL PRESENTATION OF PHILOSOPHY a dissertation by KAZUTAKA KONDO submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2011 © copyright by KAZUTAKA KONDO 2011 Abstract Socrates’ Understanding of his Trial: The Political Presentation of Philosophy Kazutaka Kondo Dissertation Advisor: Robert C. Bartlett This dissertation investigates how Socrates understands his trial. It is a well-known fact that Socrates is accused of impiety and corruption of the young and is subsequently executed. Unlike an ordinary defendant who is supposed to make every effort to be acquitted, Socrates, behaving provocatively, seems even to induce the death penalty. By reading Plato’s and Xenophon’s works, this dissertation clarifies his thoughts on the trial that must be the basis of his conduct and explains how he achieves his aim. To deal with Socrates’ view of the trial as a whole, this study examines three questions. First, does he believe in his own innocence? I argue that before and even at the trial, Socrates does not intend to prove his innocence effectively. He does not reveal his belief clearly, but at least it is clear that to be acquitted is not his primary purpose. Second, what does Socrates want to achieve at the trial? Socrates’ primary purpose is to demonstrate his virtue in public. His speech that provocatively emphasizes his excellence as a benefactor of the city enables him to be convicted as a wise and noble man rather than as an impious corrupter of the young. Third, why does he refuse to escape from jail? I argue that by introducing the speech that defends the laws of the city, Socrates makes himself appear to be a supremely law-abiding citizen who is executed even when escape is possible. This study maintains that Socrates vindicates his philosophy before the ordinary people of Athens by making a strong impression of his moral excellence and utility to others. His presentation of philosophy makes it possible that being convicted and executed are compatible with appearing virtuous and being respected. Socrates promotes his posthumous reputation as a great philosopher, and thus secures the life of philosophy after his death by mitigating the popular hostility against him and philosophy as such. Socrates’ understanding of his trial leads us to his idea of the nature of philosophy and the city, and of their ideal relationship. This dissertation is therefore an introduction to Socratic political philosophy. Table of Contents Acknowledgments page iii Introduction 1 PART ONE: SOCRATES’ UNDERSTANDING OF THE INDICTMENT Chapter 1: Plato’s Gorgias (521a-522e) 8 Chapter 2: Plato’s Euthyphro (2a-3e) 17 Chapter 3: Plato’s Apology of Socrates (24b-28b) 27 The Altered Indictment (24b-c) 27 The Corruption Charge (24c-26b) 29 The Impiety Charge (26b-28a) 35 Conclusion 44 PART TWO: SOCRATES’ ACHIEVEMENT AT THE TRIAL Chapter 4: Xenophon’s Apology of Socrates to the Jury 46 The Purpose of Xenophon’s Work (1) 46 Conversation with Hermogenes before the Trial (2-9) 51 Socrates’ Conduct at the Trial (10-23) 61 Socrates’ Remarks after the Judgment (24-26) 73 Incidents after the Trial (27-31) 77 Conclusion (32-34) 78 Chapter 5: Plato’s Apology of Socrates 81 The First Speech (17a-28b) 82 Prooemium (17a-18a) 82 Prothesis (18a-19a) 86 Defense against the First Accusers (19a-24b) 91 Defense against the Later Accusers (24b-28b) 109 Digression (28b-34b) 121 Epilogue (34b-35d) 150 The Second Speech (35e-38b) 155 The Third Speech (38c-42a) 167 Conclusion 179 i PART THREE: SOCRATES’ REFUSAL TO ESCAPE Chapter 6: Plato’s Crito 184 Opening Scene (43a-44b) 185 Crito’s Persuasion (44b-46a) 191 Socrates’ Principles (46b-50a) 196 The Speech of the Laws (50a- 54d) 207 Conclusion (54d-e) 224 Conclusion 228 Bibliography 235 ii Acknowledgments I am grateful to the Department of Political Science at Boston College. The faculty provided great courses that broadened my insights on political science in general. Its financial support enabled me to accomplish my graduate study, and the Ernest Fortin Memorial Foundation summer grant gave me an opportunity to develop my Greek at University of California, Berkeley. I wish to thank the four members of the dissertation committee. Robert C. Bartlett generously read my manuscript and gave me thoughtful comments every week. The pleasant conversation with him motivated me to advance my project. Christopher Kelly offered gentle but radical comments based on his profound knowledge that stimulated my thoughts. Robert Faulkner always encouraged me cheerfully and fairly criticized my work. Charles Ahern from the Department of Classics kindly accepted my request that he join the committee and supported my reading of Greek texts. Susan Shell and Nasser Behnegar have supported my study of political philosophy at Boston College. Shozo Iijima, Hiromi Kai, Amy Nendza, Benjamin Lorch, and Nao Saito read a part of manuscript. Their suggestions and criticism improved my work. Brenna McMahon helped me study Aristotle by reading his Rhetoric with me. Finally, my understanding of classical political philosophy is greatly indebted to the classes of Christopher Bruell and discussion with him. I learned from him what the philosophical spirit is. iii Introduction The central question of this dissertation is this: How does Socrates understand his trial? With this guiding question, this study analyzes Socrates’ conduct based on his view of the trial, and its purpose is to explain his elusive behavior there. The riddle of the trial that our investigation should focus on arises from Socrates’ choice of his conduct. It is a well-known fact that Socrates ends his life as the result of capital punishment. He is accused of corrupting the young and disbelieving in the gods of the city. At the trial he is found guilty, and then in jail he accepts the execution even though he has a chance to escape. This is the way in which he ends his life. Furthermore, it is also a fact that at the trial Socrates does not behave like an ordinary defendant who is supposed to be eager for being acquitted and to proclaim his innocence as persuasively as possible. Indeed, Socrates’ conduct at the trial that leads to the end of his life makes the trial extremely confusing; he seems to fail to prove his innocence, and, moreover, by presenting himself provocatively he even seems to be found guilty intentionally. The trial of Socrates is then not simply an incident in which Socrates is convicted by his fellow citizens, but also a stage on which he intentionally offers a public demonstration of himself in a strange manner. The issue is what Socrates thinks and does. These thoughts and actions cause the result of the trial, conviction and execution. What does he, given his view of the trial, achieve, and what is his true purpose? Answering these questions is the object of our study. This is a study of Socrates’ conduct and understanding as a figure in literature. First, 1 it is a study of the literary Socrates, not of the historical Socrates, since the incidents concerning the trial that we know about are primarily described in the literary works on Socrates written by Plato and Xenophon. As Thomas West says, it is not the historical Socrates, but Socrates in literature who has made history. 1 We then refrain from speculating about what actually happened at the trial as a historical event. Although it is possible that things in Plato and Xenophon actually happened historically, we have no way of confirming it. Second, this is a study of Socrates’ conduct and his reasoning. We then refrain from making our own judgment on whether or not Socrates was rightly executed by the jury in terms of the Athenian laws. For example, we do not vindicate Socrates as an innocent man killed due to the prejudice of the Athenians, nor criticize Socrates as an anti-democrat who deserves the death penalty. For the correctness or incorrectness of the verdict does not explain why Socrates behaves in a certain way. Instead, it is more important that his conduct must be based on his understanding of the incident: his view of the indictment, verdict, the relationship between philosopher and the city, and his duty in the city. One’s conduct is led by thought, and Socrates’ thought can be analyzed by interpreting the writings that have immortalized Socrates. This dissertation, then, focuses on Socrates’ own understanding as the basis of his conduct as described in the works of Plato and Xenophon. This is an appropriate way to approach Socrates at the trial, and to explain his puzzling behavior depicted in selected literature. The final goal of this study is to demonstrate that Socrates does not regard the trial as 1 “I have not entered into the question of what happened at the trial of the ‘historical’ Socrates because that question is unanswerable and, I believe, not very important. What matters for us is Plato’s portrayal of the event, for it is Plato’s Socrates who has truly made history. The Apology of Socrates is above all a philosophic document.
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