The Bleak Political Implications of Socratic Religion Also by Shadia B. Drury Aquinas and Modernity: The Lost Promise of Natural Law (2008) The Political Ideas of Leo Strauss (Updated Edition, 2005) Terror and Civilization: Christianity, Politics and the Western Psyche (2004) Leo Strauss and the American Right (1998) Kojève and the Roots of Postmodern Politics (1994) Chauvinism of the West (in progress) Shadia B. Drury The Bleak Political Implications of Socratic Religion Shadia B. Drury Department of Philosophy & Classics and Department of Politics and International Studies University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada ISBN 978-3-319-54441-0 ISBN 978-3-319-54442-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-54442-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017940635 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration © iStock / Getty Images Plus Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland In memory of my beloved J. Dennis Drury PREFACE Ever since his death by hemlock in 399 BCE, Socrates has been lionized as a fount of wisdom, virtue, and intellectual freedom—a whirlwind of insight whose philosophical prodding thrust humanity to unprecedented intellectual heights as well as spiritual depths. By subjecting conventional opinions to the tribunal of reason, he forced the West to transcend the puerile polytheism of Homer in favor of a moral vision that was loftier, more advanced, and more sublime. In the most shameful and cowardly act imaginable, Socrates was unjustly condemned to death by an ignorant Athenian mob, harboring a venomous aversion to his genius and his goodness. The death of Socrates was a backlash against the Greek Enlightenment by men who were eager to preserve the childish myths and superstitions of their society. However, they miscalculated, and lived to regret their dastardly deed: Socrates died a martyr for truth, reason, and morality. With the indispensable help of Plato, he bequeathed to the West a new and more responsible conception of the self, a new and more sophisticated conception of the good, and a new and more “advanced” conception of the divine. So the story goes. This is the legend of Socrates, created by Plato (and echoed through the ages) that this book sets out to challenge. Those who follow Plato in valorizing Socrates have never explained the supreme historical enigma that is concealed by the legend. How can a sage who was pious and good be so closely associated with a treasonous opportunist such as Alcibiades who betrayed his city and contributed to her defeat in the Peloponnesian War? How can a sage who preached the supreme value of the moral life, and the importance of caring for the soul, vii viii PREFACE have among his most intimate students and friends the likes of Critias and Charmides, the bloodthirsty leaders of the Thirty Tyrants who launched a reign of terror in Athens after her defeat in the Peloponnesian War? How can these criminal thugs (both relatives of Plato) appear in the dialogues without a word about the dastardly role they played in the history of Athens? It cannot be irrelevant to discover that the closest associates of a man who dedicated his life to the moral improvement of the soul were guilty of criminal treachery and wickedness on a grand scale. It is not simply the case that some of the students of Socrates suffered from the vices that afflict ordinary mortals. No. Men such as Alcibiades surpassed ordinary humanity in ambition, cunning, lust, and self-absorption. Men such as Critias and Charmides surpassed all tyrants known to ancient historians in cruelty, violence, and murderous brutality. So, it is not simply that Socrates failed to teach virtue. The source of the mystery is that he failed so spectacularly. Anyone who is willing to attend to the historical facts of the case will soon realize that Plato’s legend cannot begin to explain this enigma. On the contrary, Plato’s dialogues unwittingly legitimize the case for the prosecution. When the religious and political ideas that Plato attributes to Socrates are taken together, it is easy to see how they could inspire political extremism. The purpose of this book is twofold. First, to make sense of the case for the prosecution by showing that Plato’s legend is divorced from the historical events surrounding the trial. The incriminating evidence—poli- tical as well as religious is overwhelming, and Plato’s defense is inadequate. Indeed, Plato’s own dialogues legitimize the case for the prosecution, because the totalitarian ideas of Plato’s later dialogues cannot be separated from the ideas attributed to Socrates in the early dialogues—for they are the logical consequences of Socratic ideas. It is not difficult to see how the ardor, intolerance, and intemperance of these ideas could incite political violence and extremism. The second objective of this book is to tackle Plato’s defense on its own terms. Plato’s defense of Socrates fails to address the issues head on. Instead, Plato turns the trial into a contest of ideas. He defends Socrates by arguing that the wisdom of Socrates was infinitely superior to the political naiveté and religious puerility of his contemporaries. I will argue that Plato’s critique of Homer and the tragic poets is untenable. Their religious, moral, and political perspectives contain a degree of sobriety and moderation that have been eclipsed by Socratic innovations. It is my PREFACE ix contention that the legend that Plato has created around Socrates has succeeded only because the ideas that Plato attributes to Socrates have triumphed in the history of the West. The point of this book is to argue that this triumph has been unfortunate and deleterious. Section 1, “The Political Case Against Socrates,” examines the histor- ical context in which Socrates is tried and convicted. Socrates was not prosecuted because he disagreed with the democratic principles of the regime. He was not killed by the envy and resentment of the democratic mob. He was prosecuted because he was the teacher of Alcibiades, Critias, and Charmides. Three men who played leading roles in the defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War, the oligarchic coup of 404 BCE, and the reign of terror that followed. The prosecution was not motivated so much by revenge, as by fear for the future of Athens, in view of his radicalizing influence and its potentially calamitous results. Section 2, “The Religious Case Against Socrates,” examines the charge of impiety in the context of Greek civil religion. Impiety is generally connected to actions, and is therefore distinct from both athe- ism and heresy. Were it not for the fact that members of his inner circle were accused and convicted of disfiguring the Herms (statues of the god Hermes) and profaning the Eleusinian Mysteries in 415 BCE, the reli- gious innovations of Socrates might have been treated with neglect. However, in view of what has transpired, the suspicion that his religious teaching incited the violence and treachery of the notorious members of the Socratic circle was only natural. The key to understanding the reli- gious ideas of Socrates is Plato’s Euthyphro, where the radically subver- sive Socratic conception of piety is revealed. Equally important is the influence of Orphism—the earliest of the mystery religions. The fact is that the religious ideas of Socrates have triumphed so completely in the West that it is difficult to see how lethal that triumph has been, and continues to be. Section 3, “The Defense,” focuses on those aspects of Plato and Xenophon’s defense of Socrates that are relevant to the historical circum- stances of the trial: the edict of the Thirty Tyrants, the case of Leon of Salamis, the case of the generals in the battle of Arginusae, Socrates’ refusal to escape, and more. Despite the inadequacy of Plato’s Apology, the legend of Socrates has not diminished thanks to the beguiling tropes that Plato has used to cement the legend of the innocent sage persecuted by the mob—the parable of the ship, the medical analogy, the care of the soul, the Socratic paradox—are all seriously flawed. x PREFACE Section 4, “How Plato Legitimizes the Case for the Prosecution,” explains how reading Plato’s dialogues—especially the Symposium, Protagoras, and Laws—in light of the historical facts, allows us to see the legitimacy of the case for the prosecution. Scholars have long assumed that there is a dichotomy between the early dialogues influenced by Socrates, and the later dialogues in which Plato expresses his own ideas—ideas that are supposedly at odds with Socrates.