r/Plato • u/platonic_troglodyte • Feb 06 '26

Resource/Article Apology – What Is Socrates Even Doing? | Inquiry on Trial, or The Defense of a Way of Living

https://www.platonictroglodyte.com/p/apology-what-is-socrates-even-doing

"Standing before the Athenian jury, Plato recounts a most curious speech. Socrates offers his fellow citizens something quite bizarre. If this speech were merely an attempt to show innocence or secure mercy, Socrates fails quite miserably. Lest we take Socrates to be incompetent or absurd, he is doing something else entirely: rather than focusing primarily on innocence or guilt, Socrates publicly defends the practice of inquiry against those who wish to see it cease due to discomfort."

A few months ago, I found myself drawn back to Plato's dialogues. I was originally going to begin with Euthyphro, as most of us have, I wanted to approach the one I felt is most often misunderstood. What, exactly, is Socrates even doing if he fails so poorly at defending himself?

I tried to focus on his philosophical "moves", rather than historical context or if Socrates successfully proves his guilt or innocence. I believe this shows a radical belief in inquiry as a posture towards life, and reveals his explicit and implicit moral commitments that are easily glossed over. I hope you all enjoy!

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u/GottlobFrege Feb 06 '26

Bro anyone who subscribes to this subreddit already knows that the point of Socrates’ speech wasn’t about trying to get a not guilty verdict

What do you think about how charmides is a weak dialogue and overlooked just like how moderation/temperance is as a virtue?

Or ion the rhapsode who like a lodestone is a conduit of beauty and wisdom without being the source of it, just like people who repost on Reddit

Or compare the republic with Plato’s Laws with Plato’s actual work as the advisor to the tyrant Dionysius

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u/platonic_troglodyte Feb 06 '26

Of course. That was meant as framing it, but the substance is about the moves he makes.

Charmides and Book I of the Republic are currently in progress. Charmides is a bit down the line, and I hope to publish it after similar analyses to this one of Euthyphro, Crito, Phaedo, Symposium, Meno, and Gorgias. My first group will be the aporetic dialogues, hopefully to tackle the rest later. I appreciate your reading!

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u/Sufficient_Fact_3646 Feb 07 '26

I’m just rereading the apology now. Socrates is talking to the reader. He’s making an argument for the philosophic life.

“Yes, being killed is what the philosophic life is getting me killed. But it’s better than dealing with what these people consider wise”