Philosophy Case

In Plato’s Five Dialogues, there are many philosophical questions that are asked and interpreted through the character of Socrates; some, however, are much more intriguing and intellectual than others. Throughout the five separate sections of this book, questions are asked and arguments are sorted out as Socrates goes about his life. The one argument that I found very intriguing and interesting is in the Apology when his earlier and later accusers are prosecuting Socrates. The exact argument is after the Oracle at Delphi tells Chaerephon that there is no man any wiser than Socrates. This argument is very relevant to the dialogue because the Apology is his defense against his accusers. His goal is to show the jurymen that what he is doing by questioning is actually helping humanity in general, not corrupting them. The analysis of this argument will later help to understand why Socrates goes around and questions people until they can no longer go through with what they believe in. Also, it will help readers to understand the solution that Socrates draws at the end of the argument. This argument is very important to the rest of the Apology because it sets up the rest of the process of his defense.

The argument begins when Chaerephon, a friend of Socrates from his youth, goes to the Oracle at Delphi and decided to ask if any man was wiser than Socrates was. The Oracle responded and said that, “ no man was wiser” (Apology, 21a). This response puzzles Socrates completely, and he begins to wonder what the Oracle exactly meant; he understands that the Oracle can’t lie, but he still can’t comprehend what it meant by the “wisest.” Socrates finally came to the conclusion that the only thing to do is to try to refute the Oracle by finding a person that is wiser than he is and proving it. He begins by going to a politician and tries to examine him, saying that the following happened:

I thought that he appeared wise to many people and especially to himself, but he was not. I then tried to show him that he thought himself wise, but that he was not. I withdrew and thought to myself: “I am wiser than this man; it is likely that neither of us knows anything worthwhile, but he thinks he knows something when he does not, whereas when I do not know, neither do I think I know.” (Apology, 21c-d).

Socrates tried to show the politician that, in fact, he doesn’t know anything. However, the politician got mad and tried to defend himself, just like every one of Socrates’s previous candidates. Socrates concluded that he is wiser because he can at least admit that he doesn’t know something when he doesn’t know, unlike the politician.

After Socrates finished with the politician, he decided to move on to the poets in the city. His thoughts were that the poets must be wiser than he was if they were able to write such intricate poems with knowledge. He decided to pick the poems that gave him or her the most trouble and