Socrates' crime
Socrates often goes to the streets to debate philosophy with others. The method of his discussion is very unique, which is called "Socratic dialogue". He often asks others a seemingly naive question, such as "What is brave", and is modest (I don't know if it is true or not), and then continues to ask questions along the answer. Without a few back and forth, his answer is bound to be full of loopholes. Unlike other philosophers, he doesn't want to put forward a set of views on a certain topic. On the contrary, his philosophy aims to make people realize their ignorance by asking questions and questions. He has a famous saying that can sum up his philosophical attitude: "The only thing I know is nothing." So we can see that his humility actually comes from his consciousness of ignorance, and his "arrogance" in the eyes of others also comes from frankly exposing others' ignorance.
Then Socrates is a notoriously annoying "old man". What crime did he commit and be executed? When the Athenians tried Socrates, they mainly accused him of two crimes: "bewitching the youth" and "not worshiping the Athenian gods". Nowadays, many people can't take this crime seriously. This crime is largely an "unwarranted" crime. Interestingly, Socrates still denied this accusation in a philosophical way in his defense.
What is the charge of "confusing teenagers"? Is naughty Socrates vulgar to the point of "teaching bad children" in the street? Of course not. He just has a consistent philosophical discussion with young people. In fact, Socrates also knows that this crime is not the real reason for his accusation at all, and educating young people has never been their real concern. In fact, once we study this crime carefully, we will know the deep reason of Socrates' death: politics.
Touch the sensitive nerve of "the city of freedom"
Socrates' trial took place after the peak of Athens, and Socrates' death was actually a sign of Athens' decline.
Shortly before the trial, Athens was defeated by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War (A.D. 43 1404), and then the new ruler "Thirty Tyrants" closely related to Sparta brutally ruled Athens for about a year, trying to transform Athens democracy into oligarchy. In the process, a large number of opponents were killed and expelled, and the war also brought plague and financial difficulties to Athens.
Then, after overthrowing the "thirty tyrants", Athens painfully restored democracy. After being defeated and ruled by "low culture" for more than 20 years, fatigue, humiliation and resentment are probably the common feelings of Athenians. In this state, it is probably difficult for people to tolerate Socratic existence with a tolerant attitude-a "gadfly" who likes to challenge everyone.
In addition to the "arrogance" of "Socratic dialogue", Socrates' philosophy has another feature, which is to expose him to dangerous people. Compared with other philosophers, Socrates especially likes to discuss the issues of good, evil and morality. It is not difficult to understand that Socrates can not always discuss things that ordinary people think are "unrealistic", such as the origin of the universe or logical paradox, but can arouse the interest of ordinary people, of course, about the right and wrong behavior.
But doing so actually makes people wonder what his intention is-"Why should we challenge our common sense?" "Aren't these views the values of the Athenians?" Some conspiracy theories that suspect him of ulterior motives naturally have a good market: Socrates is the enemy of Sparta. This conspiracy theory is particularly shocking because it seems to explain many things, such as why he survived under the rule of the "Thirty Tyrants" and his disgusting behavior. He is probably an ideological poison hired by Sparta a long time ago!
Under this conspiracy theory, the crime of "confusing teenagers" can be understood. Aristophanes, a famous Greek comedian, once described a group of young people close to Sparta's political views as "Socratic" in his play Birds (AD 4 14). It can be seen that Socrates' philosophy has been characterized as "treason" in a sensitive political atmosphere. Coupled with the religious reasons mentioned above, Socrates is now apostasy and treason, and the crime is enough to be executed.
Athenian contempt: clowns and "children"
In fact, many Athenians have long despised Socrates, except for some accusations of inciting public sentiment. Aristophanes once described Socrates as a clown in another earlier drama, Clouds (AD 423), which made the Athenians laugh. Socrates also mentioned in his defense that the play described him as "walking fast and full of nonsense." In the play, Socrates is in a basket. The closer the basket is to the ground, the more confused his mind becomes.
The Athenians despised not only Socrates, but also philosophy. It is not difficult to find clues to this phenomenon from Plato's works. Plato stuffed those popular negative thoughts into the mouths of different interlocutors. For example, in gorgias:
Philosophy is a very attractive thing if people dabble in it when they are young. But if he spends a lot of time studying it afterwards, it will destroy anyone ... just like when I see a child biting his tongue and playing tricks, I will enjoy it ... but hearing an adult do the same thing makes people feel ridiculous and unmanly, and should whip him.
Another example is in the Republic:
People who love philosophy ... who stay in it for a long time, the metropolis becomes quite strange. We're not saying they're completely bad, but ... they're useless to the polis.
In short, at that time, the public thought that philosophers were "kids" who had no social experience, no contribution and kept showing off their cleverness.
Threaten not to compromise, not afraid of death.
In fact, Socrates had many opportunities to avoid death, but he didn't make any strategic compromises and concessions, and he was always loyal to his consistent beliefs.
When Socrates was tried, the jury was composed of Athenian citizens and decided by lot. There are about 500 people, and the punishment is decided directly by the jury, not by the judge today.
In court, Socrates knew that if he softened his attitude and spoke respectfully to the jury, the chances of winning the case would be greatly increased, but he did the opposite and only said what he thought was right. Before the verdict, he said:
I aroused some strong hostility. If anything can destroy me, it is hostility, not those who accuse me, but the slander and jealousy of a large group of people. These slanders and jealousies have killed many people and will continue in the future. They won't stop after they hit me.
However, some people also asked, "Don't you regret choosing the road that brings the danger of death penalty?" Socrates explicitly told him:
My friend, if you think that a valuable person should spend his time on life and death, you are wrong. Before doing anything, he only needs to consider one thing: the right or wrong of his behavior. Does he look like a bad guy or a good guy?
After being convicted, Socrates has another chance to avoid death, that is, when the plaintiff proposes the death penalty, Socrates, as the defendant, can propose to replace it with another penalty, and then the jury decides which one to adopt. However, Socrates actually said:
Ladies and gentlemen, I propose that I should get some rewards ... The truly fair punishment is that my livelihood is borne by the state ... Maybe you think I am willful. No, I'm sure I didn't hurt anyone. ...
In fact, everyone thought that Socrates proposed to replace the death penalty with exile, but in the end Socrates just wanted to replace the death penalty with some borrowed money. And asked him to spend the rest of his life quietly and never go to the streets to discuss this proposal. He said:
If I told you that it is the best thing a person can do to discuss topics such as kindness every day and reflect on himself and others, and that life without reflection is not worth living, you would not believe it.
Socrates' last chance to die was when he was waiting for a verdict in prison. A friend offered him a way to escape from Athens. But he sternly refused, thinking that since he accepted the laws of Athens, he must abide by them to the end. Socrates' attitude is nothing more than adhering to a big principle: people should be loyal to what is just and not be afraid of death.
The haze after death: anti-polis system and keeping our sanity
A philosopher was loyal to the cause of philosophy, challenged people's common sense and authoritative views, and was finally executed by a group of ignorant people. Today, this is admirable, but it is a very hurtful event. Plato knew Socrates when he was young. He was his teacher and friend. What will he think of it?
On the one hand, Socrates taught him the last lesson, teaching everyone to uphold justice even in the face of the threat of death. On the other hand, the wrong judgment of the court ruined the life of one of his friends, which is also a painful example of the failure of Athenian city-state democracy.
Socrates seems to believe in the democratic spirit of Athens, trying to convince people in the street and in court. Finally, even if democracy took his life, he always chose to obey it. However, after this incident, Plato slowly embarked on a different path from Socrates.
Plato left Athens after Socrates' death and traveled around the world, passing through Egypt, Sicily and Italy. I studied mathematics with Pythagoras, and I also went to war in the army. Finally, he returned to Athens and founded the Academy. Soon after, he wrote the dialogue "Republic", which clearly discussed the position of anti-Athens city-state. I can't say too much about the details here.
It is worth mentioning that Plato's view of the people is extremely negative and regards it as a scourge. Plato also thinks that philosophers should leave politics, live a comfortable life and save themselves in the real corrupt politics. Plato wrote:
He doesn't want to do evil together, and he has no ability to compete with all wild animals. Before he helped the polis and his friends, he was dead and useless to himself and others. After considering all this, he kept silent and did his own thing. Just like in a storm, he hid behind the wall to avoid the dust brought by the wind.
Contrary to Socrates' attitude, in the face of dangerous group feelings and city-state atmosphere, Plato believes that we should not try to convince the masses, but should avoid threats to life. Since then, self-help in troubled times has become a wise man's choice. This seems to echo Aristotle's moral philosophy based on personal happiness. It seems reasonable to say that this thought is a philosophical haze left by Socrates' death.