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Apology
Plato
Classical Greek · Beginner
The essential doorway into Socrates: short, dramatic, and still the clearest statement of philosophy as a risk taken in public.
Plato · first circulated c. 399–387 BCE
Free edition: Apology, translated by Benjamin Jowett (1817 to 1893). Public domain.
Main ideas
- Socrates’ defence of philosophical questioning before an Athenian jury.
- The examined life set above reputation, safety and acquittal.
- A public account of ignorance as moral and intellectual discipline.
Important themes
TrialQuestioningCivic courage
Reading context
Plato's version of the speech Socrates gave at his trial in 399 BCE, before a jury of several hundred Athenians. Whether it records what was said or what should have been said is an open question.
How to approach it
Read it in one sitting; it is short. Notice that he does not really defend himself: he defends a way of living, and accepts the verdict rather than the charge.