What do you think of Socrates?

I've been traveling unexpectedly and my posts have been a bit spotty. They are likely to remain so for the remainder of my travels.

I finished the Dialogs of Plato (Apology and Crito) and have been mulling them over the last few days. Although I’ve read them before, it’s as if I saw them as a witness this time. Socrates was a great man, true. However I think he was not wise. Why do I say this, when his words have shaped much of the thinking of the Western World? He had many good things to teach but he took joy in humiliating others. Under the guise of “finding a truly wise man” he backed men of power and authority into a corner to make them look foolish. Eventually, he met his match, which literally stopped him dead in his tracks. We ought to be able to participate in dialog about various issues, true. But it isn’t wise to “prove people wrong” or to make them appear foolish. Instead, we ought to look to the life of Jesus. When he wanted to prove a point, he told a story.

The Socratic Method, perfected so well by Socrates, became his downfall. Pride entered the picture. What is the Socratic Method? The method takes an abstract moral issue and brakes it down into concrete questions.

In this twin dialog, some thought provoking questions are asked and answered. Should an unjust law be obeyed? Though Socrates would disagree with me, a law should be obeyed if it doesn’t command or prohibit an action against a higher law, a law of God. However, before any illegal action is taken, we must do all in our power to change unjust laws.

What must be done, when a law is unjustly applied, such as in Socrates' case? This sort of thing happens daily in the US. People are drug into court at their expense at the whim of someone who wants to sue them. Frivolous lawsuits are not all. A person may be falsely accused of a crime. Under these circumstances, it is not always clear as to the proper course of action.

What are a citizen’s duties and responsibilities when a law is not duly made? This is another problem in the US currently. Under our constitution, laws are to be made by the legislature. However, the executive and judiciary have usurped that power. Some laws thus made are good laws but have not gone through the proper channels. However, neither the executive nor judiciary has the authority to make such laws. Therefore, they do not have the force of law. True, I would get in trouble if I broke one of these rules, but they are not legally made law.

Even though Socrates was an arrogant, prideful, and foolish man in humiliating men of power, he still had the right to continue. Even when he was ordered to desist and did not, he was within the law. He knew that and so did his accusers. However, he understood and honored the law, when he was subject to capital punishment. He committed no crime, but when convicted he felt he was then under law.

I agree with Socrates on a few points—the unexamined life is not worth living. Jesus also taught this truth. We must constantly examine our lives to keep them in line with Jesus commandments and the example of his life.

“If you think by killing men you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken; that is not a way of escape which is either possible or honorable; the easiest and noblest way is not to be disabling others, but to be improving yourselves.” Socrates in Apology

“And I should like to know whether I may say the same of another proposition—that not life, but a good life is to be chiefly valued: And a good life is equivalent to a just and honorable one.” Socrates in Crito This one is a bit sticky. But I interpret it to mean we should be just and honorable.

I hope someone else is reading this. You can find free online sources of Plato's Dialogues. Read these two and tell me what you think.