One of you might perhaps interrupt me and say: “But Socrates, what is your occupation? From where have these slanders come? For surely if you did not busy yourself with something out of the common, all these rumors and talk would not have arisen unless you did something other than most people. Tell us what it is, that we may not speak inadvisedly about you”. Anyone who says that seems to be right, and I will try to show you what has caused this reputation and slander. Listen then. Perhaps some of you will think I am jesting, but be sure that all that I shall say is true. What has caused my reputation is none other than a certain kind of wisdom. What kind of wisdom? Human wisdom, perhaps. It may be that I really possess this, while those whom I mentioned just now are wise with a wisdom more than human; else I cannot explain it, for I certainly do not possess it and whoever says I do is lying and speaks to slander me. (Plato, Apology, 20 C-D: 1)

This passage presents a part of the Socrates’s speech in his own defense in court. Having rejected the accusations, Socrates is trying to explain his activity as a philosopher who is not wise in the way people seem to believe. He is making an assumption that it is human wisdom that damaged his reputation. This text is important in understanding what philosophy means for Socrates.

Socrates realizes that the jury is perceptive to Meletus’s accusation against him that he does not believe in Gods and corrupts the youth. Most of the jurors saw the Aristophanes’s play in which a character named Socrates rejects to swear by the gods and puts in their place his own deities: Chaos, Clouds and Tongue. Socrates also walks in air and investigates natural phenomena. In other words, impiety is a constant feature of the Aristophanic Socrates. Moreover, the famous comic poet depicts Socrates as the sophist who teaches for payment how to successfully argue any case, right or wrong. Because of teaching the youth how to be successful through dishonesty, Socrates is accused of corrupting the youth.

Socrates wants to convince the jury that Meletus who trusted the fictional play made a false accusation against him. In reality, he has nothing in common with the Aristophanic character of the Clouds. Socrates argues that he cannot be a teacher because he does not have knowledge of things in the sky and of making the weaker argument stronger. He does not possess sophia, what he calls “non human wisdom”. It is a greater than human knowledge, since it is impractical and about divine things. No one knows about gods other than gods. Yet, Socrates confirms that natural philosophers and sophists such as Gorgias, Prodicus of Ceos, and Hippias of Elis might be an exception, for they possess this kind of wisdom. In any case, Socrates insists that he is not one of those teachers of ethics, natural phenomena, politics, linguistics and other disciplines.

Socrates understands that the jury would inquire what caused the slander of him. There is not smoke without fire. If Socrates is not wise, why do people say false things about him? Socrates is going to explain this slander by referring to Delphi (oracle), who told his friend that Socrates was the wisest man. The oracle’s assertion confused Socrates, because he was sure that he was not wise at all. Nevertheless, Socrates was convinced that the god did not lie, so he decided to investigate the meaning of what Delphi said. Talking to wise people such as politicians, craftsmen and poets, Socrates came to a conclusion that they appeared wise to many people and especially to themselves, but they were not. Socrates tried to show them that they claimed to possess knowledge but failed failed to have it. He proceeded systematically an examination of people’s claims to wisdom. He experienced something like he was wiser than those reputed men, since he did not think he knew what he did not know. As a result, Socrates became unpopular in Athens. People thought that he possessed wisdom, since he denied that all the wise people had knowledge. Socrates was eagerly involved in his mission to seek out those who thought they were wise and to show them that they were not. Even though he did not need any knowledge about gods for this investigation, some might believe that he possessed wisdom more than human, because he talked about his service to the god. Oracle was right that Socrates knows something, but whatever he knows is not knowledge. He is not a teacher, since he does not possess knowledge except of knowing that he does not have knowledge. He is an ordinary human who has limits to what he knows. In that sense, he possesses human knowledge that is limited, and because of that knowledge he acquires a bad reputation.

Overall, this passage is a manifestation of a certain idea of philosophy. Philosophy starts with Socrates who is committed to self-examination and examination of others. If you are philosopher, then you do not have wisdom. You are between ignorance and wisdom; you are a lover of wisdom. You are not arrogant, because you are not content with yourself, and you know that you don’t know. On the other hand, you are not wise, since you investigate wisdom. As philosopher, you are aware of human limitation, which is the limitation of knowledge. Your activity may lead to hostility from the public, since humans tend to believe that they are wise, while they are not. Humans want to be experts in something and have some knowledge. They do not want to recognize that human knowledge is knowledge in its own limits. This is the reason why philosopher is special, for he/she systematically examines and investigates the limits of human knowledge. Philosopher thereby makes a revolution in the orientation of wisdom.

Bibliography:

  • Aristophanes, Clouds. Translated with notes by Peter Meineck; Introduction by Ian C. Storey (Hacket 2000).