Question

What does Russell say about Socrates in his essay?

• A. He was celebrated for his teachings
• B. He was put to death for his subversive doctrines
• C. He taught without interference from the state
• D. none of these

Answer 1

Answer:

B. He was put to death for his subversive doctrines

Socrates' Trial and Execution

• Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE) was an ancient Greek philosopher from Athens, considered the founder of Western philosophy.
• He was famously put to death by the Athenian democracy in 399 BCE.
• The official charges against Socrates were impiety (asebeia), meaning failing to acknowledge the gods recognized by the state and introducing new deities, and corrupting the youth (dialdeirousin tous neous).
• He was found guilty by a large jury of Athenian citizens and condemned to death by drinking a cup of hemlock, a potent poison.
• Socrates' trial and execution are primarily documented by his students, Plato (in works like Apology, Crito, and Phaedo) and Xenophon (in Apology of Socrates to the Jury).

Socrates' 'Subversive Doctrines'

• Bertrand Russell, a prominent British philosopher, logician, and social critic, viewed Socrates' teachings as 'subversive' because they challenged the traditional beliefs, political authority, and conventional wisdom of Athenian society.
• Socrates' method, known as the Socratic method or elenchus, involved relentless questioning to expose contradictions in people's beliefs, forcing them to critically examine their assumptions. This intellectual challenge was seen by some as a threat to social order.
• His emphasis on individual moral reasoning and the pursuit of truth, even when it contradicted established norms, was perceived as undermining state authority, especially in a democracy that had recently been unstable after the Peloponnesian War and the rule of the Thirty Tyrants.
• Many of the Thirty Tyrants, an oligarchic regime that briefly overthrew Athenian democracy, were former associates or students of Socrates (e.g., Critias, Charmides), which contributed to suspicion against him, even though Socrates himself opposed their tyranny.
• Russell, known for his own anti-authoritarian stance and advocacy for critical thinking, would naturally align with the idea that Socrates was persecuted for challenging the status quo with his ideas.