The Trial & Death of Socrates: Apology and Phaedo

by Plato

The Trial & The Death of Socrates remains a powerful account of the end of one of the greatest figures in history, presented with scene-setting introductions to the historical situation.

Genres: Philosophy, Classics, Audiobook, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Literature

Audio CD

Published December 1, 2001

About the author

Plato (Greek: Πλάτων), born Aristocles (c. 427 – 348 BC), was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms. He raised problems for what became all the major areas of both theoretical philosophy and practical philosophy, and was the founder of the Platonic Academy, a philosophical school in Athens where Plato taught the doctrines that would later become known as Platonism.
Plato's most famous contribution is the theory of forms (or ideas), which has been interpreted as advancing a solution to what is now known as the problem of universals. He was decisively influenced by the pre-Socratic thinkers Pythagoras, Heraclitus, and Parmenides, although much of what is known about them is derived from Plato himself.
Along with his teacher Socrates, and Aristotle, his student, Plato is a central figure in the history of philosophy. Plato's entire body of work is believed to have survived intact for over 2,400 years—unlike that of nearly all of his contemporaries. Although their popularity has fluctuated, they have consistently been read and studied through the ages. Through Neoplatonism, he also greatly influenced both Christian and Islamic philosophy. In modern times, Alfred North Whitehead famously said: "the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato."

Reviews

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suspect everyone knows the names of Plato and Socrates but I had never read this book before in which Plato describes the oration Socrates gave upon his trial in Athens. The speech in his self defense takes up the first part of the book, then his recommendation for his punishment. From the introduction we learn a bit about 399 BCE Athens without which it may not make sense. For example, there were 500 jurors, the accused spoke in his self defense but if he was judged guilty he then had to recommend a counter punishment to the one the prosecution suggested. It is all very different to modern day, however much modern systems are meant to be based upon the ancient Greek.

Plato's account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial for impiety and corruption is stirring indeed! The oration is ravishingly beautiful and Socrates' rebuttals of the charges of not recognising the official gods of the state, inventing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens, to my modern ear, were exceptionally convincing. Of course, I am not even sure which gods Athens in 339 BCE did recognise and I have strong doubts as to the existence of Apollo to whom Socrates refers frequently.

He was found guilty however, despite his eloquence and then in the second speech he has to recommend what punishment is more suited than the death penalty which his accuses have asked for. Now, in this, equally fascinating speech the real issue (one suspects) with Socrates starts to make itself known. He may be genuine, he is certainly convincing in his inegrity, but he is also frivolous in a way. He does not seem to be imparting gravity onto the situation and even seems to be gently mocking and lessoning the citizens of Athens. Nobody likes being mocked, people tend to take themselves seriously and get riled up if other people do not give equal weight to their imagined gravity. This, one suspects is really why he was found guilty and why he was actually put to death. In his second speech he even mentions how gratified he was that the voting came so close; apparently 220 votes were in his favour, more than he had expected.

Now once the trial and it's conclusion is over the narrative becomes less focused. The final hours of Socrates in his cell, visited by his friends are a series of philosophical debates (on the audibook, separated by an incredibly jarring woodwind flute) on various issues. These debates are given in the form of being related by one of his students (all young men, of course) to another follower who was not present. These various discussions were a bit more hit and miss for me.

I really enjoyed the way in which Plato (who was oddly not meant to be present) describes Socrates' proofs for the soul and its enteral character. I don't agree with them in any way mind, the epistemology is incredibly flawed, but they are beautiful and fascinating nevertheless. Then there were a lot that I could not follow as well, there were too many weird descriptions hidden within themselves and I really was not sure what he was getting at "the quality that makes something large is 'largeness'... " wtf?

Of all these small oddities of discussions the best was the last. There he goes into a long description of the cosmos; how the world is round and fixed in pace at the center of things, how people live in weird floating islands within the sphere, thinking we can see the sky, but all we can really see is the bottom of the next set of islands. Then he goes on to tie his fervent belief in the afterlife and Hades into the whole thing and describe how he thinks that works. Of course, philosophers are the highest form of life and will fare best in the afterlife, being given the chance to converse freely with the gods. This is a lucky belief, since in the final scene we see Socrates, surrounded by his worshipful students (but not his wife and sons) take the prepared poison life a gentleman and die.

I will say that this book thoroughly confirms my previously held belief that philosophy is not really for me. Science is great, it is practical, you can test it. Philosophy waffles on until it convinces itself that by thinking the same thing a lot, it must be true. Socrates says that he was once interested in 'natural causes'which I take to be their version of science, but lost interest when it could not give him all the answers he wanted and when it did not agree with him. Enough said there!

However, this was a marvelous 'book' and the narration was perfect. In fact this book, for me at least is probably better heard than read as there are a LOT of Greek names in it. I do not speak Greek and I would have been entirely lost trying to 'hear' the names if I was reading the written word.

[Corinne Holloway · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Plato is always like talking to an old friend for me. This is largely thanks to the fact that my papa teaches Rhetoric and shared his love of it with me. This tragic end for Socrates is touched with his classic wit, scathing insults, and persistence for seeking truth until the end. And that is sadly beautiful.

Favorites part was easily his math talk near the end of his “death of” section. When does 1 + 1 become 2? When does the ESSENCE of 1 change to the ESSENCE of 2. It’s fantastic! The whole trial section is also really good if you can only read one part.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

socrates trying to mansplain, manipulate, and manwhore his way out of this mess.

[David Asche · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, though I probably shouldn’t have listened to the audiobook version while working. It was hard to focus on some lines of reasoning after getting distracted by my work. Overall, I found it insightful and well-done. An obvious classic.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

These full cast recordings of the dialogues rule.

[henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

this one was better than the republic low key

[Joel Robb · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Wait, what am I drinking?" No, not really the last words of Socrates. So, apparently Plato put it all down pen to paper (ink to vellum?). We all know that Socrates was a warrior for Athens (veteran of 3 major battles), philosopher, teacher, living in poverty, and old man (70) condemned to death by his 500 Athenian peers, by a majority of 280 to 220. All for (1) not believing in the gods of Athens and (2) corrupting the youth, essentially by teaching them to ask hard questions. Just like Jesus and Buddha, Socrates was rightly known as teacher; and like all of them, he never published anything, just taught. Others wrote about him, what he said, how he said it, and what he believed. He asked those age-old questions and proposed answers using logic, reason, intellect, and observation. In this text, his questions and arguments are still relevant and have been every day since--the nature of the soul, the welfare of your soul, the absolutes of morality (being a good person), attitudes toward death ("they (philosophers) have actually been looking forward to death all their lives, it would of course be absurd to be troubled when the thing comes for which they have so long been preparing and looking forward")-and much more (like rivers flowing under the earth, Tartarus, rebirth of the soul into certain animals, etc). The recorded conversations occur while being accused of the "crimes" and defending himself (Apology) and then later with a friend (Phaedo) all while facing an impending death--he had 2 weeks in between conviction and execution--no one could be put to death during the pilgrimage and return of a ship to Delos. After the hemlock, he died nobly, surrounded by friends and students (no women, because they are too "emotional"; but his guy friends bawled too). His last words had to do with paying off a debt--a good guy to the end. I wish he lived today, so we could all tune in to his nightly talk show on the Philosopher Channel and have impart his wisdom to us each and every night, but I guess we will have to do with Plato's words. As a warning, some arguments are easier to grasp than others, and this book is not for summertime reading at the beach, but if you want to appreciate the ancient wisdom, then read this.

[Zoë · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reliving my uni days.

[Soren Kisiel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unbelievable treasure, that this record of Socrates’ trial exists. A genuine must-read for anyone devoted to ideas, exploration, wisdom, integrity. So, all of us, basically. There’s little background information here, so be sure to first read up elsewhere on the situation of his trial, Aristophanes smearing him as a Sophist, Socrates being scapegoated politically, and so on—so that you can then make your own judgements as to whether or not he was misreading his audience, to what degree he was being ironic, and if he genuinely did not care if he was found guilty or not. The second half, his dialogues during his last day about reincarnation and the cosmos, did not move me in the same way but are often thought-provoking. The Buddhist in me wants to ask him to define the ideas he takes as given in these arguments—the soul, life, death—but alas I can’t because he drank the hemlock.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this audio version of the Trial and Death of Socrates. I had never read the book before, but after listening to it, I'm going to read the print version.

The title of the book says it all, it's about Socrates' trial, the speeches he made in his defense, and his philosophical reasoning for the existence of an afterlife after he had been found guilty and sentenced to death. Socrates offers four arguments for the immortality of the human soul: the Cyclical Argument, the Theory of Recollection, the Affinity Argument, and the Argument from Form of Life. They're a little tricky to follow when listening while driving, but they're interesting enough to go back and read the print version.

[Ke · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the ideas may be founding arguments from Western thinking, most of the arguments seem simple. Socrates' seem so clear that he can be repetitive. The reasoning can also get circular.

At times, the metaphors and examples may only apply to Socrates' views.

The other characters sound like weak foils.

[Nathan Marchand · Rating 2 out of 5]

The historical accounts of Socrates and his trial were interesting along with his arguments. The last half deals more with philosophy which I found got more dull closer to the end, especially when talking about the Athenian myths.

[Abid Uzair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gad-flies, which we desperately need to save us from ourselves, oddly enough, are the ones needed to be saved by us from ourselves.

Last words of Socrates, according to Plato, "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt."

[sch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Phaedo.

[Orange · Rating 3 out of 5]

The transition music gave me the heebie-jeebies.

[Søren K. Dick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cry every time