Study Questions on Apology

by Dr. Jan Garrett

PHIL 302 -- Fall 2007

Revised August 10, 2007

1. What slanders have followed Socrates around for many years? (18b, 19b)

2. How does S. refute the claim that he is like the philosophers who study natural phenomena? (19c-d)

3. How does S. refute the claim that he is like the teachers (Sophists) who charge money? (19d-20c)

4. What did the oracle say about Socrates? (21a)

5. What did this motivate Socrates to do? (21c-22d, 23b)

6. How did Socrates eventually come to understand the meaning of the oracle? (22e)

7. What does Socrates do? Does he think he is following the will of the gods? (23b, c, 28e, 29d, 30a, 33c) Does Socrates sound like an atheist? (Besides the passages just listed, see also 26b-27e, 35c.)

8. Should a good person care about his wealth or his body or the condition of his soul, according to Socrates? (29d-30a)

9. To what animal does Socrates compare the citizens ("the state")? To what animal does he compare himself? (30e)

10. How does philosophical inquiry about human goodness affect the soul, in his view? (36c)

11. Is every kind of human life worth living, according to Socrates? Explain. (38a)