Socrates, Defender of Democracy

Socrates, Defender of Democracy

by Ben Bussewitz

Socrates lived through the golden age of Athens, the deterioration of the city-state into a 25 year war with Sparta, the rise of an oligarchic regime, and the ultimate restoration of the Athenian democracy. At the age of 70 he was executed by the state for supposedly corrupting the youth and insulting the Hellenistic pantheon of gods. The reason for the latter could be that Socrates subtlety purported to be a monotheist. He sometimes could be heard referring to the one true God who rules over heaven and earth. For instance, in Plato’s depiction of Socrates is the dialogue entitled Euthyphro, Socrates, while discussing holiness, states, “I mean to say that the holy has been acknowledged by us to be loved by God because it is holy, not to be holy because it is loved.” This passage illustrates that Socrates looked at the world as though there was only one true God reigning over, which conflicted with the Greek polytheistic vision. And simply by bringing the youth to ask basic, essential questions about their station in life, questions that led people to think for themselves and reconsider the overall structure of society, he roused authorities into alleging he corrupted the youth. It can be expected by a democracy to find offense to the thoughtfulness of questioning basic truths, as democracies function according to group dynamics, and the more individuals question themselves and others, social structures, social norms, widely entrenched principles-- the less likely they are to immediately get along with authority unless they respectfully cooperate, like Socrates always did, as he patiently doled out his time and kindness to people of Athens from all different walks of life. When citizens differ in their attitudes and stances from authority in a way that is at odds with each other, even in democracies, where the government is ruled by the people (in Athens, citizens were chosen for the city counsel from a lottery to contribute to a direct democracy), the peoples' will can create havoc with the powers that be, as the state apparatus yields tremendous authority. Socrates lived most of his life in Athens, besides a brief stint fighting alongside the Athenian military in the Peloponnesian War. In Athens, the people of the city could find him strolling about the streets, engaging in conversations with those who took interest where he probed underlying Truths about the world and inquired into the heart of various Truths such as, "What is virtue? What is beauty? What is piety?" It defends democracy to question, as it is by questioning, individuals expose Truths about the world and uncover and discover universal Truths. The Greek people followed two central traditions of a democracy: paeidia and parresia, the former indicating an upstanding, morally-grounded, informed, politically constructive citizenry, and the latter representing bold, courageous speech that gets to the heart of political matters and burrows beneath them, even when unjust power dynamics embedded in society have to be confronted. Socrates, by asking thought-provoking, truth-pervading questions, and searching for answers to those questions with the individuals he met on the city streets--even when the inquirer and the interlocutor were left simply facing for themselves a confrontation with the fact that they are in ignorance with regard to the matter at hand, and the individual whom Socrates talked to comes to understand that he is not as wise as he had previously thought, as was so often the case when Socrates' conversed in Athens--by asking those questions, Socrates furthered Athens tradition of both paeidia and parresia. Individuals he spoke with became more accustomed to truth, more enlightened, and more virtuous as they came to understand just how little they knew. This improved the broad structure of the citizenry, as it made the citizens more knowledgeable, and brought them to be more equipped to be effective Athenian citizens. In terms of parresia, Socrates' conversations cut right to the heart of important contingent Truths and universal Truths. By educating the youth and all the people with whom he spoke, Socrates contributed to a stronger democracy and a more fully functioning government where citizens could contribute more meaningfully to the power apparatuses. 

Socrates is considered the founder of Western philosophy and the greatest philosopher of all time. The impact of his thought is still resounding in town halls, the halls of academia, and city streets until this day.

Mullsay Dialogue

Here on Mullsay the Zine, we bring individuals to ask questions and provide answers. In the comments section below, please constructively mull over other peoples’ thoughts and say your own.

by Ben Bussewitz, D.D., M.D.