Apology

In addition to constantly examining one’s life and assumptions, a second cornerstone of Socrates’s philosophy is the importance of personal integrity. For Socrates, his integrity is represented by his daimonion, a lesser deity that prohibits him from unethical or immoral behavior. He further argues that while an individual’s sense of morality is often reflected in a just society’s laws, this is not always the case. There are moments, as when Socrates refused orders by the Thirty Tyrants to retrieve Leon of Salamis for an unjust execution, that demand civil disobedience on the part of the citizen. Socrates also practiced civil disobedience, rooted in his own integrity, prior to the reign of the Thirty Tyrants, when he was the lone voice of dissent on the matter of executing six generals who abandoned their doomed troops at the Siege of Myteline. Thus, Socrates’s integrity transcends political systems, complicating scholastic efforts to determine if Socrates supported democracy or oligarchy.

Rather, Socrates’s experiences suggest that integrity is not conducive to life as a public servant. His civil disobedience when serving under the Thirty Tyrants might have cost him his life had the oligarchy not crumbled shortly thereafter. As Socrates puts it bluntly in his defense, “A man who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if he is to survive for even a short time” (36). Unwilling to serve as a politician or accept payment as a teacher—another restriction rooted in his integrity—Socrates is in deep poverty by the time of his trial. Nevertheless, he refuses to compromise on these points, as living a good, moral life is more important to him than money.

Key to living this moral life is Socrates’s belief that his purpose is to serve as a gadfly on Athens’ body politic—a nuisance that nevertheless pushes the city-state toward greatness. For that reason, Socrates refuses to beg the jury for forgiveness; doing so would constitute a tacit admission that his work as a gadfly-philosopher was morally wrong. Along those same lines, Socrates rejects the possibility of exile or abandoning his work as a philosopher, as either would represent a dereliction of his holy duty to educate the people of Athens.

Socrates holds true to these stances even though he is fairly certain they will result in his execution. At numerous points in his defense, he makes plain his willingness to die rather than compromise his moral integrity, telling Meletus, “You are wrong, sir, if you think that a man who is any good at all should take into account the risk of life or death; he should look to this only in his actions, whether what he does is right or wrong, whether he is acting like a good or bad man” (32). Taking this a step further, Socrates claims that his death will only accelerate Athens’s long-overdue interrogation of its moral and political identity. After receiving his death sentence, he tells the jury that his death will galvanize others to continue his work: “You did this in the belief that you would avoid giving an account of your life, but I maintain that quite the opposite will happen to you. [...] You are wrong if you believe that by killing people you will prevent anyone from reproaching you” (42). Thus, there is a component of intentionality and calculation to Socrates’s willingness to die rather than compromise his integrity, in that doing so will make him a martyr for his cause.