- 01Apology by Plato
Apology
Socratic inquiry, civic duty, and intellectual freedom.
3Chapters
25Lessons
54Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Explain the main arguments in Plato's Apology
- Differentiate Socrates' defense from the accusations against him
- Describe the role of civic duty and public witness in the dialogue
- Interpret the meaning of the examined life and Socrates' view of death
- Compare the Platonic Socrates with the historical Socrates
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 3
- Lessons
- 25
- Topics
- 54
- 01Plato’s idealized portrait of Socrates
- 02Historical accuracy and literary composition
- 01Platonic character of the Apology
- 02Three-part structure of the defence
- 03Charges against Socrates and his reply
- 01Socrates’ mission and the oracle at Delphi
- 02Cross-examination of Meletus
- 03Duty to the god and refusal to abandon philosophy
- 01Defense of his mission and conduct
- 02Refusal to plead for mercy
- 03Counter-penalty after conviction
- 01Interpretive questions about the defence
- 01Socrates and the Sophists
- 01The Platonic Socrates and the historical Socrates
- 01Schleiermacher and the exactness of the defence
- 01How you, O Athenians, have been affected by my accusers
- 01Answering the ancient accusations
- 02Denial of natural philosophy and sophistry
- 03Rejection of teaching for money
- 01Delphi’s verdict and Chaerephon’s inquiry
- 02Socrates’ search for a wiser man
- 01Interrogating the politicians, poets, and artisans
- 02The oracle’s meaning and Socrates’ mission
- 01The source of the prejudice against Socrates
- 02Meletus and the charge of corrupting the youth
- 01Meletus on who improves the youth
- 02Socrates' horse-trainer analogy and intentional corruption
- 01Corrupting the young and the law's limits
- 02Denial of the state gods and atheism charge
- 01Refutation of Meletus's contradiction
- 02Socrates on envy and the duty to act justly
- 01Fear of death versus fear of disgrace
- 02Obedience to God and the philosopher’s mission
- 01Virtue above wealth and reputation
- 02Socrates as the city's gadfly
- 03The divine sign and private mission
- 01Private station versus public politics
- 02Refusal to yield in office and under the Thirty
- 03Open teaching and cross-examination
- 01Defense against the corruption charge
- 02Refusal to beg for acquittal
- 01Refusal to beg for acquittal
- 02Socrates proposes maintenance in the Prytaneum
- 01Refusal to propose a penalty
- 02Exile, silence, and the unexamined life
- 03Thirty minae as the proposed fine
- 04Warning about the city's reputation
- 01Defense of his manner of speaking
- 02Prophecy of punishment for the judges
- 03The oracle's silence and the meaning of death
- 01Death as a good and the oracle's silence
- 02The afterlife as sleep or a journey
- 03Consolation, justice, and the sons' upbringing
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