Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Day 7: Apology 34a-42a
38a: With all this talk of testing and provoking others, and the crucial shift in priorities that Socrates is uniquely able to bring to the other Athenians, it is a relief to hear Socrates admit that what he's really doing is "testing myself and others." But in what sense does Socrates test himself? When do we find him doing this? Do his discussions with others count as tests for himself, and if so, do they test himself in the same way as they test others? Is this part of what Socrates' human wisdom consists in, namely, the ability to reflexively test and examine himself?
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No comments today, but I'm keeping up.
ReplyDelete34d: "I am not born from oak or rock but from men". Plato uses the same quotation in Republic VIII 544d (for a much different purpose).
ReplyDeleteI am a bit behind, and will catch up this afternoon. Meanwhile, more droll humor from Kenodoxia. The line about hexameter poetry is a particularly nice touch.
ReplyDelete38b: 30 minas of silver. So (according to the fn. on p. 33), Plato, Crito, Critobulus and Apollodorus were willing to put up about nine years of average wage as a fine.
ReplyDeleteWow.
41c: Who led the expedition against Troy? Does S mean Agamemnon, or Achilles? Or someone else?