Saillant, Said.
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates: An Analysis of Socrates Views on Civil
Disobedience and its Implications. Perceptia 1, no. 1 (2010).
THE ROLE OF INCONSISTENCY IN THE DEATH OF SOCRATES:
AN ANALYSIS OF SOCRATES VIEWS ON CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND ITS
IMPLICATIONS
Said Saillant
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Throughout the paper, I focus on the apparent incongruity of Socrates views in the Apology and
the Crito. In the former, Socrates claims that if acquitted on the condition that he gives up
philosophizing, he will nevertheless continue to philosophize. Yet, in the latter, Socrates argues
that disobeying a city ordinance is wrong because it harms the city and its laws. The inconsistency
is evaluated by focusing on the purpose of each argument, i.e. the intentions (other than
persuasion) for advancing the arguments. In the Crito, he argues against civil disobedience to
convince Crito that escaping the death penalty is morally wrong and, therefore, an unacceptable
course of action. In the Apology, he argues for civil disobedience in claiming that divine directives
take precedence over civil commandments. In the latter, the underlying motive is unclear. I
contend that the argument in the Crito aims to prevent civil disobedience on Socrates part; it
serves the purpose of facilitating his death, thereby preventing disobedience in the case of acquittal
and maintaining adherence to the divine injunction.
It is my purpose to expound Socrates views in the Apology and the Crito regarding civil
disobedience, his motives for presenting them, and the consistency thereof. First, I
present the views and their supporting arguments to later distill the principles that lend
these force. I then compare the principles by applying them to one of the views and
thereon search for inconsistencies. During the investigation, I interpret the following
statement, I do know [. . .] that it is wicked and shameful to do wrong, to disobey ones
superior, be he god or man, (29b) in order to establish whether some such inconsistency
exists. I argue for an interpretation of the statement that suggests Socrates contrived the
argument in the Apology, not to persuade his jurors, but to prevent his soul from being
irreparably damaged.
II
Socrates expressed in the Apology that, even if acquitted on the condition that he stop
philosophizing, he would not comply. However, this seems at odds with Socrates
argument in the Crito against civil disobedience, i.e. against escaping the death penalty
by leaving Athens.
In the Apology, Socrates argues for civil disobedience with the following
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
premises:
(1)
(2)
(3)
when a civilian is ordered to take a position by a superior, that person
must assume the position without a thought for death or anything
else, rather than disgrace (28d);
the gods authority is superior to the authority of elected officials (28e),
and
the greater the authority, the greater the disgrace that results from
disobeying them (28d-29a).
It follows from the premises that, when faced with conflicting orders (one divine,
the other civil), the one to follow is the divine, since, when thinking only of disgrace [(1)],
the correct action is to follow the divine order, for the gods authority is greater [(2)] and
disobeying such an authority would bring further disgrace than disobeying the elected
official [(3)]. This belief is apparent in the following:
It would have been a dreadful way to behave [. . .], if [. . .] I had [. . .] remained at
my post where those you had elected to command had ordered me, and then,
when the god ordered me, as I thought and believed, to live the life of a
philosopher, to examine myself and others, I had abandoned my post for fear of
death or anything else (28e).
Socrates clearly considers the gods order superior to (of greater authority)that is, more
disgraceful to disobeythan that of the officials because he thought it dreadful to
follow the latter, whereby he would violate the gods injunction.
In the Crito, Socrates, using reductio ad absurdum, argues against civil
disobedience with the following:
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
one must never do wrong (49b);
one should fulfill a just agreement (49e);
cheating a just agreement wrongs the other party (50b) and
the agreement between Socrates and the state to respect the
judgments that the city came to [50c] is just (48c-51e).
where the reductio assumption is fleeing the city to avoid the death penalty is the right course of
action, namely that civil disobedience is justified in such a case. It follows from (5), (6) and
(7) that by leaving the city, Socrates cheats a just agreement [(5) and (7)] and, thereby
wrongs the city [(6)]. It follows from this conjunction and (4), that if Socrates flees the city
he would do a wrong, which contradicts (4); therefore, either (4) is false or the reductio
assumption is false. Since (4) had been previously agreed on by Socrates and Crito; the
assumption must be false. So, Socrates should not flee the city; that is, civil disobedience
is not the right course of action.
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
III
The conceptual underpinnings of the premises used in the arguments above need to be
made explicit in order to search for inconsistencies. Therefore, in what follows I list the
premises, and reduce them to the simplest and most general of principles where possible.
To reiterate, the premises are:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
when a civilian is ordered to take a position by a superior, that person
must assume the position without a thought for death or anything
else, rather than disgrace (28d),
the gods authority is superior to the authority of elected officials (28e),
the greater the authority, the greater the disgrace that results from
disobeying them (28d-29a),
one must never do wrong (49b),
one should fulfill a just agreement (49e),
cheating a just agreement wrongs the other party (50b) and
the agreement between Socrates and the state to respect the
judgments that the city came to [50c] is just (48c-51e).
(7) is the example of the just agreement pertinent to the argument of which it is a
constituent (that is, the argument in the Crito), and therefore not a principle (since
principles are abstract [i.e., multiply realizable] objects and examples are concrete). (5) is
a lemma of (4) and as such need not be distinguished from it. (6) is an instance of
wrongdoing; it is not a principle but the violation of a principle such as (4). (2) and (3)
can and, given considerations of economy, should, be condensed into the principle that
the disgrace of disobeying a greater authority, e.g. a god, is greater than the disgrace of
disobeying a lesser authority, e.g. a man. The remaining premises are thus the principles
appealed to in the arguments. Hereafter, (4) is P1, (1) P2, and (2)/(3) P3 (P for principle).
That is:
P1: One should never do wrong.
P2: One should follow a superiors order without thinking of death or anything
else but disgrace.
P3: The disgrace of disobeying a greater authority is greater than the disgrace of
disobeying a lesser authority.
IV
Now I shall apply these principles to Socrates view in the Apology. If Socrates is
acquitted on the condition that he cease to philosophize, but nevertheless continues to do
so, he will follow the order of the god as indicated by P2 and P3. However, P1 seems to
be neglected because he will wrong the city through civil disobedience. This Socrates
acknowledges when, in the Apology, he proclaims I do know [. . .] that it is wicked and
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
shameful to do wrong, to disobey ones superior, be he god or man [29b]. The statement
may be interpreted in one of two ways1: either he considers ones superior the
commander with the greater authority of the two (e.g., the god), in which case, when
they issue conflicting orders, the only superior that need be followed is the one with the
greater authority, for a superior authority nullifies that of the lesser (and therefore the
lesser no longer has any legitimate power over the subject); or ones superior is a god
(or any man with greater authority than oneself)in which case, if two conflicting orders
are given only one of the two superiors can be obeyed, but at the expense of the other,
unfortunately. Thus, on the second interpretation, a shameful and wicked act is indeed
being committed by disobeying the lesser authority, but with lesser disgrace attendant
upon the agent. On both interpretations, Socrates would serve only the divine
commandment because, when sure disgrace would result otherwise [P2], one should
obey the order from the greater authority. On the second interpretation alone, though,
lesser disgrace will result from disobeying the lesser authority [P3]; one would be
selecting the lesser of two evils. So, both interpretations require the divine order be
exercised, which is the action Socrates supports. The first interpretation, on the one hand,
entails the observance of P1 because the citys authority is nullified (and, as such, is not
Socrates superior); therefore, no civil disobedience has taken place and no harm is done.
On the other hand, the second interpretation entails the violation of principle 1 because
the lesser authority is wronged.
Nonetheless, I believe that Socrates had the second interpretation in mind for three
reasons. One, the first interpretation would need to postulate a fourth principle, namely
that a greater authority invalidates the authority of a lesser authority (something Socrates
never says), thereby making P2 obsolete, which ordains that only the amount of
disgracenot level of authoritycan be used to decide which authority is to be obeyed
(which Socrates does say); therefore textual evidence supports the second interpretation2.
Two, in what way would the higher authority invalidate the authority of the
lesser, given that in relation to Socrates both authorities are superiors and, as such,
according to Socrates, have the right to command him (29b)?; it seems exceedingly
1 In the following, the authority attributed to a superior has been characterized as moral and civic by Kraut
(1984), pp. 23-90, and Brickhouse and Smith (1994), 141-155, respectively. I agree with Brickhouse and Smith
(1994) that Socrates means civic authority, for in previous references to superiors he clearly connotes civic
authority.
2 To those who think that considering the level of authority in determining disgracefulness is an objection, I
reply that, while the level of authority is needed to determine the orders shameworthiness (the amount of
shame or disgrace one may endure for the achievement of the goal indicated), the deciding factor is the
resulting shame or disgrace, i.e., when considering the consequences of following one superior as opposed to the
other, the level of authority determines the shameworthiness; but in deciding which superior to follow,
disgrace is the one parameter. Consequently, the decisive role of shameworthiness is undermined by the
postulate because it entails that level of authority is conceptually prior to shameworthiness, for which there is
no textual evidence.
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
unlikely that this right vanishes in cases where the commanded, the inferior, thinks and
believes two superiors with differing levels of authority give conflicting orders, even more
so when communication between the superiors has not occurred and may never occur.
(Much more unlikely, if not impossible [assuming he is rational], is that Socrates would
believe so, especially given the statement interpreted above.) Socrates is making the
normative claim that one should obey a superior, be he god or man [29b], because it is
wrong to do otherwise. Furthermore, the principles he uses throughout the Crito and the
Apology support this claim. For instance, in the Crito, Socrates argues that disrespecting
the judgment the city came toin this case his own death penaltyby escaping the city
is wrong because he would cheat a just agreement with the city and its laws and would
thereby harm them. This same agreement is still effective if the judgment the city arrived
at were acquittal on the condition that he stops philosophizing instead of the death
penalty; both the conditional release and the death penalty would be judgments the city
came to. Therefore, if he continues to philosophize when commanded to do otherwise he
would nevertheless cheat the just agreement he has with the city and its laws, and so
wrong them.
However, Socrates could not be legally directed by the jurors to give up
philosophizing since, under Greek law at the time, the jurors only had the choice
between the penalty proposed by the prosecutors and that proposed by the defendant
(Kraut, 1984, pp. 14-15). Furthermore, the prosecutors had already recommended the
death penalty when Socrates assured them that he would not renounce the practice of
philosophy. As will be seen, the interpretation endorsed explains why Socrates
threatened to violate a penalty that could not be enforced.
And, three, Socrates said, [T]he god ordered me [. . .] to live the life of a
philosopher, to examine myself and others; [28e] he was ordered, among other things, to
examine himself, to turn onto himself the Elenchus, the Socratic Method. Through the
Elenchus, Socrates rigorously analyzes the beliefs of others in order to clear away
inconsistencies. He believes that through the Elenchus ones soul is improved because it
reveals ignorance [a]nd surely, it is the most blameworthy ignorance to believe that one
knows what one does not know (29b). Perhaps, this belief motivated the following
statement: [i]f you put me to death [. . .] you wont harm me more than you harm
yourselves (30c-d); he believes he benefits others through examining them. Following a
natural train of thought, it is reasonable to believe that Socrates was cognizant of the
place his uncompromising principles could lead (and eventually would lead him to). I
propose that the purpose for advancing the paradoxical view in the Apology is to prevent
what he treasures most, his soul, from being damaged through disobedience to any
superior, be he god or man.
VI
Recall that Socrates claim in the Apology, viz. that he would continue his philosophical
mission even if acquitted on the condition that he do otherwise, is an indicative
conditional. Socrates has not committed civil disobedience; he is simply threatening to do
so. And, like every threat, his must have a goal in that only a clash of interests prompts
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
threats. This is even more credible given that the threat was manifestly misguided
because the threat could not have been meant to prevent conditional release (since such
an injunction would be illegal because the prosecutors did not recommend such a
penalty). For this reason, alternative grounds are needed to justify the threat. I argue that
the empty threat must have been intended to secure the death penalty. For, if not, he
would be forced to disobey any future ordinance that makes the practice of philosophy
illegal (a possibility Socrates imagines could be realized if acquitted [29c-d]), such as a
law prohibiting all persons from challenging conventional beliefs in public places as
Kraut (1984, pp. 15) puts it, or to suggest that the expectation of some jurors, namely that
the threat of death will suffice to prevent him from continuing to philosophize, will be
met. This belief can be confidently attributed to Socrates, given that he thought men
feared [death] as if they knew that it is the greatest of all evils (29a-b) and asserted the
fear of death will not deter his philosophical enterprise (29a-d).
Either case would entail damage to his soulwhat he thought most precious. In
the former, the damage would result from disobeying the city ordinance; in the latter, it
would result from disobeying the gods command to examine others. Therefore, given
that Socrates treasures his soul more than his body (30a-b), in order to protect his soul
from damage, he endeavors to secure the death penalty. For why else would he make an
empty threat and set as penalty a minute amount, both of which, as anyone would have
predicted, anger the jury?
For instance, Socrates says you cannot avoid executing me, for if I should be
acquitted, your sons would practice the teachings of Socrates and all be thoroughly
corrupted (Apol. 29c). Further, Socrates calls the death penalty necessary, unavoidable
(29c). It was indeed necessary because it follows from the principles that a conditional
release conflicting with the gods order (whether legal or illegal) would inevitably result
in civil disobedience, whereby the city is wronged, or, if he does not examine the jurors
so as to prevent blameworthy ignorance, then he will disobey the divine directive. So,
Socrates soul is harmed either way. Given that Socrates explicitly sets out to avoid things
he knows to be bad, e.g. doing wrong and disobeying his superiors, rather than things of
which he does not know whether they are good, e.g. death (Apol. 29b-c), he recognizes
(by turning the Elenchus on himself, as the god directed) that the death penalty is the
only way his soul will avoid the harm that disobedience to either superior entails.
Moreover, in other parts of the Apology he angers his judges by saying he should
get free meals in the Prytaneum (a privilege reserved for Olympic champions), and later
sets what he thinks his penalty should be to a measly thirty minae and only this amount
because Plato (a person known for his abundant wealth) had offered to help him with the
fine (Apol. 36e-37a, 38b). These comments clearly angered the jury because, even though
they had voted guilty by a narrow margin (Apol. 36a), when selecting a penalty, a
significantly greater margin was seen. Socrates says that if only 30 more votes had been
cast for acquittal, he would have been acquitted (35a-b). However, as a sign of the
sentiments Socrates comments and suggestions brought about, when time came to select
the penalty (either the death penalty or the 30 minae fine), according to Diogenes
Laertius, 80 more voted in favor for the death penalty than had voted for Socrates guilt
(Brickhouse & Smith, 2002, pp. 108-111). The claim that Socrates knew that, in order to
avoid doing wrong to either of his superiors, death was the only way his soul would
escape unblemishedand that he therefore acted accordinglyis given further credence
The Role of Inconsistency in the Death of Socrates
by Socrates actions in the Apology. Moreover, Socrates concludes that the death penalty
may indeed be a good thing because his divine sign3 has not opposed him (Apol. 40a-d).
Indeed, by articulating his purpose to continue philosophizing regardless of any
injunction, he insured adherence to P1. That is to say, Socrates devised the argument for
civil disobedience in the Apology to convince the jurors of his determination to obey the
divine order at the expense of any court order opposing it, which meant that he would
adhere to the gods directive to examine others. This ensured further that the death
sentence would be selected. His death would result inand fromobeying both the god
and the court. Consequently, there are no inconsistencies between his actual view in the
Apology and his view in the Crito, as one would expect given the order to practice
philosophy, i.e. examine everyone, and the orders origin, e.g. godly, which he took to be
inferior to none.
To sum up: I contend that, in the Apology, Socrates purpose in presenting the
view that civil disobedience is justified is to bring about a conviction that would prevent
the need for the observance of both orders, the civic and the divine; this conviction is the
death penalty. One may object that assuming such foresight is unwarranted. However,
given that Socrates believed a god ordered him to examine himself and disobeying a god
harms the soul, the claim that he was lucid enough to foretell a possible inconsistency
let alone one which would entail his souls harm, what he thought to be most
importantseems very much justified. Socrates took measures to avoid disobedience
because he knew that it would lead to the degradation of his soul, as he says it would in
the Crito. Ultimately, Socrates devised the argument for civil disobedience in order to
prevent his violation of the principles by which he lived his life.
Works Cited
Brickhouse, Thomas C. and Nicholas D. Smith. Platos Socrates. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1994.
-----. The Trial and Execution of Socrates. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Kraut, Richard. Socrates and the State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984.
Pappas, Nickolas. Review of Socrates' Divine Sign: Religion, Practice and Value in Socratic
Philosophy, by Pierre Destre and Nicholas D. Smith, eds., Notre Dame
Philosophical Reviews: 11 October 2005
Plato. "Apology", "Crito" and "Meno." In Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy: From Thales
to Aristotle, by S. Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd and C.D.C. Reeve. Hackett
Publishing Company, 2000.
3 The sign came as some kind of voice and Socrates claimed to have heard it since childhood. It was
[apotropaic] rather than [exhortative], never commanding Socrates to act some way but only making sure he
heard the discouraging word whenever he chanced to embark on a harmful action (Pappas, 2005).
