It has been about two and a half years since I last read The Apology of Socrates, and I have taken a more methodical approach to reading it this time. It seems to me that the real essence of the Apology is the question, “What is wisdom?” Is it wise to continue to defy the authorities and be put to death? I think Socrates would say yes, as long as you are doing the good. Several times he said he would rather be poor or even die rather than stop helping people to examine their lives.
Is wisdom practical knowledge? It seems to me that it must be more than that. If Socrates is wise, as the Delphic oracle suggested, then wisdom must have something to do with an awareness of oneself as a learner or knower. Socrates’ life task was to find people with the reputation for wisdom and discover if they were indeed wise. His method was to question them, mostly on their assumptions and definitions. His big discovery, I think, is that most people don’t really think as much as they suppose they do. Most of our “thinking” is done on the surface, and can more accurately be described as judging too soon. If we call this kind of thinking “pre-judging,” then it is easy to see that the world is a very prejudiced place, with most people making decisions based on quick impressions and hasty generalizations, rather than on deliberate, careful consideration.
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On my second reading of Crito, I think I see Socrates’ arguments, but I am not sure about their universal application. He argues that since he has been lawfully tried and found guilty, he would be wrong to try and escape. This would do harm to the laws, validate the jury’s opinion of him as a bad influence on the youth, and make him a fugitive.