Socrates as Public Philosopher: A Model of Informed Democratic Engagement

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn the Apology, Plato’s Socrates tells the Athenian jurors that he has spent his life trying to persuade his fellow citizens “not to care for any of his belongings before caring that he himself should be as good and as wise as possible, not to care for the city’s possessions more than for the city itself, and to care for other things in the same way” (36b–d). This image of Socrates fighting for a philosophical way of life in the midst of the social and political turmoil of post-war Athens remains a compelling model for what it means to practice philosophy in the public sphere today. In this essay, I begin by describing the burgeoning movement of public philosophy and suggest that Plato’s Socrates should be regarded as a public philosopher. Second, I explore a particular aspect of Plato’s presentation of Socrates in the Apology, namely his rhetorical choice to present Socrates as a philosopher who shares stories of his life in a public context. I examine four examples of Socrates’ public use of autobiographical self-disclosure in the Apology. These stories are an important part Socrates’s ongoing commitment to exhort his fellow citizens to care about the good. Finally, I draw upon the opening of the Protagoras to offer one model for public philosophical engagement today, Socratic autobiographical recounting of philosophical conversation.