Socrates’ Final Message: Unpopular Truths and The Courage to be Disliked
‘The Death of Socrates’ — As told by Jacques-Louis David
The Trial of Socrates
In the spring of 399 BC, the Greek philosopher and founder of Western philosophy, Socrates was put before an Athenian jury, convicted of corrupting the youth of the state and disrespecting the city’s gods. Given the severity of these charges, cries of the death penalty reverberated around Athens at the time.
In the face of these accusations, the philosopher had one final chance to renounce his philosophy in court and accept the claims of corrupting the youth of Athens through his unceasing desire to question what were perceived as ‘infallible truths’.
Rather, history tells us of Socrates responding with legendary composure and calmness. Socrates left no written work, practically everything we know about Socrates is through the writings of his student and close aid, Plato. Plato’s accounts tell us of Socrates siding with what he believed to be true, rather than what he believed to be popular when telling the jury:
“So long as I draw breath and have my faculties, I shall never stop practicing philosophy and exhorting you and…
