Question

In Plato's The Apology of Socrates, what did the oracle at Delphi say about Socrates? How did Socrates initially react? What did he then claim to discover about what the oracle meant, and how did he discover it? Socrates, famously, said "the unexamined life is not worth living" (page 39 of The Apology of Socrates). How is his discussion of those who fear death, and how he claims to be different from them, an example of how he tried to live an examined life? How is his discussion of those who fear death, and how he claims to be different from them, an example of what he says the oracle at Delphi meant? In Socrates' examination of Meletus, he shows that Meletus has failed to examine something very important. So what did Meletus fail to examine? How do we know he failed to examine it? And why does it matter that he failed?

Answer 1

The Oracle of Delphi proclaimed Socrates to be the wisest man in Athens. Socrates, however, responded not by boasting or celebrating, but by trying to prove the Oracle wrong. Socrates decided to look someone wiser than him. He began questioning people if they knew what could be considered worthwhile in life. Dissatisfied with the answers he received, Socrates found that people gave pretentious responses, claiming to know something even though they did not. This exercise lead Socrates to realize that the Oracle might be right after all. He concluded that was the wisest man in Athens not because he had all the answers, but because he knew that he did not. In other words, he alone was prepared to admit his own ignorance rather than pretend to know something he did not.

Please post the other questions separately as we are supposed to answer just one question or four sub parts of the same question.