Podcast Episode Details

The Gadfly of Athens: Unraveling the Mystery of Socrates

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Episode 1229

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Join us as we step into the streets of Classical Athens to explore the life of Socrates, the enigmatic figure recognized as the first Western moral philosopher. Despite authoring no texts himself, Socrates changed the course of history, leaving behind a legacy known as the "Socratic problem"—the difficult task of reconstructing his philosophy from the contradictory accounts of his students, Plato and Xenophon, and the playwright Aristophanes.

In this episode, we dissect:

• The Man Who Knew Nothing: We examine the famous Socratic paradox where he claimed to possess no knowledge, yet exposed the ignorance of others through his relentless method of questioning, known as the elenchus.
• The Socratic Method: Discover how Socrates used irony and dialogue to strip away false beliefs, prioritizing the search for definitions of virtues like justice and courage.
• A Divine Voice: Learn about the daimonion, the mysterious inner voice that Socrates claimed warned him against making mistakes.
• Trial and Legacy: We recount the dramatic trial where he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth, leading to his defiant death by hemlock.

From his reputation as a "social gadfly" with a notorious physical appearance to his belief that "the unexamined life is not worth living," find out why this stoneworker's son remains a polarizing and essential figure in human thought.

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Published on 2 days, 13 hours ago