Overview
I'd like to hear what you think about Socrates' reputation for being such a wise man. As you now know from the lessons in Module 14, and from Chapter 8, Socrates was convinced that there is no such thing as an evil or bad person. In his view, the only reason anybody would do something morally wrong would be because they didn't know any better. So ignorance is the source of wrongdoing as far as Socrates was concerned. Imagine the implications! Nobody does anything mean or evil on purpose! All of his accusers who wanted him to leave town before the trial, and then (during the trial) who wanted him dead--Socrates couldn't bring himself to say to his students that he resented those men for being mean and vindictive. For him, they were just misguided. This has parallels to modern psychology where some psychologists will claim there is no such thing as a "bad child," only poor upbringing. So here we come full circle concerning the concept of evil (Chapter 1)! What would you say? Was this an expression of Socrates' wisdom, that he wouldn't attribute evil intentions to anybody? Or was it actually Socrates who was misguided and naive? Either way, it cost him his life, trying to teach his hateful accusers about truth, reason, and values. So what do you think? How wise was Socrates really?