Who Is Socrates Corrupt In Plato's Apology?

In Plato’s writing “Apology” Socrates is in court, facing his accusers, Meletus, Anytus and Lycon, who have made several claims against him. These accusations include that he is an “evildoer, a curious person who searches into things under the earth and in the heavens. He makes the weaker argument defeat the stronger and he teaches these doctrines to others”. He also accuses that Socrates is a corrupter of the youth and he does not believe in the gods of the state. He has other new divinities of his own.” (Plato, p.66). He is accused, essentially of corrupting the youth and impiety. Socrates is making his argument to the Athenian jury.

Socrates begins by coming across as humble as possible to the jury, apologizing for his unfamiliarity

He claims that in his ventures to find someone wiser than himself, he began examining everyone; friends and strangers. He claims that every person whom he met who was not wise only supported further the oracle’s claim of his superiority and so he found it is his duty to show that person that they were not wise. He claims that he did this, not for his own benefit, but to be a devout follower of the gods. Socrates then begins to explain how the young boys who were rich and had much free time enjoyed standing around, watching him cross-examine the pretenders, exposing their ignorance. Socrates’s method of questioning consisted of asking for more clarification or a definition of a particular word or point from the claimant. When the claimant attempts to explain his meaning, Socrates then critically re-examines the new claim, asking for further clarification, continuing until no more defects in the claimant’s logic can be found. Finding the true meaning of something rarely occurred, however, as the claimant would usually wind up frustrated and would find a reason to break away, departing from the conversation. While this method does not usually come to a conclusive truth about the meaning of something, it did however, help provide more clarity about what something was not. Socrates argues that this had led many exposed men to have ill will towards him and they simply stuck with the ready-made

Socrates asks Meletus if he charges that he teaches the youth not to acknowledge the same gods that the state acknowledges, but teaches them to acknowledge other gods instead. Meletus states yes, emphatically. He then asks for clarification, asking if he means to say that Socrates does not believe in any gods and that he is a complete atheist or if he does believe in some gods, just not the ones acknowledged by the state, to which Meletus claims Socrates is a complete atheist. Socrates then goes on to examine his claim asking Meletus if he is also saying that he, Socrates, does not believe that the sun and the moon are gods. Meletus exclaims that he assures the jury that Socrates does not believe that the sun and moon are gods and that he believes the sun and moon are stone and earth. Socrates then taunts Meletus asking him if he thinks he is prosecuting Anaxagoras claiming that that Anaxagoras’ doctrine is readily available in the marketplace and if he, Socrates, were to try and credit himself with such foolishness, the youth would think him a laughingstock. Socrates is then found guilty and sentenced to