Irreverence was one of the charges against Socrates. The other was corrupting the youth. The tyrant Critias and the opportunistic playboy-general Alcibiades had been among Socrates’ followers. So here’s this guy who’s telling people to question the Good — and his students go on to do things like defecting to Sparta and running a murderous oligarchy. Even if that’s not what Socrates meant by questioning the Good, I can see how the Athenian citizens (survivors of the murderous oligarchy) might consider him a bit of an infohazard.
I’m not aware of a clear hypothesis about what hazardous info Socrates might have had that would’ve caused that. It seems much more likely that partially organized and therefore dangerous people, moreso than empty shells of ambition, would actively seek out the fellow whom the Oracle at Delphi declared the wisest man in the world, and that his track record at dissuading them from doing crazy and dangerous things was much less than 100%.
Irreverence was one of the charges against Socrates. The other was corrupting the youth. The tyrant Critias and the opportunistic playboy-general Alcibiades had been among Socrates’ followers. So here’s this guy who’s telling people to question the Good — and his students go on to do things like defecting to Sparta and running a murderous oligarchy. Even if that’s not what Socrates meant by questioning the Good, I can see how the Athenian citizens (survivors of the murderous oligarchy) might consider him a bit of an infohazard.
I’m not aware of a clear hypothesis about what hazardous info Socrates might have had that would’ve caused that. It seems much more likely that partially organized and therefore dangerous people, moreso than empty shells of ambition, would actively seek out the fellow whom the Oracle at Delphi declared the wisest man in the world, and that his track record at dissuading them from doing crazy and dangerous things was much less than 100%.