Zachary Davis: Welcome to Writ Large, a podcast about how books change the world. What is it about Socrates’s activity that suddenly has become too, appears so dangerous or problematic that he is brought up on treason charges? And that already sets up a revealing problem, that there is something dangerous about this activity of philosophizing and of political philosophizing in particular. Steven Smith: But it's revealing that the person we think of as, in many ways, the first political philosopher, is also the subject of what might be thought of, also was one of the first treason trials. They were seen as a threat to the ancient Athenian government, which felt that Socrates was undermining democracy and corrupting society. He sought truth by questioning everything, including society. Zachary Davis: Socrates believed in free-thought. Today, we might say this is a treason trial. He's lived virtually his entire life in Athens, and he is brought up on charges of disbelieving the gods of the city and corrupting the young. Steven Smith: Socrates is about 70 years old at the time of his trial. Zachary Davis: In 399 BC, the Greek philosopher Socrates, was on trial.
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