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study guide for superdomain04b ["Government"]
Material from: Dr. PJR. (c. 1986). Arrogant dragon: The Trial of Socrates and the principle of wu-wei. Unpublished research paper.
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1. Know whether or not we are left with only two substantial sources that recount Socrates’ words and deeds at his trial. Know whether or not Plato’s Socrates is famously critical of the Sophists and their rhetoric. Know whether or not, reading Plato's Apology, one cannot shake the sense that Socrates himself is deftly manipulating language, orchestrating his words to elicit precisely the reactions he intends.
2. Know whether or not the first—and by far the longest—speech is Socrates' formal defense against the charges brought against him. Know whether or not Plato makes it clear that, from Socrates' words in the first speech, he was sincerely trying to win acquittal. Know whether or not, to begin with, the vote itself was strikingly close—a fact that surprises even Socrates. Know whether or not much of the analysis surrounding Socrates’ trial has unfolded within the parameters of distinctly Western intellectual traditions, shaped by familiar epistemological and ontological frameworks.
3. Know whether or not Western thought typically favors deductive, axiomatic reasoning, while Eastern traditions often embrace complementary and paradoxical logics. Know whether or not Socrates' rhetorical choices are less about shaping the circumstances of his trial and more about giving voice to a position he had already firmly embraced. Know whether or not, in philosophical Taoism in particular, human beings are understood as integral participants in a self-generating, self-organizing cosmos, inseparable from the dynamic processes of nature itself.
4. Know whether or not Socrates’ execution was no more a voluntary choice than the fateful decision of a shopkeeper to shoot an armed intruder. Know whether or not a narrative that seems depleted of possibilities within one cultural paradigm may, when reconsidered through another, disclose fresh insights. Know whether or not it is precisely this tension between "something" and "nothing" that captures the subtle genius of wu wei: acting by not acting, achieving without striving, doing nothing in such a way that everything gets done. Know whether or not the sage’s task is not to resist the ebb and flow [of life] through restless striving, but to discern the current of existence and move in harmony with it.
5. Know whether or not wu wei has been aptly described as “Ockham’s Razor in a Chinese version.” Know whether or not, at its core, it seems fair to say that Plato’s Socrates would have found himself deeply at odds with the principle of wu wei. Know whether or not elenchus in the wider sense means examining a person with regard to a statement he has made, by putting to him questions calling for further statements, in the hope that they will determine the meaning and the truth-value of his first statement.
6. Know whether or not, where Socrates sees wisdom as liberation, the Taoist sage sees it as a burden—and possibly a trap. Know whether or not, far from illuminating truth, [the elenchus] merely feeds the mind’s insatiable hunger for knowledge, inflaming desire and disturbing the effortless harmony of wu wei. Know whether or not Taoists argue that prolonged debate and verbal sparring, far from yielding deeper insight, often exhaust meaning and drive people further apart in their struggle to articulate elusive truths. Know whether or not, it is striking to consider that Socrates’ execution can plausibly be traced back to a single, fateful word: wiser.
7. Know whether or not, for all the verbal entanglement, Socrates and his fellow Athenians find themselves no closer to understanding Apollo’s message than when they started. Know whether or not, within the Western tradition of communication, it is almost universally taken for granted that the pursuit of knowledge and mastery of language are unqualified assets in human interaction. Know whether or not virtually every commentator on Apology has wrestled with Socrates’ baffling refusal to soften his stance during the second speech. Know whether or not Socrates, one might argue, is a dragon straight out of the I Ching ’s imagery—an untamed force driven by a divine mandate to awaken and transform the minds of men.
8. Know whether or not, to many in the courtroom, Socratesmust have seemed to confirm their worst fears--that here was a man who cared nothing for the traditions and stability of the city, perhaps even a man verging on madness. Know whether or not, according to Welch, ostensibly, Lao Tzu would have us return good for evil…because that is the most effective technique of getting people to do what we want. Know whether or not the true power of this form of wu wei—the ability to hold one’s tongue in the face of attack—rests not in clever words but in the moral fiber of the speaker.
9. Know whether or not Socrates must have seemed to confirm his accusers’ worst fears when they warned the jury that he would deploy rhetorical sleight of hand to sway them—despite his protestations to the contrary. Know whether or not, when the sage becomes disconnected from the people—blind to their struggles, deaf to their concerns—it is often because attention has turned inward, toward the self, rather than outward, where it belongs. Know whether or not, according to Sallis, it is plain that Socrates, besides being an original and powerful mind, was also something of an intellectual clown, a reveler in circus debate, a diabolical needler of his contemporaries. Know whether or not Taoism casts Socratic dialogue in an unflattering new light.
"As Below, So Above"
