Hermeneutical paradoxes in the trial of Socrates

Abstract

The logical role of the paradox is not to state a truth whose paradoxical nature lies in the difficulty we feel in maintaining it as true, but rather to state somefhing thaf will cause fo feel as fa/se something else we previously believed to be true. The Socrafic paradox, somefimes called the "moral paradox, " is convincing and true because if implicitly raises the question about the true good. The drama of Socrates' trial and death indeed iIIustrates a dilemma, in which on the one hand the philosopher cannot accept the way of I ife prescribed by his tradition but 0 n the other hand cannot offer an unquestionable alternative to it. The best approach to the Socratic problem is an ec/ectic one, using all the ancient sourees instead of championing a single author at the expense of the rest.