Does Socrates see himself as the most important teacher in the city?

Does Socrates see himself as the most important teacher in the city?

In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Socrates has to defend himself to the city of Athens. The city of Athens is at odds with Socrates’ philosophy; it contradicted several Athenian beliefs. The city believed that Socrates was an atheist, that he was responsible for corrupting the youth, and that he made the weaker argument the stronger. Socrates believed that he was the most important teacher in the city therefore he continued to defend his actions and beliefs even when his life was on the line. He saw himself as the most important teacher after his visit to the oracle. He believed it was his mission to change the Athenians viewpoints, and he was willing to die for what he believed in. Socrates forced the Athenians to think and to question how they lived their lives. He was a great philosophizer and he knew how important he was to the city.

The city did not share Socrates own view of himself as the most important teacher. They believed his philosophies were evil and they were willing to put him to death for his ideas. In Socrates’ first defense, he uses the story of the Delphic oracle. According to Socrates, the oracle once declared that no one was wiser than Socrates. At first Socrates thought the oracle to be wrong so he began to obtain evidence by conversing with wise people in order to refute the oracle:

He examined the politicians, poets, and artisans and found that they were almost completely ignorant (except for the artisans, who at least knew well their own areas of expertise), and that all thought they knew things, especially “the greatest things,” but in fact they did not know them. Since Socrates was at least aware of his own ignorance, he ranked himself above them in wisdom. (18)

Thus Socrates began to believe that he was the wisest person in the city. The oracle was a turning point in his life. Instead of focusing on astronomical and physical studies, he began to concern himself with moral and political opinions: “this turn to the examination of opinions brought Socrates into conflict with the city as such, for his doubt of the worth of generally accepted opinions was also a challenge to the most authoritative opinions, those which concern the city’s gods and the city’s laws…”(18). The fact that Socrates knew he was the wisest and that he began to concern himself with philosophies of the city shows that he saw himself as the most important teacher in the city.