- Source
- Apology
- Date
- 4th century BCE
- Local voice
- Dialogue speaker · Socrates
- English wording
- Benjamin Jowett — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning of “I shall obey God rather than you.”
Socrates presents moral and philosophical duty as more binding than compliance with pressure from political authority.
Where does it come from?
Apology, Jowett translation; Socrates says he would continue practicing philosophy even if acquittal were conditioned on silence.
Why the local voice matters
Socrates says this to the men of Athens in Plato’s Apology while refusing a hypothetical condition that he stop practicing philosophy.
