Socrates tries to justify to the court in Athens as to why he should not be convicted for the charge of negatively influencing the youth. In the passage, he clearly articulates that he was different from other people thus he was instrumental in initiating various discussions in the society which will lead to the betterment of the situation (Seeskin, 1982). Therefore, if he were not present, there was a likelihood that there would be dormancy as there will be no one to point out patterns, trends, and relationships between various phenomenon.
The strong statements by Socrates are justified as he elaborates in the prior section of the Apology why he feels that God chose him over other people. He recounts of how the Pythian Prophetess at Delphi made the pronouncement to Chaerephon that there was no man wiser hand Socrates. The mission to find out whether the oracle’s statement was true was systematic and thorough thus its conclusions could not be objectively undermined. The situation arises since Socrates went and interacted with people he thought were wiser than him such as politicians, poets, and artisans (Van Waerdt, 1993). One common trend in all of these individuals was that they thought highly of themselves as being wise while in the real sense they were not. Therefore, the prophetess’ statements turned out to be true, and this explains why Socrates feels that he is a gadfly sent by God to the Athenian society.
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The passage explains why a man of Socrates position would be sure to receive criticism, opposition, and hatred from a majority of the people. Due to his heightened wisdom, he had to help his society by “…fastening upon… arousing and persuading and reproaching…” them (Seeskin, 1982 p.99). If I were the one making the ruling, I would find Socrates not guilty for many of his accusers were driven by envy, selfishness, and disregard for the truth.
References
Seeskin, K. (1982). Is the Apology of Socrates a parody?. Philosophy and Literature , 6 (1), 94-105. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/418852/summary
Vander Waerdt, P. A. (1993). Socratic Justice and Self-Sufficiency: The Story of the Delphic Oracle in Xenophon's Apology of Socrates. https://philpapers.org/rec/WAESJA
