Document Type
Article
Abstract
In many important ways, the trial of Socrates was not just the trial of the century, nor even the trial of the millennium. It predated the trial of Jesus, which is important for many other reasons, but Socrates’ contribution to how we think about justice and the rule of law is without equal. This Article explores the ways that this fifth-century B.C. trial, located geographically on the margin of what came to be known as the West, is at the center of what makes us a civilization. It is not simply about the drama, nor the politics of free inquiry, nor freedom of conscience. It is about the discovery of principles of justice, which may be discerned even in defeat. And it is the character of Socrates, in his scrupulous commitment to truth and the rule of law, that inspires us to this day.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.70657/SDLR.V71.I1.47
Recommended Citation
Jonathan K. Van Patten,
The Trial of Socrates,
71
S.D. L. Rev.
47
(2026).
Available at:
https://red.library.usd.edu/sdlrev/vol71/iss1/8