What did Socrates teach which lead to his conviction that he spoiled youth and taught other Gods?

Question

Socrates was finally sentenced to death because his judges declared that he spoiled youth by his teachings and that he learned other Gods. But what precisely did he teach?

Answer 1

This is actually quite a complicated question! Firstly, Socrates was never really a teacher. He did not want to be a teacher; instead, he wanted to guide people in analyzing their own beliefs to discover the gaps in their own knowledge (maybe that's a teacher to some but not to him). So, Socrates instead engaged in conversations with strangers. Speaking in general terms, Socrates would ask a series of questions to whomever he is conversing with and point out the flaws in their own thoughts. Most of Plato's dialogues were aporetic given that those who dared to converse with Socrates ended in a state of confusion.

Secondly, there were many reasons why Socrates was convicted -- a lot of them, my opinion were due to the historical context and associations Socrates had with those who were anti-democratic. In some dialogues Socrates mentions other spirits existing outside of the Athenian Gods; however, he was not preaching in any sense -- merely philosophizing! Socrates' trial continues to baffle historians, for it is Socrates' death that truly sparked a philosophical reexamination of life -- maybe this is what Socrates wanted.

Anyways, if you are curious I'd highly recommend reading some of Plato's Dialogues -- maybe Crito to start out with?

Best

Carolyn