The Trial of Socrates
In the year 399 BCE, Socrates was put to death by the most sophisticated and enlightened city the ancient world had ever seen. He is almost universally recognized as a heroic martyr, wronged by his petty countrymen in a travesty of justice, and his trial has much to say to us today about political science and the philosophy of law. In this course we will spend three weeks on a close reading of Plato’s dialogues surrounding Socrates’ trial and death: the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. We will then turn to an examination of the jurisprudence of juries, religious freedom, and the death penalty through the study of three precedent-setting court cases.

Samuel Hage is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Tulane University. He received his BA from Middlebury College in 2016 and an MA from St. John’s College in 2020.
Jeffrey Hetzel is a practicing attorney, former U.S. district court clerk, and Supreme Court clerk for the upcoming 2025–26 session. He received his BA from Middlebury College in 2014 and his JD from Stanford Law School in 2020./