"Socrates was motivated by a desire to combat what he viewed as forces creeping against morality. Socrates was disturbed by what he perceived to be the moral complacency of the Athenian citizens; he watched with concern as they lived their lives in a selfish, unreflective haze, focusing on gaining and increasing their own power and using the theories of the Sophists to justify their attitude. His solution was to act as a “gadfly,” stinging his fellow citizens into moral self-examination... The unexamined life, he declared, was not worth living, and so he would force everyone he encountered to reflect on their lives, their beliefs, and their motivations."
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Sparknotes The Republic by Plato Summary by Sparknotes
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Complacency
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Complacency
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