Gadfly (philosophy and social science)

{{short description|Person who interferes with the status quo of a society or community}}

A gadfly is a person who interferes with the status quo of a society or community by posing novel, potentially upsetting questions, usually directed at authorities. The term has a modern use but it was originally associated with the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, as portrayed in Plato's Apology when Socrates was on trial for his life.

History

=Socrates=

The term "gadfly" ({{langx|grc|μύωψSee {{cite journal | url = https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-hellenic-studies/article/gadfly-or-spur-the-meaning-of-in-platos-apology-of-socrates/EAC4EA75997B39D8F0EFF8AC68923279 | title = Gadfly or Spur? The Meaning of ΜΎΩΨ in Plato's Apology of Socrates| date = 2017| doi = 10.1017/S007542691700012X| last1 = Marshall| first1 = Laura A.| journal = The Journal of Hellenic Studies| volume = 137| pages = 163–174| url-access = subscription}}}}, mýopsSee {{cite web | url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0068:text=comm:book=3:commline=277 | title = commentary for book 3, line 277, out of George W. Mooney's Commentary on Apollonius: Argonautica}}) was used by Plato in the Apology{{cite web|url = https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plat.Apol.30e&lang=original|title = Apology 30e}} to describe Socrates' acting as an uncomfortable goad to the Athenian political scene, like a spur or biting fly arousing a sluggish horse.

During his defense when on trial for his life, Socrates, according to Plato's account, pointed out that dissent, like the gadfly, was easy to swat, but the cost to society of silencing individuals who were irritating could be very high: "If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me" because his role was comparable to that of a gadfly: "to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth".{{cite web|title=Ron Kaye: The incessant buzzing of the gadflies|website=Los Angeles Times |date=11 June 2011 |url=https://www.latimes.com/socal/glendale-news-press/news/tn-gnp-0612-kaye-story.html|access-date=6 January 2025}}

Dominic Scott notes that in the Apology, the allusion speaks well of Socrates, whereas in the Meno, the image which compares Socrates to a stingray who "numbs" his interlocutors into silence and confusion has the opposite effect.Scott, Dominic (2006), Plato's 'Meno' , p. 69, Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|0-521-64033-4}}

=Modern politics=

The image used by Socrates is applied in modern politics: a gadfly is someone who persistently challenges people in positions of power, the status quo or a popular position.{{cite news|first=Jennifer|last=Liberto|title=Publix uses law to boot gadfly|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/08/State/Publix_uses_law_to_bo.shtml|work=St. Petersburg Times|date=8 August 2007|access-date=22 June 2008}} For example, Morris Kline wrote, "There is a function for the gadfly who poses questions that many specialists would like to overlook. Polemics is healthy."Why the Professor Can't Teach (1977), page 238