Gadfly (philosophy and social science)

Part of a series on
Socrates
"I know that I know nothing" "The unexamined life is not worth living" Gadfly Trial of Socrates
Eponymous concepts
Socratic dialogue Socratic fallacy Socratic intellectualism Socratic irony Socratic method Socratic paradox Socratic problem Socratic questioning
Pupils
Plato Xenophon Aeschines Antisthenes Aristippus
Related topics
Academic skepticism Aristotelianism Bibliography Cultural depictions Cynicism Cyrenaics Megarians Platonism Stoicism The Clouds Virtue ethics
Category
v t e

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.