Socrates' method was certainly perceived as dangerous to the status quo. Youngsters who came under his spell soon learned how to make themselves thoroughly unpleasant in every way. Powered up by Socrates' dialectical logic, their natural curiosity and questioning became an all-destructive weapon that made a nonsense of every accepted belief and value. Poisoning was too good for him. Today, in this argumentative age, the art of dialectic is no longer a threat.
Youngsters learn it in school.
Blair's government is actively promoting 'critical thinking' as an essential part of the schools curriculum. Another tame philosopher. That would really hurt. You can't blame philosophers for the way they look. A young Chinese professor of linguistics I met at the British Library a couple of weeks ago, described me to a friend after our first meeting as 'an owl'.