How did Socrates challenge Athenians who claimed to understand justice, courage, or piety?

Socrates challenged Athenians who claimed to understand concepts like justice, courage, or piety through a process of logical argumentation known as the Socratic method or elenchus.12

Rather than acting as a teacher, Socrates presented himself as an ignorant inquirer. He would ask prominent citizens to define a specific virtue—such as asking "What is piety?"—and then subject their answers to rigorous cross-examination. By asking a series of supplementary questions, he led his interlocutors to realize that their initial definitions were inconsistent with other beliefs they held.13

This process typically resulted in aporia, a state of intellectual impasse where the participants recognized their own lack of understanding. Socrates used this method to disabuse individuals of the complacent conviction that they or their society’s authority figures possessed true knowledge. Ultimately, he viewed this as a vital service to Athens, acting as a "gadfly" to awaken the city to the necessity of philosophical reflection and the pursuit of genuine virtue, which he believed was the only thing that truly mattered.314