In life, people are taught many different ways to do things. Based on their learning, they form diverse perspectives and make knowledgeable decisions with the information given at the time. Some of the decisions can be influenced by values, morals, beliefs, religion, experiences, families and the world in which one lives. All of these factors can support and influence an individual’s principles. In Plato’s Crito, a dialogue is captured between Crito and Socrates about his escape from prison. In his writings, Crito discusses his reasons and thoughts why Socrates should escape his fate. On the flip side, Socrates provides just as many reasons he should stay in prison even though it was unjust.
After reading Plato’s Crito, he is full of
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opinions why Socrates should not stay in prison due to the unjust situation. Crito considers Socrates as a mentor and a long-time friend. He makes several arguments as to why Socrates should escape from his unjust prison sentence. First, Crito believed that Socrates had great influence over the Athenian people and youth. He felt that he had made such an impact on others, but Socrates’ children would become orphan-like if he did not escape. They would not have a father, benefit from his great wisdom and teaching as many others had done. Crito was willing to make almost any sacrifice to help his friend. He felt Socrates’ death would reflect badly on his image and damage his reputation. People would think Crito valued money more than his friend’s life by not paying the money for his release or saving him from his unjust sentence. Crito tries to help reveal to Socrates, why he should escape from prison, but Socrates does not agree with his opinions. First, Socrates shares that he has had a happy and full seventy years of Athenian life. He feels that it would be odd to fear death at his age. Socrates argues that while the verdict of guilty was wrong, the process was followed and must be upheld. Socrates is a firm believer in doing the right things, and has strong moral beliefs. He believes in fairness and does not think anyone is above anyone else. Both the laws, binding in their entirety, and the city could be destroyed, if he escaped. Critos’ arguments do not help Socrates think any differently, as his beliefs are solid. Socrates believes everybody should be held accountable for what they have been accused of and should not be above the law. Socrates has gone his whole life abiding by the rules of his world and supporting his beliefs, so why start going against them now? Socrates is a strong man with pronounced values and a moral compass. As Socrates states in the reading, "We must examine whether it is just for me to try to get out of here."1 He does not let peoples’ ideas overshoot his beliefs. Even though his friends provide several reasons to escape, he will listen to it, but not just agree because someone else agrees with it. He will process it and make sure that it’s the right choice and the just thing to do. "If it is seen to be just, we will try to do so."2 Socrates thinks if it is just for him to escape from prison, he will, but until he reviews all key points he will not act upon someone's request. Socrates decides to stay in prison due to how unjust it would be to escape. Socrates thinks it would not only be unjust, but hurtful, shameful and disrespectful to the people in charge and the surrounding people. Crito believes it is just for Socrates to escape for the mere fact he is in prison for no reason. Socrates states to Crito, that if he were to get caught escaping from prison, it would not only be embarrassing and disrespectful to him, but also his family. Socrates believes that you get what you deserve and you are responsible for your actions, and you must be held accountable. He would rather accept his consequences, than to drag others into his dilemma. This helps depict what kind of person Socrates is and why he believes it is simply unjust to escape from the prison. Socrates is always trying to support the concept of doing the right thing.
"Do we say that one must never in any way do wrong willingly, or must one do wrong in one way and not in another?"3 Socrates tries to help people understand that mistakes are human nature, however to do wrongful things on purpose should not be tolerated. Crito agrees with Socrates statement, "So one must never do wrong."4 Crito believes in what Socrates is expressing, yet he wants Socrates to perform an unreasonable action and escape from prison. A big thing for Socrates is trust and being loyal to his family and city. "When one has come to an agreement that is just with someone, should one fulfill it or cheat on it?" Crito believes one should fulfill it. Which Socrates then states "If we leave here without the city's permission, are we harming people whom we should least do harm to? Are we sticking to a just agreement, or not?" Socrates thinks that if you commit to something you need to be a man of your word and follow through. If you make an agreement with someone, you should keep your word to the fullest extent. Socrates thinks he needs to adhere to the agreement of being in prison. He believes he shouldn’t leave unless someone tells him otherwise and to the just thing by upholding the decision. Again, Socrates doesn’t want to offend anyone or show disrespect, which shows his strong desire to always to the right
thing. Socrates believes everything happens for a reason. "As far as my beliefs go, if you seek in opposition to them you will speak in vain."5 Through the conversations, his arguments and innate beliefs, Socrates was able to accept his unfortunate verdict with his sense of dignity intact. Socrates tried his hardest to persuade Crito with his reasons, but ultimately was unable, even though he raised significant and validating points. His loyalty to the city and people were evident as this was where he chose to live, and therefore must tolerate its laws. In the bitter end, Socrates died an honest man, feeling like he did the best for himself and family, the city and its people, while keeping his notable honor and firm stance on justice. Being the religious person that Socrates is, he is a strong supporter in his spiritual beliefs and never wavers from his strong core, not matter what other opinion is suggested. He thinks if you speak opposing to what somebody says it is not only shows disrespect to them, but it is disrespectful to God. "However, if you think you can accomplish anything, speak."6 Socrates believes if you can support yourself with what you believe in, then you should speak so people can hear you. You should always stand by what you believe in. "Let it be then, Crito, and let us act in this way, since this is the way the god is leading us."7 God has a plan for everything and one should always follow the path of God, which will allow one to be led in the right direction. After reading Plato's Crito, I agree with Socrates for his strong sense of integrity in difficult and unfair situations. I admire his courage to always stand up for what he believes in and not let others influence him. Socrates courageously stood up for what he thought to be right based on his upbringing. Socrates’ decision to not escape from prison portrayed his remarkable character. One should never fear death, if they have lived and served a faithful life.
Crito on the other hand believes civil disobedience is sometimes morally legitimate in certain cases. He states “Your present situation itself shows clearly that the majority can do not just minor harms but very worst things to someone who’s been slandered in front of them” (pg.79) Crito tries to reason with Socrates by telling him how by abiding to these “just” laws is what got him in prison in the first place, and how he is going to be unjustly prosecuted because of it. He goes on by trying to persuade him that by escaping prison it wouldn’t classify as civil disobedience since he wouldn’t be harming anyone. If he stayed in prison it would seem as cowardness and seem irresponsible. Since Socrates has a responsibility towards his family
Socrates had a few reasons for accepting his punishments and not escaping the death sentence that he was handed. In hopes to convince Socrates to escape prison, his friend Crito visited him in prison before he was put to death. Crito initially began pleading with Socrates to escape because he did not want to lose a friend and he was afraid that people would think that he...
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen and Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society, will help to position Plato's Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.
Socrates' response to Crito's question “Why don't you escape if I'll provide you the means?” is that the primary criterion for moral action is justice, and escaping would be unjust, so he should not escape. Socrates reasons that if he were to escape, this would break the system of law enforcement since avoiding punishment when a city has deemed it necessary makes the law ineffectual if there is no consequence for breaking it. He would be a 'destroyer' of the law (Crito, 51a), an injustice he does not wish to commit.
Socrates was not guilty as charged; he had done nothing wrong, as seen in the Apology. Not even a priest could tell Socrates what he had done wrong religiously, Euthyphro wasn’t even able to give Socrates a precise definition of piety. It is then questioned by Crito why Socrates would remain to face a penalty for a crime he did not commit. In the Crito, it is explained why, although innocent, Socrates must accept the penalties his peers have set upon him. It is his peers that will interpret and enforce the laws, not the law which will enforce it. Even if the enforcers don’t deserve attention and respect because they have no real knowledge to the situation, Socrates had put himself under their judgment by going to the trial. Therefore, Socrates must respect the decisions made by the masses because the decisions are made to represent the laws, which demand each citizen’s respect.
In Plato’s “Crito”, Socrates, who is convicted of spreading false beliefs to the youth in Athens is in an argument with his friend, Crito. Crito tries to convince Socrates of the reality of his sentence and that it would only make sense for him to escape. He gives many reasons of why escaping is necessary and moral. Crito states,
While freedom is a wonderful thing, there are other things in this world that can be more important than freedom. During the first third of Christianity and Culture in Dialogue, we read many stories about what other communities besides our own love and what binds them together.. While we have read several texts from many authors, the first author’s was the one that I found the most compelling when talking about what communities love. In Plato’s Crito, Socrates is in jail for corrupting the youth and for not believing in the proper gods. While he is there, his friend comes to offer him a plan of escape to avoid being executed. Everything was set, the life he would soon lead was planned, and the guards were already paid for his escape. However
What is truly real, and what is not? This question is one which has been pondered deeply throughout human history, and it seemingly has no definitive answer. To understand what is truly a part of reality, and what isn’t, may be an impossible feat. However, two famous works created by humans from two distant time periods attempt to dissect and analyze this philosophical question. The first, The Allegory of the Cave, was written by the great Greek philosopher, Plato, who was born in 428 B.C. in Athens, Greece. The Allegory of the Cave is a piece of a larger work of Plato’s, The Republic, which is a collection of works concerning political philosophy. The Republic is his most famous work and what he is best known for in today’s world. The second
I have to side with Crito when it comes to leaving Socrates’s friends and family behind just because Socrates is too proud to break the laws. Socrates sounds like he does not want to put forth the effort to leave Athens and try to live in exile just to stay alive a little longer. While it is moral to obey laws at all costs, I feel that the moral “rules” should be disregarded when you are served unjustly by those same laws. Socrates is content with the life he has lived and has no intentions in breaking the laws now, which he has so justly followed throughout his whole life. The whole meaning in Crito, is defined quite clearly. Socrates believes in the always obeying the laws no matter the circumstance, even if that means sitting in a prison until you are to be executed unjustly.
During this essay, the trail of Socrates found in the Apology of Plato will be reviewed. What will be looked at during this review is how well Socrates rebuts the charges made against him. We will also talk about if Socrates made the right decision to not escape prison with Crito. Socrates was a very intelligent man; this is why this review is so critical. In Plato’s Apology, it seems that overall Socrates did an effective job using the 3 acts of the mind.
In Plato’s Crito, Socrates demonstrates his belief that character/soul is of the highest value. Socrates is in prison, wrongfully accused, and Crito is trying to convince Socrates to escape instead of being executed. Crito, being a cultural relativist, stresses the importance of public opinion in his argument for Socrates escape. Socrates attempts to explain the difference between reason and emotion. Socrates believes rational analysis is the only way to seek ethical insight, and that public opinion should be rejected because some opinions are valued more than others are. Using the analogy of an athlete and trainer, Socrates compares the trainer to one’s conscience. If the athlete listens to incorrect advice from others, he can injure, or corrupt, his body. Similarly, if an individual listens to the wrong moral authority, his character/soul would become
In Plato’s Crito, the title character arrives to help Socrates break out of incarceration, but Socrates refuses. Crito made his most compelling argument by stating “I think you are betraying your sons by going away and leaving them, when you could bring them up and educate them” (45b-c). Crito later amended his argument by adding, “You seem to me to choose the easiest path, whereas one should choose the path a good and courageous man would choose, particularly when
In the contemporary world , culture refers to something as vast as the distinctive way of life of an entire community. Culture is everywhere and everyone has it; it is the mass of ideas, traditions, habits, stories, beliefs, and perspectives on life passed on to us from generation to generation through literature, language, art, myth, religion, family, and various other social institutions. Plato had many different ideas when it comes to human behavior and philosophy. Some of those things can be applied to today’s society, some of them can’t. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which is probably his most famous theory, as well as Krishnamurti’s essay on cultural conditioning of a mind, they both focus on cultural values and living within a culture and can still be seen in today’s society.
n the Crito, a variety of unfortunate events occur to Socrates; he becomes imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, being framed falsely. While awaiting his execution due to injustice a dear friend of Socrates, Crito, has arranged for his escape. While confined, Socrates has a conversation with Crito, that in order to avoid being executed for unjust reasons he must escape that night. Socrates refuses to take Crito’s advice of escaping from prison and escaping his dying fate. Socrates was always a man who believe there was no such thing as a “coincidence”, that it was all part of fate; that everything that happens, is for a reason… Thus, sees his imprisonment as part of his destiny. Time passes by, and he has now been in prison for about a month, due to the fact that no execution of a criminal could be done until a certain ship shall arrive on its return from the island of Delos. If this ship does not return from the island, Socrates could
...ns. Why would he do this if he did not see the laws of Athens as just? In order to fulfill the agreement he has made with Athenian law, Socrates must accept the punishment he is given, though he feels that his being punished is Athens wronging him. It would be wrong, by his view, to escape from prison, though he would not be pursued, because he would be breaking his agreement to obey Athenian law. Since he and Crito previously agreed that one must never do wrong, he simply must stay in jail until his death. This is merely one example of the way in which Socrates uses a method of logical dialogue in order to make his point. He appears to be unmatched in his skills of deduction and consistently demonstrates his love of knowledge and truth. Socrates exemplifies all that is philosophy, both as a student and a teacher, because of his constant, active pursuit of wisdom.