Crito's Unlimited Capacity

Unlimited Capacity: One of the ways in which Crito attempts to convince Socrates to escape is through Crito’s concept of the public having unlimited capacity, which is the concept that the public has the power to ultimately determine what is bad, but Socrates makes the point that if they have the unlimited capacity to do bad, then they would also have the same to do good which they do not have either. He makes this statement through saying “For they aren’t capable of making someone either prudent or imprudent but do whatever they happen to do by chance.” (44d). Therefore, when it came to who they deemed was worthy to die or live it was solely by chance and cannot change the impact that person has and will have on others.

Just Teachings and

He was justly brought to the prison on charges that he had been entirely charged for. This meant that he was not in the prison unjustly, but rather to the people who brought him there it was entirely just. Since this is the case, if he would escape it would be seen as the unjust thing to do and therefore would be going against his own teachings. That leads him to make a point where it would be impossible for him to continue teaching what is just and unjust if he had not lived up to his own teachings himself (48c). He is more concerned by living honestly and justly than living at all.

Knowing Injustice: Socrates makes a point in opposition to Crito where he says that one cannot purposefully do injustice to someone. Even when a person is retaliating it is wrong to inflict an injustice upon the person. This also means the same thing when it comes to breaking agreements. One can inflict pain upon a person if an injustice occurs such as breaking a promise or leaving a jail cell. Therefore, if he were able to persuade those that had thrown him in jail to let him go then he could, but otherwise he would not be able to due to the fact that it would be a known injustice (49a).