Challenging Socratic Allegiance: An Analysis of Athenian Laws

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In the Crito, Socrates makes some surprisingly strong claims about the voice of the Laws of Athens, which speaks to him and explains why it is unjust to escape the prison. He claims that the citizens are bound to the Laws, and people ought to follow it. If one breaks it, it would cause great harm to the whole country. I will argue that the Athens does not held together by the Laws. I will also claim that neither Socrates nor citizens have an agreement with the laws. Socrates states that the Laws exist for its own purpose. The citizen is bound to the laws like a child is bound to a parent. So, to go against the Laws is like striking a parent. The Laws point out the role they have played in shaping Socrates, and how important their relationship …show more content…

If Socrates do have an agreement with the Laws, he can persuade the Laws that he is wrongfully imprisoned, he should be free to leave without acting unjustly. But the point is the Laws did not sentenced him. It is the human accusers who say he is wrong and they used the Laws to sentence him to death. All the juries in the court believe that he did corrupted the young. Yet, there are no witnesses were summed to the court. The jury were voted on what they believe he has done to the Athens. Therefore, there is no such thing as an agreement between each citizen and the Laws. Socrates’ argument clearly suggest that the difficulty here is one of distinguishing between the Laws themselves and the human accusers who have sentenced Socrates. Regardless, In The Apology, Socrates failed to convince his accusers that he was innocent, and they used the Laws to sentence him to death. It is the human accusers who have sentenced Socrates not the …show more content…

When discussing the soul, we are often given the image of the soul imprisoned by the body. Thus, death is a kind of liberation from this prison. Only through death can our soul achieve that release where we won’t make choose base on the distraction. Socrates concludes that the soul is what goes through states of change. Surely, Socrates wants to argue that the body dies while the soul lives on, free from the body. The Soul is something distinct from the part of the human body, something that enters the body and imbues it life, but that can exist independently of it. The soul gives the body life, but has no life independent of the body. Thus, the soul is the master of the body. Having wrapped up his myth, Socrates remarks that the time has come for him to drink the poison. He states that after his is death, his soul will leave his body and will live on eternally. The body that left behind is not Socrates, because Socrates’ soul will no longer inhabit

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