Socrates, Morality and the Concept of Free Will

If there is no free will, there can be no morality. Morality is the concern with the distinction between good and evil or right and wrong. Reading from the apology, Socrates reminds Crito of some general principles when Crito tries to persuade him to escape from the prison.

The conversation states when Crito comes to meet Socrates in prison and ask him to escape. He tries to convince him by saying that he knows some people who are willing to rescue him and get him out of the country a quite moderate sum. Socrates appreciates his warm feeling very much. But it has always been Socrates’ nature to never accept advice from any of his friends unless reflection shows that it is the best course that season offers. Socrates then reminds him of the general principles now as before.

He talks about being safe from the prospect of dying tomorrow in all human probability and not likely to have his judgment upset by this impending. Socrates answers first that one should not worry about public opinion, but only listen to wise and expert advice. He thinks that she should not regard all the opinions that people hold. One should regard the good

ones and reject the bad ones. For him, the opinion of being wise being good and the opinion of foolish is bad. When a man is in training, he should pay attention to all the praise that comes from a qualified person and not from the general public. One ought to regulate his actions and exercise and eat and drink by the judgment of his instructor who has the expert knowledge. If he disobeys the one man, who is the expert, he will suffer some bad effect, which would definitely harm his body.
Socrates speaks about the laws of the Athens, which explains why it will be wrong for him to escape from the cell.

He says that the citizen is bound to the Laws like a child is bound to a parent, and so to go against the Laws would be like striking a parent. The Laws conclude, then, that Socrates has no reason to break the Laws now: he has had every opportunity to leave or disagree, and the Laws have made no effort to deceive him in any way. In fact, until now, Socrates has expressed great satisfaction with the Laws. There is a part of us, which is improved by healthy actions and ruined by unhealthy ones. Socrates refers to an argument with Crito in which he considers whether or not it is right for him to escape without an official discharge. If it turns out to be right, he must make an attempt to get away and if not, he must let it

drop.
According to Socrates’ principle if he leaves this place without first persuading the state to let him go, it would cause injury and therefore not acting in accordance with the agreement. According to him if he were to break from prison now, having so consistently validated the social contract, he would be making himself an outlaw who would not be welcome in any other civilized state for the rest of his life. And when he dies, he will be harshly judged in the underworld for behaving unjustly toward his city's laws. Thus, Socrates convinces Crito that it would be better not to attempt an escape.
In my opinion, it is being able to do what they want, but just because they can do that doesn’t mean they should do all what they want. There are limitations of what a person can do and having free will is ability to do what you want as long as it is right. It doesn’t mean you are free to do anything wrong. But talking about today’s life a person could have just try to escape from the cell without thinking of anything. People now days don’t care about what other think of them and what would be the effect that if they do something good or bad on others life. People are so busy in their own life’s that no one cares or worries about what’s going on in the outside world, which even could effect their life’s. Socrates was a wise and loyal person which included multiplex ideas, get deep into to find the truth and apply that, uncover assumptions and in simple words his thinking was whey beyond than a normal person and which he applied on his life. Which is very impressive and hard to apply on ourselves specially like in today’s culture.
According to the current scenarios, we have to pay taxes and submit to the mandates of lawmakers and policemen but that top down kind of coercion does not make up very much of our lives. The kind of coercion people experience most everyday is the kind they get from the people around them. It is the people that keep themselves “in line” by attacking each other for expressing dissenting opinions. As soon as we propose that maybe we as a society, don’t need a government, we are immediately attacked by everyone, our friends, our co-workers, our families, everyone. We get laughed at, get told we are stupid and naïve, get told stories about how some government granted help to someone they care about with the implication that you don’t care about people etc.
I find it absolutely ridiculous that people think that without a government all hell will break lose. We keep each other “in line” better than any government possibly could. And to live with these kinds of coercive elements in our lives is truly to be un-free. The really important thing is not to live, but to live well.