Comparison Between Crito and Apology

Socrates was a Greek philosopher, who is one of the founders of western philosophy. Socrates never wrote down his ideas or thoughts; his student, Plato, wrote down his ideas and thoughts. Socrates was accused of expressing there were different Gods and he was brought to trial in 399.B.C.E. Socrates character, in the different passages I read, Euthyphro, Apology and Citro are a little contradictory. Also if the act of persuading the state is the only alternative to blind obedience, why did Socrates' in both of specifically in his defense and generally in his career make so little effort to persuade the people when they were acting unjustly? In this essay I hope to demonstrate how Socrates character contradicts in these different passages and

Socrates motives for not escaping could also be understood by his principles. His principle says, “And a good life is equivalent to a just and honorable one.”(1). Socrates believes and lives by doing well to himself and other people. Even though staying in prison would cause him physical damage, he is willing to sacrifice his body in order to save his soul. Because of his belief in living an honorable life, Socrates reasons to stay in prison rather than escaping.

In the Crito, Socrates believes that breaking the laws of the city harms all of society. The consequences of escaping the city outweigh the benefits for it puts his family, his friends, and himself in danger. He believes in a personal morality that one must live a good and just life, and not just any life. If Socrates breaks the law then he would not be acting justly,

The apology to me does not really feel like an apology. While Socrates addresses the audience of his accusers, he does not sound apologetic. To me, he actually sounds as though he has a higher than thou view of himself based on the oration of an oracle. While this oracle says that, he is the wisest man in all of Athens he goes around trying to disprove it, in the process inflating his ego. At this point, he starts to remind me of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. – I know I am smarter than you are, and I have no qualms about telling you because your stupid, we both know it and you just proved it -- Although he does claim that it was a Gods will that he do it. As stated before, an oracle said that he was the most intelligent

On a more ethical level, Crito presents two reasons for why Socrates should escape prison. Crito thinks that it is not just for Socrates to give up his life when he can save it. If he stayed, he would be aiding his enemies in wronging him unjustly, and would thus be acting unjustly himself. Secondly, accepting death means that Socrates is showing no concerns for his family’s fate, and by escaping, he could live in exile and raise and educate his sons. Those reasons are what made Crito believe that Socrates should not give up his life and should escape and live in

In the Crito however Socrates shifts his views toward obeying the laws. He says that the laws have given him birth, upbringing, and education. They have given every citizen of Athens a share of fine things. If the laws are not to any one citizens liking, the law allows that person to leave and take his property with him. So, anyone who stays in Athens is making an agreement with the laws to obey them. If one does break the law they are committing an

Owing to this fact, fleeing from Athens without permission or notification to the authorities would actually be violating the laws of the land and participating in ‘wrong’ actions- which was the direct opposite of the ‘goodness’ that he believed in. Socrates had always been a forthright advocate for the Athenian political and legal system. Owing to the agreement between him and the city authorities, he was also the beneficiary of an unknown quantity of benefits. Moreover, for him to fully enjoy the benefits of what was provided to him by the city of Athens, he had to in return give up something. In this case, it was his freedom of choice and action where there was a clash between his personal views and the stipulations of Athenian law.

The irony of Plato’s Apology is that Socrates is not apologizing for his actions. Instead, he is merely defending them. Socrates is on trial for corrupting the youth, and believing in spirits that Athens does not. Socrates does not believe that his trial is fair because the accusations of the city are subjective, and he knows that he cannot win. Socrates shows willingness to break the law when he refuses to stop questioning because he is uncovering truths. Even though the State sees this at unlawful, his actions are helping improve the city. In Socrates’ Defense, he gives an example of him breaking the law when he refused to have ten generals arrested for not rescuing others. He felt that they were not at fault, and was willing to break the law even if it meant he could die. Socrates admits that if they offered to acquit him on the condition that he could no

In the Crito, Socrates explains that one’s moral duty to obey the law has many reasoning. An interesting explanation he had given that one has the responsibility to their city even if they think that the city is treating them unfairly. Socrates explains to Crito that him being born to the city (Athens) and living there until he is seventy he has taken on an agreement to be a citizen and follow their rules and regulations even if he disagrees with it. Socrates asks Crito “When one has

To this question, first Socrates says that he should not revenge injustice. Because doing injustice is bad in any circumstances (Crito 49b), to return injustice just because of having injustice done onto himself would bad also (Crito 49c). Therefore Socrates should not commit injustice just to get even with Athens. Injustice is bad because it harms, and disobedience to the law would harm the city (Crito 50b); so it seems that to disobey the law would be an injustice. But why should Socrates obey the law of the city? Socrates reasons that since the city has done him great benefactions, such as giving birth to his life, taking care of his physical upbringing and his education, and granting him long years of benefits from the legal system (Crito 50e - 51c), Socrates owns the state a strong duty of gratitude just as a child would own to his father. One of those duties is to obey the state (like how a child obeys his parents), which always has included the possibility of death such as in times of war (Crito 51b). Socrates should obey the city because he has made an agreement to do so. This agreement is the social contract that he has implicitly accepted and lived under for 70 years. This contract is legitimate because Socrates had a thorough understanding of the legal system (Crito 51e - 52a), he did not leave the city when he was given the fair chance all his life (Crito 51 c-e), and that he

In Apology and Crito, Plato portrays Socrates as a man committed to saving his city even if it meant his death, and uses Socrates to show role of philosophy in the city. Socrates believed philosophy upheld the integrity of the city, and heroically led by example when he fought against the growing greed, close-mindedness, and immorality he saw in Athens. Socrates first fought against the greed he saw in Athens, trying to persuade the people of Athens "Not care for your… your wealth in preference to...the best possible state of your soul" (32-33). He traveled around the city, telling those he found guilty of greed to be ashamed of putting money above all else. He not only preached against greed, but he also lived a life free of it.

Socrates, contrary to what Crito says, feels that he has an implied contract with the State. He believes that his family staying in Athens and raising him there was the greatest compliment they could have given him, so he feels that he owes it to the State to accept its laws and to remain a willing partner to the State. Socrates’ feelings were summed up on page 64 when he says:

Crito is the play about the actual character Crito offering Socrates a second opportunity to living; he, however, rejects his proposal for a few reasons which he concluded were just according to the state. Introduce quote “For I am still what I always have been, a man who will listen to no voice but the voice of the reasoning which on consideration I find to be the truest…” (Crito 104) the truest being the laws of Athens. Socrates’ relationship with the political system of Athens is a critical component to his philosophy. The idea that Justice is unified and if just one law was disobeyed [than there would be no govern city] awkward. This is why the idea of escaping would ultimately lead to serious consequences; if this man, who supports the idea of Justice, was to escape from prison then the reality of the city would collapse. According to Socrates, by putting himself above the legal system, he would cause more harm to the city rather than improving it. In order to not contradict himself or the virtues of the Greeks, he accepted his penalty instead of escaping. Moreover, throughout the play Socrates is seen as a criticizing villain, but this is not the case; the philosopher actually praises the laws and only wishes to prove a point to the public. In sum, Socrates believes his conviction was unjustly decreed but does not escape due to the respect he upholds for the laws of Athens. Good points, but elaborate on Socrates’ relationship

In The Crito, Socrates’ states that he abides by his principles, and guides his reflection by reasons. Thus, Socrates’ argues that his escape from prison will compromise the principles, upon which he defended himself during the trial. In The Apology, Socrates’ mentioned that “the difficulty is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding unrighteousness; for that runs faster than death” (25). Hence, Socrates’ escape would have contradicted his own principle of being righteous. Furthermore, Socrates’ persistence in teaching philosophy convinced him to be condemned to death rather than to exile. In addition, in The Apology, Socrates’ mentioned that any person, who believes that Socrates should be ashamed of his life, is mistaken. Moreover, Socrates’

In the Crito, Socrates is nearing his appointed death and his friend Crito is attempting to convince him to escape. The guard has been payed off and Socrates only must walk out the door and flee Athens. Socrates quickly tells Crito that he cannot escape, because that would be breaking the laws of Athens. Socrates main reason to care about the laws of Athens is to keep a just soul, because breaking the laws would be unjust and acting unjustly would harm his soul. This is what Socrates truly cares about, whether he is harming his soul by being unjust or living just with his soul intact. He would rather die than to