Beaujorne Sirad Ramirez
Philo 201
The Implications of Crito in the Formation of the Philosophical Mind
Crito was one of the important five dialogues of Plato about his teacher/character Socrates who underwent trial and death. In this work entitled Crito, Socrates refused the proposal of Crito that escaping into exile than drinking the hemlock would be of better option. This means that the discussion will be on the Socrates as expounded on Crito rather than the historical Socrates.
Crito is composed of two characters, namely: Socrates and Crito. Socrates is the gadfly of Athens accused of corrupting the youth. He has a death sentence by drinking the hemlock. On the other hand, Crito is a wealthy man of the same age of Socrates who supported Socrates in the trial and who frequently visited Socrates in prison. Crito has many important Themes.
These themes are the relevance of friendship, the importance of the law, and
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Crito acknowledged that Socrates will be missed so much with the decision given by the jury though Crito told Socrates that there is a possible other way to be relieved from such sentence. Though one can see the authenticity of Crito’s words, Socrates didn’t give in to such request given that Crito and his friends will pay so that Socrates may escape. Socrates posited that the laws of the city state is higher than the friendship that they have.
For the relevance of the law, it is obvious that Crito loves the plurality of ideas coming from many people and Crito values reputation as one of his favorite traits. The importance of the law cannot be understood by Crito since the sentimentality about the loss of Socrates was so crucial for him that he is willing to give up being reasonable in the city state. One can see how Socrates values the “reasonableness” of the laws of the city obliging him to obey such
In The Crito by Socrates, both Crito and Socrates present arguments, one that Socrates should escape prison, and one that he should not. Crito’s argument contains logic fallacies that undermine his argument and make it weak. Therefore, Socrates argument that he should remain in prison and face his death is valid and strong, and is better than Crito’s.
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,
In order to give a little hindsight, I will discuss the dialogues between Socrates and Crito in Plato’s “The Crito”; the scene beings with Crito waking up Socrates’ in his jail cell and questioning how he seemed so calm and peaceful when the time for his execution was approaching at a rapid pace. Socrates, as calm as ever, replies that he is willing to die if it is the will of God. Crito begins to try to convince Socrates to escape from his cell by using different reasoning’s. Crito explains that if he rejected the idea of escaping and was executed, he would lose a loving and loyal friend and he would have to live with the fault of failing to save his life. On a more ethical level, Crito present more compelling cases: firstly, if he had stayed, he would helping his enemies in wronging him unjustly, and would then be acting unjustly himself; and second, that he
In Plato’s Crito Socrates argues that it would be wrong for him to escape from prison. Speaking to his friend Cirto, Socrates explains that escaping from prison would go against many of his beliefs. Socrates believes in seeking the truth, not repaying a wrong with another wrong, and obeying the laws of the state. He also states that escaping from prison would ruin his reputation and is in best interest for everyone. Crito brings up many arguments to Socrates trying to convince him to escape. Crito tries to appeal to Socrates in many different ways and bombards him with many arguments. Every argument that Crito brings up to Socrates, he answers with carful thinking and analysis. Crito appeals to Socrates emotions by stating that his friends and family will be lost without him. He
In the Crito, Socrates is approached by his life-long friend Crito while in prison awaiting execution. Crito used many different ways to attempt to persuade Socrates to escape. The best argument Crito uses is that he says Socrates would be betraying his children if he were to stay in prison. He says that Socrates should bring them up and educate them, not leave them. 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:
In Crito, there is a conversation between Crito and Socrates. Crito is attempting to convince Socrates
In the text, Socrates in rebuttal to Crito’s first and second argument, he explains that the opinion of an expert is much relevant than listening to the opinion of the majority. In “Crito”, Socrates explains that if we listen to the majority, “we could harm our souls, the part of us that is mutilated by wrong actions and benefited by right ones” (“Plato”). Take for example- a college student taking a course for his future job. If you had a difficult problem to solve, who would you trust more: a group of peers or a professor? Generally, the student will listen to the professor, not the group because a professor has the qualities and qualifications that makes them credible. In addition, I think it is reasonable to explain how Crito is being selfish. Crito is only talking about himself and not how he can positively impact Socrates by convincing him to escape besides giving him more than one valuable argument as to why he should escape prison. Lastly, Crito’s most effective argument regarding his sons fails to persuade because there are scenarios where escaping can affect his sons in a negative way. For example, Socrates could ruin the lives of his sons in terms of reputation and harm because now they would be known as “the son of a destroyer of the law.”
Plato’s Crito records Crito’s endeavor to persuade Socrates to escape from jail to avoid his unjustified death sentence. Crito’s plan is foolproof that Socrates’ will be able to successfully escape to another state. However, Socrates’ contention straightforwardly identifies with the laws of the state and the citizens’ obligations towards the sate. In his argument, Socrates compares the state-citizen relationship to the parent-child relationship. Socrates is shown as a model citizen, who being unjustifiably sentenced will surrender his life in dutifulness to the state. I, with a different perspective, would have to disagree with Socrates’ philosophy regarding the state and its citizens. If I had been wrongfully sentenced to be executed and had found a way to save my life, I would let no chance to slip by my hand.
Crito believes that Socrates is acting unjustly by staying in prison. Deciding to stay in prison, Socrates letting his enemies treat him the way they want to and by doing so
Crito objects, telling Socrates that there is still time, that many prisoners don't take the poison until well into the night. Socrates replies that these men cling too desperately to life, whereas he has no reason to fear death. Socrates is brought the cup of hemlock, which he receives quite cheerfully. Socrates offers a prayer to the gods that his journey from this world to the next may be prosperous, and then downs the cup in one gulp. At this point, Phaedo and all the others break down in tears, not for Socrates' sake, but for their own, at losing such a friend.
In the Greek society, there was enough wine and spirits for Socrates and his buddies to philosophize on the world around them, beginning the conversation of what is just and not. Ideas transform throughout the conversations of Socrates, Adeimantus, and Glaucon in the Republic forming what justice is in the opinion of Socrates. This opinion, the city in speech, is challenged by Adeimantus and Glaucon but Socrates eloquently responds to their challenges. Socrates’ answers with his city of speech are effective against the challenges of Adeimantus and Glaucon because every human has a soul with decency that is almost impossible to deny.
In Plato’s Five Dialogues Crito had planned Socrates escape from jail and all he had left to do was convince Socrates to go with
It is argued that one of the most important part of the book is when Socrates tries to define justice and find it in his artificially established city therefore I chose to critically analyze the passage from Book IV. Before starting to assess the argument he
Unlike the Apology, the Crito seems intended to exhibit the character of Socrates in one
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