In Crito by the Greek philosopher Plato, Crito, who is a good friend of Socrates arrives at the jail where Socrates is held to help him escape, along with other reasons. However, Socrates refuses to leave the jail because he believes it is unjust to disobey the law. For this paper, I will be explaining Socrates' position in greater detail. Socrates decides not to escape from the prison because he agreed to the terms of his sentence with the Athenian state. Escaping would go against his belief that man should "…do what he has agreed with someone to be right." (pg. 541). Another reason why Socrates refuses to escape from the prison is that if he does escape, he believes the state of Athens will view him as a danger to society who may disrupt the order of Athens. He explains this position of what the state may ask him if he escapes when he says, "In trying to do this, can't you see that you're trying to destroy us, the Laws, and the whole state as far as you can do it?" (pg. 541). …show more content…
He explains this belief when he explains to Crito "You must honor and obey and conciliate your country." (pg. 543). What Socrates meant by this was that whatever qualms who have against your home state, you must put them aside and submit to the law, whether you believe them to be unjust or not. As stated above even though Socrates believed he was unjustly convicted, he willingly decided to obey the law because he had grown up in Athens his entire life and submitted to their laws
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,
They even opined and bribed the officer at the gate of Socrates’ prison who was even susceptible to the request, but Socrates would not yield because for him he needs to live what he preaches and what he preached was integrity and civic obedience and to rebel will not be virtuous thus, for him not escape at the expense of his life is virtuous and such life is worth living. He also argued for the moral supremacy of the state as against individual freedom or individual rights, that is, no individual exist outside the collective or communal right. But, this not so because it is the individuals that make up the state and not the state that gives identity to the individual. In other words, individuals are basically the member of a particular community by accident because an Athenian would have been a Persian if s/he was born in Persia but was the other way due to
In the Dialogue Crito, Socrates employs his Elenchus to examine the notion of justice and one’s obligation to justice. In the setting of the dialogue, Socrates has been condemned to die, and Crito comes with both the hopes and the means for Socrates to escape from prison. When Socrates insists that they should examine whether he should escape or not, the central question turns into whether if it is unjust to disobey laws. Socrates’ ultimate answer is that it is unjust; he makes his argument by first showing that it’s wrong to revenge injustice, then arguing that he has made an agreement with the city’s law for its benefits, and finally reasoning that he
He also explains to Crito 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. Rather than simply break the laws and escape, Socrates should try to persuade the laws to let him go. These laws present the citizen's duty to them in the form of a kind of social contract. By choosing to live in Athens, a citizen is endorsing the laws, and is willing to follower by them. Therefore, if he was 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. Furthermore when he dies, he will be harshly judged in the underworld for behaving unjustly toward his city's laws. In this way, Socrates chooses not to attempt escape but he dies as a martyr, not for himself, but for his city and its system of justice.
He knows that if he escaped, it would be a crime. I find it ironic that he would argue his trial, but not argue his punishment from the trial he argued. The bottom line with Socrates and laws is that he probably did not live by them very closely. It is my belief that Socrates was a good person with good morals. He probably saw laws for the weak minded, and he was certain he was not weak minded. The question of whether he would abide by these laws is that he would and he did. He died for them.
In life, people are guided by moral beliefs and principles. Whether their beliefs are good or bad, their decisions are based on them. In Plato “The Crito”, Socrates emphasizes his moral beliefs and principles when he decides not to escape from prison. Although Socrates had the opportunity to escape his death sentence, he chose not to do so because he had a moral obligation to commit a sacrifice.
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
Socrates should not escape from prison to avoid his death sentence because he would be breaking the law which ultimately led to him straying away from his own principles. He was a person who believed in what was just and doing what was morally correct. If he were to escape from prison, he would essentially be harming others and the State. He thought through harming others, he would be harming himself and his soul, so Socrates did not believe in harming others and thought it was unjust and morally wrong. Even though Socrates had the opportunity to escape and he was given plenty of reasons from his friends to do so, he did not want to go against what he believes in and his philosophy. He could not live a life where he would have to stop
Socrates would rather be punished or die before he breaks the laws that were set forth by his state, and this he says later in the same passage, “I should run any risk on the side of law and justice rather than join you. (Cahn pg. 38 Apology b10-c2).”
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:
Socrates’s offering to the jury is to tell the truth, despite not admitting that it is simply his truth and thus not the entire truth, he is not able to convey to the jury the importance of not killing him. A bad citizen would try to undermine the jury by committing perjury and disobeying the decision of the court. He however, wouldn’t even like it if the jury committed perjury on his behalf, “Socrates says what he means on the stand hold honesty above all else, so when he is offered a chance to escape from his execution he does not take it. By refusing to escape, he reiterates how sticking to agreements is important to him. Socrates' commitment to the societal agreement between him and the city where he is allowed to live in
If he were to escape then he would be causing more harm to himself as he would lose all self-respect and dignity. Socrates was against the escape plan and he gave really good reasons to why he disagreed with Crito. Socrates was not guilty for his accusation. If he were to escape then everyone would think otherwise. Socrates said his occupation as a philosopher was following what the gods commanded. Therefore, living life without practicing philosophy would not be worth it. There was only one way to define the good life, and that is a life of knowledge.
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 Plato’s Crito, Socrates talks about his obligations to follow the law. Although Socrates understands that the Athenian democracy has committed an unjust action by sentencing him to death, he is unwilling to escape with Crito. He understands that an injustice should not be answered with injustice, but there are times when one should question the law. In Socrates’ Defense and the Crito, Plato discusses when one ought to follow the law and when ought to not follow the law. One not only has the obligations to follow the law, but they are also obliged to break the law if it is unjust because it will then improve The Law.
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