How Did Socrates Escape Plato In Crito

Socrates was charged with impiety and corrupting the youth as we see in the trial of The Apology. Crito visits him in the prison and has organised a plan for his escape, however Socrates rejects this idea, as he worries that doing so would be unjust as he would be breaking the law. He proposes to Crito that if he can prove that escaping the prison would be just, then he will do so. The two then begin to debate the duties a citizen has in obeying the laws of their governing municipality.

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

Socrates’ adherence to the law causes him to refuse Crito’s offer to help him out of prison. As a citizen of Athens, the duty to oblige with the contractual agreement is a must. Contractual relationship has been established between Socrates and the state as he has benefited all the goods such as education and protection of the laws however when failure to comply, consequences such as execution must be faced. For Socrates, escaping is an unjust act and for which if he did act upon it, would lead to more consequences. For instance, Crito would be involved in an unjust act and in acceptance to his punishment, he made sure to explain why he must remain in prison. One argument made is that if he did escape then the system would be destroyed. A destroyed

Socrates adjusts these theories to the option to escape from his captors and abandon their conclusion on his future. Crito begins to understand Socrates view in his suggestion. "the only valid consideration is whether we should be acting rightly in giving with the escape, or whether in truth we shall do wrong in doing all this." (49c) Socrates concludes that if he followed Crito's advice he would be committing several dishonest actions against his own society that were

In the Crito, Socrates is charged with corrupting the youth by broadcasting these stinging questions that forced people to think. Athens, which at this time recently lost in battle, was seeking to eliminate anyone who they perceived as unfavorable by their gods in order to win back the compassion of their divine beings. Therefore, Socrates was put on trial for his impiety and was sentenced to a choice of exile or death. Refusing to be shamefully removed from his home state, Socrates selects death over exile and awaits death by hemlock. A bit of time after Socrates’ sentencing, Crito, his confidant, informs him that his death is near and attempts to convince him to escape. Crito tells

In this paper, I will present and explain the argument Socrates gives for the conclusion that it is unjust for him to try to escape Athens against the will of the authorities. Socrates is in jail during this part of The Crito. Crito visits Socrates one or two days before his execution with idea of helping him escape, and moving him to a place out of the Athenian authority’s jurisdiction. During this time Socrates brings up an argument. I will be covering this argument and it is that “one must not act unjustly at all” (The Crito, pg. 71). What Socrates means by this is that no one should do anything wrong no matter what. Socrates was sentenced to death for unjust reasons. He then goes onto talk about some principle morals. One of the things he brings up is that no one should do injustice. Even if you are subject to injustice (The Crito, pg. 71). Socrates brings up the point that when someone is subject to ill-treatment it is not right to return it. After bringing up this point, Socrates goes onto stay that “there is no difference, I take it, between ill-treating people and treating them unjustly” (The Crito, pg. 71). So, Socrates creates this premise, and it is as follows “neither doing nor returning injustice is ever right, nor should one who is ill-treated defend himself by retaliation (The Crito, pg. 72).

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.

In this reading Plato tells the story of Socrates and his trial which ultimately lead to his death sentence. Socrates was a 70 year old man at peace with his own mortality yet willing to face his accusers with an almost definite possibility of death to maintain his own integrity and beliefs and morality. He fully understood from the beginning of his trial what the sentence handed down would be yet on a level of honor and courage not seen in abundance in modern society he maintained his stance and delivered a compelling and convincing argument. He openly stated that he knew his actions had offended Meletus and

As Socrates awaits his upcoming execution; he is visited before dawn by a close old friend Crito. Crito has made arrangements to help Socrates escape from prison. Socrates is grateful to his old friend for his willing to help aide him in the escape. However, Socrates is quite willing to await his execution. Crito tries to change Socrates mind about escaping by presenting him with several arguments. The first is that if Socrates choices to stay, his death will reflect poorly on Crito. The people will think that Crito did nothing to save his friend. If Socrates is worried about the risk or the financial cost to Crito; it’s an expense that he is willing to pay, and that he made arrangements for Socrates to live a life of exile in a pleasant

Socrates was brought into the courts under charges of impiety and corruption of minors. Socrates did not believe in the divinities of the city-state. The punishment decided upon was an execution, in the hope that Socrates would choose exile, a punishment that would have satisfied the jury.

In Plato’s Crito, Socrates commits philosophical suicide by appealing to the gods through the Laws of the state. After Socrates conviction in the Apology, he was sentenced to death. While waiting for his execution, one of his friends bribes the guard and attempts to entice Socrates to escaping and living good in exile. Socrates claims that there is a right way of living that the god’s demand and “it is never Right to do Wrong. Therefore, it is not right to do wrong even when one is wronged (it is not right to injure even when one has been injured).” Socrates uses this argument to deny Crito and to follow the

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

At no point during the proceedings did Socrates deny that corrupting the youth was a criminal act punishable by death. Socrates in fact believes that it is noble to prosecute those who corrupt the minds of the youth. Moreover, in the Euthyphro Dialogue, Socrates even praises Meletus saying that, “He [Meletus] is the only one who begins at the right point in his political reforms; for his first care is to make the young men as good as possible” (2). Therefore, while Socrates may not have necessarily agreed with the verdict of his trial, he did agree with the essence and/or idea of what the law that he “broke” was founded on.

According to the majority of the jury members of Athens, Socrates is a corruption to the youth, doer of evil and does not agree with the gods of his people. In the Apology, written by Plato these are the assumptions and accusations Socrates is held in court for. In court, he is faced with what most men fear, being wrongly accused leading to the death sentence. Socrates argues and strives to prove that he has no fear of being hated, being accused of serious crimes, being threatened with punishment, or being put to death.

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.