Socrates vs Crito
Socrates vs. Crito: A Decision of Life Courtney Intro. to Philosophy May 29, 2000 Summer Pre-Session Socrates vs. Crito: A Decision of Life The dialogue Crito, by Plato, recounts the last days of Socrates, immediately before his execution was going to take place in Athens. In the dialogue, Socrates’ friend, Crito, proposes that Socrates escape from prison. Socrates considers this proposal, trying to decide if escaping would be “just” and “morally justified.” Eventually, Socrates concludes that the act is considered “unjust” and “morally unjustified.” Socrates decides to accept his death penalty and execution. Socrates was a man who would pursuit truth in all matters (Kemerling 1999). In his refusal to accept exile from Athens or a commitment to silence as a penalty, he takes the penalty of death and is thrown into prison. While Socrates is awaiting his execution, many of his friends, including Crito, arrive with a foolproof plan for his escape from Athens to live in exile volu!ntarily. Socrates calmly debates with each friend over the moral value and justification of such an act. “...people who do not know you and me will believe that I might have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did
not care.” -Crito (Plato 569) Crito believed that by helping Socrates to escape, he could go on to fulfill his personal obligations. Also, if Socrates does not follow the plan, many people would assume that his friends did not care about him enough to help him escape or that his friends are not willing to give their time or money in order to help him. Therefore, Crito goes on to argue that Socrates ought to escape from the prison. After listening to Crito’s arguments, Socrates dismisses them as irrelevant to a decision about what action is truly right. “Now you, Crito, are not going to die to-morrow-...-and therefore you are disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which you are placed.” -Socrates (Plato 571) In the arguments that Socrates makes, what other people think does not matter. The only opinions that should matter are the ones of the individuals that truly know. “The truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action, so the only proper approach is to engage in the sort of careful moral reasoning by means of which one may hope to reveal it” (Kemerling 1999). According to Socrates, the only opinion that he is willing to consider would be that of the state. “...if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury,...we shall be angry with you while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive you as an enemy; for they will know you have done your best to destroy us.” -Socrates (Plato 577) Socrates’ argument moves from one of a general moral decision to the morality of his specific case. He basically says: -One ought never to do wrong, -But it i
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Approximate Word count = 1118
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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