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Socrates Should Be Abolished In Plato's Crito

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In Crito by Plato, Socrates argues that he should remain in prison because escaping would go against living a just and honorable life. If Socrates escapes prison, he will harm the city; this means that Socrates will not be just and honorable. However, Socrates’ argument includes that breaking the law is not just and honorable. I will argue that Socrates should have escaped prison since his argument to remain in prison failed to consider that some laws should be broken because they are unfair.
Crito begins with Socrates in prison, where his friend Crito goes to visit him (1). Crito visits Socrates in an attempt to convince him to escape prison since the Athenians sentenced Socrates to death for a crime he did not commit (2). Crito cites many …show more content…

Socrates insinuates that breaking any law goes against living a good life, which fails to recognize that some laws are unfair. In this case, unfairness refers to laws that target and damage a specific group of people. For example, in U.S. History throughout the late 19th and early 20th century, there were laws, called Black Codes, that limited opportunities for African Americans. These laws would be considered unfair. Socrates says that to be just and honorable, we must not intentionally harm another person even if they’ve harmed us. Some laws intentionally harm other people, so the laws are not just and honorable. If we follow unjust and dishonorable laws, just because we do not want to break the laws, then we are not living a good life. If we follow these laws, we are harming other people and not living a good life. Another example is Socrates’ situation. Socrates was sentenced to death, meaning that the people who sentenced him wished harm to Socrates. The people who sentenced him are not living a good life, but they are the ones who are involved in the writing of the laws. Therefore, the laws are not just and honorable, since they are written by people who are not living a good life. This means that Socrates should have escaped prison because the laws that put him there in the first place are not just and

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However, instead of planning the escape Socrates started the dialog about why he would rather obey the law and be executed. At first, Crito presented two arguments to

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He was wrongly accused of impiety and corrupting the young men of Athens. Unlike Socrates, King was intentionally disobeying the law in order to protect the colored people from unjust law. Since the condition that the court offers to Socrates degrades his life, the condition can be classified as unjust. Next, I will offer my explanations, although Socrates was given unjust condition by the court if he wants his freedom, he does not means to disobey it and thus proves King’s claims about Socrates is not true.

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In the reading, Crito came to Socrates requesting for him to escape prison. Crito presented some arguments as to why Socrates should leave while in return, Socrates presented counter arguments as to why he should stay. In the end, Socrates chose to stay in prison and go along with his death sentence. Socrates doing this was the correct choice because Crito failed to present a compelling argument to why he should leave (54-end). Socrates is already of old age, so why damage his reputation by escaping and living the little years he had left to suffer a lifetime of guilt, hatred, and throwing away a possibility for those left behind to witness the flaws in their governmental system.

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Disobeying the law would cause anarchy and hurt Socrates's people. Hence, Socrates considers a law-abiding society crucial to its

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Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. were both great revolutionary speakers of their time. They both questioned the society around them and voiced their contradictory ideas. These historical figures were viewed as criminals in the eyes of their society. In the Crito, by Plato, Socrates is in a prison cell and awaiting his trial. Martin Luther King Jr wrote A Letter From Birmingham Jail, when he was impressed for holding a nonviolent campaign.

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Position Paper #1: For Socrates’ Argument of Tacit Agreement In The Crito Socrates uses two metaphors to justify his reason for staying in jail and dying instead of leaving Athens and starting a new life in another town. The metaphor he uses that most justifies his reasoning is the argument of tacit agreement, that he agreed to the laws and regulation of Athens when he decided to live there. Socrates knew that living in he agreed to follow all rules that the city had.

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Political activists and philosophers alike have a challenging task of determining the conditions under which citizens are morally entitled to go against the law. Socrates and Martin Luther King, Jr. had different opinions on the obligation of the citizens in a society to obey the law. Although they were willing to accept the legal punishment, King believed that there are clear and definable circumstances where it would be appropriate, and sometimes mandatory, to purposely disobey unjust laws. Socrates did not. Socrates obeyed what he considered to be an unjust verdict because he believed that it was his obligation, as a citizen of Athens, to persuade or obey its Laws, no matter how dire the consequences.

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This was basically the possible reason why Socrates accepted the death penalty without putting up a fight. If King was in Socrates’ position in Crito, he would not have accepted the advice from Crito to escape prison either. Even though King states that “it is fair to break a law if that law is unjust,” he would have had more insight than to think it wise to dodge the American judicial

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In this paper I will argue that Socrates’s argument at 50a-b of the Crito would be not harming his fellow citizens by breaking the laws. Based on the readings from Plato’s The Five Dialogues, I will go over the reasoning of Socrates’ view on the good life. I will then discuss the three arguments Crito has for Socrates regarding his evasion of the death sentence including the selfish, the practicality, and the moral arguments. I will deliberate an objection to the argument and reply to the objections made in the paper and conclude with final thoughts. Socrates argues in the Crito that he should not escape or disobey the law because it is unethical.

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Is it better to follow laws that are unjust but right, or do the thing that is fair but are against the law? Socrates in Plato’s “The Crito” and Martin Luther King, Jr. in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” answer this question from conflicting perspectives. According to Plato (427-423 BCE), Socrates believed that it is his duty to obey the law of his city, Athens, on all occasions, whereas King (1963) made the argument first put forth by St. Thomas Aquinas that “an unjust law is no law at all” (p. 69). One of these reasons for the differing opinions on this subject is due to the times and places in which these two men existed and came to their views on Civil disobedience.

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Crito accepts his arguments and Socrates decides he is going to

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Argument 1 and 3 Crito gives Socrates are about Socrates hurting him, by losing a good friend and he’ll have bad reputation. He’ll receive bad reputation

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Socrates bases this view of justice on the worth of living a good life. “And is life worth living for us with that part of us corrupted by unjust actions” (47e) If we corrupt our soul with injustice, our life would not be worth living, therefore one must never commit an injustice. “When one has come to an agreement that is just with someone, one should fulfill it.”(49e) It is this agreement with the Laws that Socrates would be violating, if he were to

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It is impious to bring violence to bear against your mother or father; it is much more so to use it against your country.” What we say in reply, Crito, that the laws speak the truth, or not?” (TDS pg 51,52). By breaking the law, Socrates would be disobeying the laws as a citizen, like a child disobeying his parent. By escaping he would have been doing an impious act that would affect his standing with the gods.

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I think that there is a fallacy of irrelevance. In the book, Socrates sets out to defend the idea that it is always in one’s best interest to be just and to act justly and he suggests that the just person as one who has a balanced soul will lead one to act justly or why mental health amounts to justice. I feel that justice includes actions in relation to others, it includes considerations of other people’s good, and includes strong motivations not to act unjustly. I believe that Socrates’ defense of justice does not include constraining reasons to think that a person with a balanced soul will refrain from acts that are commonly thought to be unjust like theft, murder, and adultery.

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