Why Socrates Is Wrong

While Socrates is in jail, awaiting his execution (after being convicted for corrupting the youth and not believing in the Athenian gods), his friend Crito visits him in an attempt to convince Socrates to escape. Crito along with some friends and strangers are willing to bribe the right people to facilitate Socrates’ escape from prison; however, Socrates refuses, opting instead to face his fate since he believes escaping would be wrong. As a result, Crito accuses Socrates of being selfish for choosing to die, claiming that he would be robbing his children of a father, putting his friends’ reputations at risk, and choosing the easy way out. The definition of selfish is a person, action, or motive lacking consideration for others; concerned chiefly

In response, Socrates uses the analogy of the athlete and trainer to make the point that one should not care what everyone else thinks and should only focus on the opinion of those adept enough to have a sane one. Moreover, Socrates believes that only the opinions of wise people should be valued. When Crito points out that ordinary people can inflict “the greatest evils” upon a person, Socrates counters this by claiming that people do not have the power to grant or take away wisdom; therefore, they lack the power to inflict the greatest evil, which he believes is foolishness. Although Socrates presents his argument in a logical manner, it rests on the sole assumption that the greatest evil is to be foolish, which is merely an opinion. Interestingly enough, Socrates seems to have a different opinion when he makes his argument against fleeing for the sake of his children. For instance, he demonstrates that he indeed cares about what others think because he is concerned over being perceived as strangers in a foreign land; however, by Socrates’ own logic, this should be of no consequence since he claims that one should not “care so much for what the majority think.” Additionally, while using what Socrates perceives to be the law of Athens to solidify his argument against fleeing the city, he mentions that the law might say that he would make himself “a laughingstock by leaving the city.” Since Socrates is only using the voice of the law to present his own views, it follows that Socrates believes that by fleeing, he would become a laughingstock; therefore, Socrates demonstrates concern over his reputation – although he argues against Crito concerning himself with the views of the people. Furthermore, Socrates