Essay On Themes Of Plato's Trial And Death Of Socrates

When one looks upon the history of the world, there are major themes that most eras and countries have had to deal with since the beginning of time. These themes include, democracy and popular sovereignty. In the eras of Plato and Socrates and Karl Marx these two themes come pronounced because of the work and revolutions that these humans have done.
In the book written by Plato himself, the trial and death of Socrates the reader is introduced to four different stories about Socrates and his trial and his life. The first story is called Euthyphro which mainly consists of a dialogue between Socrates and another man who believes is an expert in ethics. The story ends inconclusively, and is filled with socratic irony, as Socrates pretends to …show more content…
Plato hopes to use the distinction between the just laws, which Socrates obeys by staying in prison, and the prejudicial behaviour of Socrates accusers, who have sentenced him to death. The situation is Socrates accusers have sentenced him to death by using their laws. Plato gives the laws their own voice and meaning as he hopes this would separate them and make them their own entity, making them seem like human, a person Socrates may be able to behave unjustly toward. However, in this case we have state workers condemning Socrates and Laws of the state that convinced Socrates that he must face death, to not break them. But if this is the case and the people and the laws are condemning Socrates, either the people are siding with the law or the law is siding with the people and in either case, it is odd that laws are just and have to be respected and people are not just and do not have to be respected. Crito who is Socrates loyal friend is the one who is trying to convince him to escape and makes the argument that Socrates would be abetting the sinfulness of his enemies if he does not break out and save himself. However, Socrates replies stating that he would be harming the laws, which are right and just, which put Socrates in a bind as if he stays he is siding with his unjust-accusers, but if he leaves he is breaking the just laws. Ultimately, he decides to accord with the laws then side against the people. Throughout the story of Crito, Socrates introduces the idea of social contract, which is the suggestion that the legal system only exists because of a contract between individuals and the state, which has had a tremendous impact of the modern day society. Plato goal while writing these dialogues is to not give the reader the final words on any issues