He knows if he refuses to escape prison that he will have a good defense when he stands before the dead who will see him as a victim of injustice not from the law but injustice from those who abused the law. Crito and Socrates flow of the arguments goes Living Well Argument- to do an unjust action ruin one's soul, Life is not worth living with a ruined soul, and hence the most important thing is not life but living a moral and just life. Consequences for Athens Argument- if I escape from jail, then the laws of Athens and thus the city of Athens will be destroyed. To destroy the laws of Athens and the city of Athens harms the citizens of Athens.…
Socrates refuses Crito’s invitation to escape because by doing so he breaks the laws of Athens. Socrates explains to Crito that by exiling himself he not only breaks one law, he breaks them all; this is due to the fact that as a citizen you support the laws, and breaking one law would end your endorsement. These laws carry great importance to Socrates, because by escaping he breaks the law from which he was fostered, educated, and begat his children. By exiling himself, Socrates cannot enter other states; considering he broke the laws of Athens, other states would see him as a fugitive. Furthermore, Socrates he explains that he would not greedily risk his children’s Athenian citizenship in order to save his life; he also states that even the…
According to the pervious argument by moral expertise, Socrates states that the consequences of fleeing would be that he would harm his soul if he was to flee the execution. If he was to flee, he would not be listening to the few and would harm someone else, and thus his soul, by not listening to those who should hold wisdom. If Socrates was to not listen to them, he would also be violating his…
An Honorable Death Are you willing to be prosecuted as an honorable person or run away from death to live the remaining time of your life as a coward? This was the case for Socrates, an honorable philosopher, that chose prosecution for his beliefs in his own motherland by his own people because of the threat he was becoming to the leaders. It was a difficult decision for Socrates friends and family to accept his prosecution but according to Crito, one of Socrates friends, he decided to persuade him to escape and avoid death. Crito is not just a friend but also a long-time follower and will make any sacrifice to save Socrates life. Crito gives as many arguments as he can to persuade Socrates to escaping as a result, Socrates gives counter…
Crito, Justice, and Allegiance to the City-State Plato’s Crito takes place inside of Socrates’ jail cell after his conviction of corrupting the youth. Socrates was unjustly given the death sentence and will be forced to drink hemlock, a deadly poison, in two days. Socrates discusses, with his wealthy friend Crito, whether it is just or unjust to escape from jail and consequently, break the law. It is important to remember that Socrates is believed to be innocent by Crito and Himself because if Socrates was guilty than it would be obviously unjust to escape.…
Socrates also says in the voice of the laws, "Will there be no one to say that you, likely to live but a short time more, were so greedy for life that you transgressed the most important laws" (53d). Socrates knows that he already lived a long and good life in Athens, and escaping will only make him seem greedy for only a few more years of life at his old age of 70. Escaping would not only make him seem greedy, but the laws will also punish him wherever he goes. Socrates says in the voice of the laws, "Possibly, Socrates, if you do not annoy anyone, but if you do, many disgraceful things will be said about you" (53e) The laws are trying to say that if he Socrates escapes, he will always be known as somebody who is corrupt, and his intentions are to corrupt others.…
He also accepts his fate stating that, “it is not difficult, O Athenians! to escape death… it is much more difficult to avoid depravity.” All of his life Socrates taught philosophy and forward thinking, and if he had gone back and begged for a fine or for jail he would’ve thrown away everything he had taught to his students and everything his life had supposedly stood for which is to be moral just and virtuous. Socrates goes on to say that the judges should punish his sons and pain them as he had pained them if they were to exhibit signs of depravity by holding things like money before virtue.…
With the daimon’s assurance that he followed the right path, Socrates can safely assume that death is seen as a good thing’ either because he would have found peace in nothingness or he would have been able to continue his “mission” of bothering people in the afterlife (Plato). Although he was condemned, Socrates uses his daimon’s guidance to legitimize his actions in life because it endorsed a potential afterlife of similar actions. Choosing to emphasize this aspect near the end of the speech indicates an attempt to show the injustice of Socrates’ death because he was he was convicted in large part because of actions that the gods deemed…
If Socrates was young, he should choose Kant’s model to confront hardships without fear of self-value destruction temporary in order to prove himself right and the decision made by juries that were wrong. However, the fact that he was old, if he still chooses to challenge the system, perhaps before his death still could not be able to complete the mission. Therefore, if he takes into account of his situation, accepts the judgment was the only possible choice to fulfill what he had taught to his followers, even though he would be executed. However, this was the best ending for him to preserve his dignity of identity, as well as meaning of his…
Socrates continues to explain how he can’t violate the verdict, which in this case is the death penalty therefore, it would be wrong because Socrates couldn’t go against his principles. Socrates states, “ Come then, if we destroy that which becomes better by the healthful and is corrupted by the distasteful, because we don’t obey the opinion of the experts, is life worth living for us when it has been corrupted? Surely this is the body, isn’t it?”(47e) Socrates is explaining how in his mind life is not worth living unless it is lived appropriately in this case being, that the ethical life is more important than life itself. Socrates continues his justification on why he can’t escape prison because by committing this action he would be doing what he considers as the unjust thing because he would’ve been seen as a dishonorable…
In the “Apology” Socrates is on trial for crimes he has not committed. Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul. For a person such as Socrates that has lived virtuously there no reason for them to fear death. Socrates makes the argument that one should not fear death because only the gods know what is beyond death,because death could be a blessing. According to Socrates, “I had at the risk of death, like anyone else, remained at my post where those you had elected to command had ordered me, and then, when the god ordered me, as I thought and believed, to live the life as a philosopher, to examine myself and others,…
Socrates thinking approximately death is not wrong, but that is not the question being questioned. In reaction to the judgement of death. Socrates assumptions start with him predicting that his killers will receive a penalty far heavier than what is being imposed on him. He also undertakes that what happened was good because the vision did not oppose him. He was right to not fear death by comprising with the injustices being…
Perhaps Socrates realized the courts were right in his sentence because he was not truly wise and had in fact corrupted the minds of the youth. Or, maybe he knew that if he was to be acquitted of the charges he would continue his teachings and probably end up back in jail, and would rather not waste the time and effort. Or, maybe Socrates’ love of Athens and the respect he had for the government and the courts decision stopped him from fleeing his death…
Socrates goes on to say, “I much prefer to die having made my defense speech in this way than to live in that way”. Just as Socrates has been proving that he has lived in truth and virtue throughout the matters in which he has been unjustly charged, so he also wishes to die in truth instead of hypocrisy. Socrates is also assured that this truth will not die with him, as he states that the youth who have listened to him will disagree with the men of Athens, and they will be even more “indignant”. He goes on to…
In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is put on trial for accusations of disruptive behavior. Some men in the community feel that his way of life goes against the will of the Gods and corrupts the youth. As he stands before a jury that will ultimately decide his fate, Socrates states that “the difficulty… is not in avoiding death, but in avoiding the unrighteousness” (Plato 38). Socrates knows that death is inevitable, and repeatedly claims he does not fear it. He believes that it is harder to run from the injustices and evils of the world than it is from death, so he defends his philosophy even after execution becomes the verdict.…