In his dialogue Crito, Plato discusses the idea of justice while writing about his former teacher and friend Socrates. Similar to his other works, Crito centers around Socrates, and his thoughts and philosophies. To truly understand what Plato was writing about in Crito is important to understand the reasons behind Socrates’ death sentence. Socrates was a man of thought, and much of the time there was both a lesson and a reason behind his actions. When Socrates first appeared on philosophical scene in Athens, philosophy was undergoing some big changes. Up until around 450 B.C., philosophers were mostly interested in understanding the physical world around them, and the nature of the world in which they lived. Gradually, this interest
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However, the dialogue still leaves us to consider a few questions for ourselves, the chief among them being whether Socrates was correct in deciding to die when he did no wrong, and if there ever is a time when it is okay for people to disobey the law. To answer these questions, I turn back to Socrates. In my opinion, Socrates was right to stand by the laws of Athens. I like to believe that most people have an understanding of what is right within them, and have the capacity to do the right thing. It is important to follow both one 's heart and conscious whenever they must make huge decisions, and I think Socrates always tried to do this. Like he said, people who understand what is right will do the right thing. On the concept of law abiding, I mostly agree with Socrates. Personally, I believe that it is only right for a person to disobey the law if they are following their conscious and have only good intentions, otherwise there is no reason to break the law at all. Like Socrates, I believe most people have the compacity to be truly good as long as they listen to both their heart and conscious. In Crito, Socrates says to Crito that "I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good, which would be a splendid thing, if it were so."(Plato 47). This quote I think says a lot about humanity and Socrates beliefs surrounding
However, the dialogue still leaves us to consider a few questions for ourselves, the chief among them being whether Socrates was correct in deciding to die when he did no wrong, and if there ever is a time when it is okay for people to disobey the law. To answer these questions, I turn back to Socrates. In my opinion, Socrates was right to stand by the laws of Athens. I like to believe that most people have an understanding of what is right within them, and have the capacity to do the right thing. It is important to follow both one 's heart and conscious whenever they must make huge decisions, and I think Socrates always tried to do this. Like he said, people who understand what is right will do the right thing. On the concept of law abiding, I mostly agree with Socrates. Personally, I believe that it is only right for a person to disobey the law if they are following their conscious and have only good intentions, otherwise there is no reason to break the law at all. Like Socrates, I believe most people have the compacity to be truly good as long as they listen to both their heart and conscious. In Crito, Socrates says to Crito that "I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm; then they might have an unlimited power for doing good, which would be a splendid thing, if it were so."(Plato 47). This quote I think says a lot about humanity and Socrates beliefs surrounding