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Plato's Arguments Of Socrates 'Crito'

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Balraj Singh
Philosophy 10
February 23, 2017
Socrates’ Argument In the dialogue, "Crito" by Plato which is a conversation of Socrates with his friend Crito, and Crito is trying to convince Socrates to escape in order to avoid the death penalty by the Athenian government. Socrates brings up the argument against escape by the Laws of Athens, and in this argument, he points out a lot of reasons why he should not escape, based on the Laws of Athens. In this paper, I will analyze why I am in agreement with the laws argument that Socrates puts forward against his escape. Due to Socrates always trying to analyze everything, the first thing he tries to figure out is who he will hurt if he is to escape. Socrates said, "if we leave here without the …show more content…
Socrates says in the voice of the laws, "For consider what good you will do to yourself or your friends by breaking our agreements and committing such wrong. It is pretty obvious that your friends will themselves be in danger of exile, disenfranchisement, and loss of property" (53a). The laws are saying that the individuals who aid Socrates' escape will also receive punishments. This brings us to the idea that breaking this agreement with the laws will not only hurt the person breaking the agreement, but may also hurt the individuals that are close to this person. I believe that Socrates would never escape because the consequences are just too large, and his intentions were to always uphold his agreement with Athens. 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. The laws will never allow Socrates to live at peace if he escapes because he will never live at peace after

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