The Unexamined Life
In The Last Days of Socrates by Plato, Crito, an old student of Socrates, comes to visit Socrates in hopes of helping Socrates escape from his impending execution. Crito argues that not escaping from prison and avoiding his execution would be unjust. Socrates’ refusal to escape death relates to the maxim in the “Apology” through Crito’s arguments that if Socrates didn’t escape then he would be aiding in his own demise, allowing his children to be raised without him, and making his friends look like they didn’t care about him.
The first argument Crito makes for why Socrates should escape is that, it would make his friends look like they didn’t care about him, “A great many people who don’t know you and me very well will think that I let you down, saying that I could have saved you if I had been willing to spend the money” (Tredennick, Hugh. "Crito." Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1969. 81. Print.).This quote shows that Crito often thinks of the public’s …show more content…
You have it in your power to finish bringing them up and educating them, and instead of that you’re proposing to go off and desert them, and so far you are as concerned they’ll be left to get along as the whim of fortune determines.” (Tredennick, Hugh. "Crito." Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1969. 82-83. Print.). This is important because Crito is playing on the argument Socrates made earlier about forsaking his duty to improve others through his teachings, arguing that allowing himself to be executed unjustly before he could teach his children would be unjust. Socrates responds to Crito’s argument by saying that, with him gone his friends will look after his children, and that escaping from his punishment would bring his family
In The Last Days of Socrates by Plato, Crito, an old student of Socrates, comes to visit Socrates in hopes of helping Socrates escape from his impending execution. Crito argues that not escaping from prison and avoiding his execution would be unjust. Socrates’ refusal to escape death relates to the maxim in the “Apology” through Crito’s arguments that if Socrates didn’t escape then he would be aiding in his own demise, allowing his children to be raised without him, and making his friends look like they didn’t care about him.
The first argument Crito makes for why Socrates should escape is that, it would make his friends look like they didn’t care about him, “A great many people who don’t know you and me very well will think that I let you down, saying that I could have saved you if I had been willing to spend the money” (Tredennick, Hugh. "Crito." Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1969. 81. Print.).This quote shows that Crito often thinks of the public’s …show more content…
You have it in your power to finish bringing them up and educating them, and instead of that you’re proposing to go off and desert them, and so far you are as concerned they’ll be left to get along as the whim of fortune determines.” (Tredennick, Hugh. "Crito." Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. Middlesex, England: Penguin, 1969. 82-83. Print.). This is important because Crito is playing on the argument Socrates made earlier about forsaking his duty to improve others through his teachings, arguing that allowing himself to be executed unjustly before he could teach his children would be unjust. Socrates responds to Crito’s argument by saying that, with him gone his friends will look after his children, and that escaping from his punishment would bring his family