Crito Argument
Crito Argument
“I do have these things in mind, Crito, and also many others.” (Crito 45a)
In the “Crito”, there are two arguments, one of which Crito argues for why Socrates should escape the prison, and the second, for which Socrates argues for why he should remain in prison and accept his death sentence. I will assess both arguments and show the strengths and weaknesses that Crito and Socrates both presented in the dialogue. I argue for Socrates, for which his argument is based on the principle that doing unjust actions ruins one’s soul, and life is not worth living with a ruined soul.
The dialogue recounts Socrates’ last days before his execution. Socrates had been accused of corrupting the youth and not worshipping the Gods of state. During his trial, he denied all accusations and attempted to defend himself by proving his innocence by using logic and reason, what Socrates is known for. He was found guilty, and given the sentence of death. The dialogue starts off with his long time friend, Crito, visiting him in prison and thus, presenting an argument for his escape.
Crito presents three arguments for why Socrates should escape. His first argument is that if Socrates does not escape, then he will hurt Crito in two ways; one of which Crito will lose a valuable friend when Socrates dies, and two, Crito’s reputation will suffer. People will gain the notion, that it was possible for Crito to assist Socrates to break out of prison, but didn’t because he wasn’t willing to spend the money to do so. Therefore, Crito will get a reputation that money is more precious than his friend. This argument therefore only considers the consequences of Socrates’ actions for Crito. This argument is very constricted and not strong. A stronger line of reasoning would be if Crito considered negative and positive consequences for everyone if Socrates stayed in jail or chose to escape. Socrates argues that what Crito thinks is harm is not really harm.
Crito’s second argument
“I do have these things in mind, Crito, and also many others.” (Crito 45a)
In the “Crito”, there are two arguments, one of which Crito argues for why Socrates should escape the prison, and the second, for which Socrates argues for why he should remain in prison and accept his death sentence. I will assess both arguments and show the strengths and weaknesses that Crito and Socrates both presented in the dialogue. I argue for Socrates, for which his argument is based on the principle that doing unjust actions ruins one’s soul, and life is not worth living with a ruined soul.
The dialogue recounts Socrates’ last days before his execution. Socrates had been accused of corrupting the youth and not worshipping the Gods of state. During his trial, he denied all accusations and attempted to defend himself by proving his innocence by using logic and reason, what Socrates is known for. He was found guilty, and given the sentence of death. The dialogue starts off with his long time friend, Crito, visiting him in prison and thus, presenting an argument for his escape.
Crito presents three arguments for why Socrates should escape. His first argument is that if Socrates does not escape, then he will hurt Crito in two ways; one of which Crito will lose a valuable friend when Socrates dies, and two, Crito’s reputation will suffer. People will gain the notion, that it was possible for Crito to assist Socrates to break out of prison, but didn’t because he wasn’t willing to spend the money to do so. Therefore, Crito will get a reputation that money is more precious than his friend. This argument therefore only considers the consequences of Socrates’ actions for Crito. This argument is very constricted and not strong. A stronger line of reasoning would be if Crito considered negative and positive consequences for everyone if Socrates stayed in jail or chose to escape. Socrates argues that what Crito thinks is harm is not really harm.
Crito’s second argument