3. Socrates says “As we have agreed so far, we must examine next whether it is just for me to try to get out of here when Athenians have not acquitted me.” In the exchanges following this statement, he obtains Crito’s…
The teachings of Socrates in Plato’s The Five Dialogues provide an answer to the dilemma of the portly fella. The book of Crito portrays the scene of Socrates in his jail cell awaiting execution when he’s approached by an old friend, Crito, a philosopher and nobleman with sufficient funds to help Socrates escape from his prison cell. Crito repeatedly argues with Socrates in an attempt to convince him to flee his cell. The first argument that Crito presents is his argument of reputation in which he states, “Surely there can be no worse reputation than to value money more highly than one’s friends, for the majority will not believe that you yourself were not willing to leave prison while we were eager for you to do so.” Crito is essentially saying that that people will think that Crito chose his money over saving Socrates to which Socrates simply rebuts, “My good Crito, why should we care so much for what the majority think? The most reasonable people, to whom one should pay more attention, will believe that things were done as they were done” (Plato, Five Dialogues; Crito: pg. 47). Effectively Socrates is saying that Crito shouldn’t concern himself with the majority but with the reasonable because the reasonable see it the way it is. Crito then responds saying that the majority has the power to inflict the greatest evils, which in this case is death for Socrates, “You see Socrates, that one must also pay attention to the opinion of the majority. Your present situation makes clear that the majority can inflict not the least but pretty well the greatest evils if one is slandered among them” (Plato, Five Dialogues; Crito: pg. 47). In the portly fella case, you must be reasonable, and the reasonable thing is to not push the portly fella onto the tracks. A reasonable person wouldn’t even think to murder somebody in order save others, especially when you share no association with the other…
“Socrates: Should a man professionally engaged in physical training pay attention to the praise and blame and opinion of any man or to those of one man only namely a doctor or trainer”. The problem with this is that the opinion of the majority bears a different type of value than the opinion of a single specialized instructor. In his example it seems accurate to follow the advice of a doctor because the majority is generally uneducated on training. However, you can not trust the advice of just one person. This doctor may have a special agenda. He could be paid by another athlete to make the man training lose. Of course Socrate’s paradigm is just an illustration and is not meant to be examined too deeply but when we apply it to real life…
Socrates looks to the priest to tell him what exactly is pious so that he may educate himself as to why he would be perceived as impious. Found in the Apology, another of Plato's Five Dialogues, Socrates aims to defend his principles to the five hundred and one person jury. Finally, the Crito, an account of Socrates' final discussion with his good friend Crito, Socrates is offered an opportunity to escape the prison and his death sentence. As is known, Socrates rejected the suggestion. It is in the Euthyphro and the Apology that it can be deduced that Socrates is not guilty as charged, he had done nothing wrong and he properly defended himself. However, in the Crito, it is shown that Socrates is guilty only in the interpretation and enforcement of Athens' laws through the court system and its jurors. Socrates' accusations of being blasphemous are also seen as…
Crito doesn’t want Socrates to be prosecuted because he thinks that whole trial thing was just absurd. He tells Socrates that he can continue living and sharing his knowledge in another place and can help his sons.…
In the story of Crito, Socrates is in prison and awaiting his execution that he was found guilty by corrupting the youth and also supporting other gods that the city of Athens did not. Throughout his trial, Socrates argued each of the things he was charged for and made it very clear that it was not just for him to be found guilty for these actions. The jury ended up finding Socrates guilty through a very slim vote that was not necessarily fair by any means. As Socrates sat in his cell, one of his very faithful friends, Crito, decided to come talk to him. He gave Socrates the opportunity to escape prison and live the life of a wanted man instead of facing his execution. As the story of Crito goes on, he asks himself a number of questions deciding on what he was going to do and whether it would be just or unjust for him to escape prison. Socrates eventually decided that he was going to stay in prison and face his execution instead of escaping, for the act of escaping prison would be unjust and breaking the laws of the city. I agree with Socrates’ decision that he made and feel like he did the just thing by facing his execution.…
He believes that these laws has given him birth, have educated him, raised him and have shared the wealth of Athens with him. Socrates thinks that the people of Athens are free to leave if they find the laws unjust, but if they want to stay then they must abide by the laws of Athens. The only thing that he points out are the people in power. He thinks that the people who are in power have changed the original laws for their own benefit. “been wronged, not by the Laws, but by men” (p 54). Socrates accepts death penalty because he wants the laws should be remain in place. Given opportunities such as exile or apology, he argues that if he escape from the prison, it will destroy the laws of the city and, eventually, the city because according to Socrates no city can survive without its laws being enforced. Therefore, Socrates steadfast by his believes of not violating any…
• 1. In the Apology, Socrates recounts how he disobeyed the unjust order of the Thirty Tyrants to arrest a fellow citizen; he also claims that he will never stop philosophizing, regardless of what the legally constituted political authority commands. Yet, in the Crito, Socrates provides numerous arguments for obeying the decision of the legally constituted political authority, even though the decision (to put Socrates to death) was unjust. Critically assess whether Socrates’s view about political obligation in the two texts is consistent.…
For these two articles that we read in Crito and Apology by Plato, we could know Socrates is an enduring person with imagination, because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent men, yet he never wrote a word; ugliest yet most profoundly attractive; ignorant yet wise; wrongfully convicted, yet unwilling to avoid his unjust execution. Behind these conundrums is a contradiction less often explored: Socrates is at once the most Athenian, most local, citizenly, and patriotic of philosophers; and yet the most self-regarding of Athenians. Exploring that contradiction, between ¡§Socrates the loyal Athenian citizen¡¨ and ¡§Socrates the philosophical critic of Athenian society,¡¨ will help to position Plato¡¦s Socrates in an Athenian legal and historical context; it allows us to reunite Socrates the literary character and Athens the democratic city that tried and executed him. Moreover, those help us to understand Plato¡¦s presentation of the strange legal and ethical drama.…
He must do this regardless of the opinion of the majority or possible consequences for himself; he must act only in accordance to the opinion of the few wise, knowledgeable men who understand what is justice, and the laws of the State. Unfortunately, in all of the dialogues the author of this essay has read5, Socrates never clearly explains what ‘the laws’ really are — they remain a sort of abstraction, a divine essence of justice. However, this does not invalidate our definition of a champion of…
Plato’s theory of justice is about equality and that one deserves punishment if they do commit an unjust action. During the Crito, Socrates tries to correct a lot of points that Crito is trying to argue with him about, what it means to be justice. To be justice, means a human being that does good based on the laws that are emplaced according to the state. Good people according to Socrates are only worth considering. People that do good are considered moral people, and have opinions that should be regarded because their inputs are considered to be ethically correct. Being a human of ethical virtues means that they must not do wrong. Anything that is immoral, is considered immoral. We as humans may not intervene in activities that deem to be…
In the reading CRITO the verdict of execution has already been given and now Socrates and colleagues must make the decision to flee the city of Athens or stay and face his fate. In this conversation you have Critos point of view and Socrates. Based on Critos reasoning he states three reasons why Socrates should stay, the first two being selfish but the third hitting home.…
In producing a counter argument to Thrasymachus' claim that justice is the advantage of the stronger, Socrates bases his argument enourmously on sentimentality and prejudice. He assumes that the virtues which are supposedly functioning in the realm of ideas can also work propably in the World. For example, in Socrates' view, a doctor does not seek his own advantage, but the advantage of his patients. Yet, this view reflects the perfect ideal of a doctor in Socrates' belief of ideas in a dream world. With a modern perspective, one can fairly see that Socrates' refutation has some complexities which clash severely with the real experiences of the Ancient Greek. Socrates' image of the doctor ignores the inherent human desire…
Socrates an ancient Greek philosopher who arguably set a philosophical president for all modern western theories, though he lived in ___________. Today in the 21st century his trial is still studied and debated. Some belief the trial justified and the Athenians were correct in his prosecution. However, large populations argue that the trial was unjust and Athenians used Socrates as a scapegoat for the troubles that the Athena democracy was facing during that time. Three men brought the charges laid against Socrates. Metetus, a wildly religious man, Anytus, a wealthy business owner and Lycon who was largely unknown and likely only there to fill the Athenian political requirements, there brought fourth two charges, impiety and the corruption of the youth. A…
In the book Crito, the dialogues take place in Socrates’ jail; Socrates explains to Crito that it would be unjust for him to leave his cell. Since the Laws exist as one entity, to break one would be to break them all, and in doing so, Socrates would cause them great harm.’ To do so is right, and one must not give way or retreat or leave one’s post, both in war and in courts and everywhere else, one must obey the commands of one city’s and country, or persuade it as to the nature of justice. It is impious to bring violence to bear against your mother and father; it is much more so to use it against your country. What shall we say in reply, Crito, that the laws speak the truth or not?’(p54). For Socrates, to break a rule is…