Comparing Socrates In The Apology, Crito, And The Republic

Brian Diaz Professor Siddiqui Philosophy 1 20 January 2018 Second Paper: Conceptual Reconstruction (Crito, Meno, Phaedo) The dialogue of the Crito, by Plato, recounts the last days of Socrates ' life. In the dialogue Socrates ' old friend, Crito, proposes that Socrates escape from Athenian prison. Crito is a wealthy man from outside of town, a student of Socrates, and an old friend.

In the “Crito”, Socrates argues to his friend that he should stay in prison and face the penalties the law had placed upon him despite being able to easily escape and leave Athens. He gives several reasons for this, including the idea that his agreement to Athens is the greatest responsibility he has. Socrates also believes that by doing anything against what has been ruled would be unjust, and thus would be a detriment to his soul. In his opinion, it is not worth living with a ruined soul. I disagree with his rationale and will argue in this essay that his reasons while plausible and appear to be valid at first glance, are actually more normative and not at all necessary.

During the 399 B.C., Socrates for rejecting the Greek gods and for putting wrong moral ideas in his student 's minds was sentenced to death. But Socrates’ goal wasn 't that, his goal was to encourage his disciples to find any reason by themselves for what is true and real. After Socrates’ death, Plato, who was one of his best students, opened the Academy- school that continued Socrates 's ideas. In this School, Plato wrote The Republic, where he states that each individual’s perspective of reality is changing, and can change more every time. People get more knowledge about the world and their surroundings.

In Plato: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, the account of Socrates’ life during his time in jail until his execution, is told through Plato’s point of view. In these dialogues, Socrates shares his philosophical beliefs on many subjects –one of them being the obligations of the citizen. This belief is illustrated in Crito, which is a dialogue between Socrates and his longtime friend Crito. Along with Socrates is Martin Luther King Jr. who has also expressed his beliefs on the obligations of the citizen in his “Letter from a Birmingham jail”. Both Socrates and King create social tension in order for individuals to better themselves in the world they live in.

In Apology, Socrates faces possible execution as he stands trial in front of his fellow Athenian men. This jury of men must decide whether Socrates has acted impiously against the gods and if he has corrupted the youth of Athens. Socrates claims in his defense that he wants to live a private life, away from public affairs and teachings in Athens. He instead wants to focus on self-examination and learning truths from those in Athens through inquiry. Socrates argues that "a [man] who really fights for justice must lead a private, not a public, life if [he] is to survive for even a short time" (32a).

In Apology and Crito the readers get to learn about the last couple moments of Socrates before he is given the death sentence. In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is brought to trial and accused of many crimes. In his defense, Socrates uses his usual technique of questioning people’s actions and at the end of the trail he gets convicted for corrupting the youth and not believing in the gods. In Plato’s Crito, Socrates is requested by Crito to run away from jail, and ultimately avoid his death. Instead, Socrates chooses to question Crito’s request and comes to the conclusion that it is best for him to stay.

The Story of Crito by Plato is essentially a dialogue conversation between Crito and Socrates. Socrates is awaiting execution at the hands of the state. Crito has an elaborate plan in place to free Socrates from execution. Crito has paid the prison guard off so that Socrates can escape and has other loyalist to Socrates ready to help him escape and live his life in exile. Socrates is nearly 70 years old at the time and somewhat feels like his life is essentially already over.

In Crito Socrates in locked up in jail awaiting his death after being convicted and tried. While he is in jail a friend, Crito, visits him worried about Socrates and his impending doom. He wants to help Socrates escape. Crito at first want to help Socrates for his image. He fears the majority and what they can say about him favoring money over friends.

What– according to Gilgamesh, Hammurabi, Plato, Thucydides, Confucius, and the Koran– makes a good society? Thanks to the long lasting scriptures of these ancient thinkers and rulers, today, we are fortunate to be given the knowledge to understand the thoughts of sages; who lived thousands of years before us. Through myths, poetry and legal codes, these wise men express their philosophy on what it takes to create a good society. It is evident in all the texts, a presence of a Supreme Being or “God”, who dictates to the people how to behave, along with its respective consequences.

Philosophy Thesis: In Crito, Socrates justifies the idea of the social contract to Crito, his strongest advice being that one should not return injustice to anyone, despite their outgoing treatments on others or on yourself, however, Socrates is hypocritical in saying that one should live freely and rightly so, but he himself chooses to die because it is just. We are introduced into the story by the disputive dialogue between Socrates and Crito regarding Socrates' escape and the opportunity for himself to be freed. Crito, a wealthy and great friend of Socrates, believes that Socrates should escape prison, and return to his home due to the misconceptions of higher authority that were proposed on Socrates based on his actions