Crito: A Decision of Life Courtney Intro. to Philosophy May 29, 2000 Summer Pre-Session Socrates vs. Crito: A Decision of Life The dialogue Crito, by Plato, recounts the last days of Socrates, immediately before his execution was going to take place in Athens. In the dialogue, Socrates" friend, Crito, proposes that Socrates escape from prison. Socrates considers this proposal, trying to decide if escaping would be "just" and "morally justified." Eventually, Socrates concludes that the act is considered "unjust" and "morally unjustified." Socrates decides to accept his death penalty and execution. Socrates was a man who would pursuit truth in all matters (Kemerling 1999). In his refusal to accept exile from Athens or a commitment to silence as a penalty, he takes the penalty of death and is thrown into prison. While Socrates is awaiting his execution, many of his friends, including Crito, arrive with a foolproof plan for his escape from Athens to live in exile volu!.
ntarily. Socrates calmly debates with each friend over the moral value and justification of such an act. ".people who do not know you and me will believe that I might have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did not care." -Crito (Plato 569) Crito believed that by helping Socrates to escape, he could go on to fulfill his personal obligations. Also, if Socrates does not follow the plan, many people would assume that his friends did not care about him enough to help him escape or that his friends are not willing to give their time or money in order to help him. Therefore, Crito goes on to argue that Socrates ought to escape from the prison. After listening to Crito's arguments, Socrates dismisses them as irrelevant to a decision about what action is truly right. "Now you, Crito, are not going to die to-morrow-.-and therefore you are disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which you are placed.