Socrates Essay examples -- essays research papers fc

In Crito, Plato recounts the last days of Socrates, immediately before his execution was to take place in Athens. In the dialogue, Socrates’ pupil, Crito, proposes that Socrates escape from prison. Socrates considers this proposal, trying to decide whether escaping would be â€Å"just† and â€Å"morally justified.† Eventually, Socrates concludes that the act is considered â€Å"unjust† and â€Å"morally unjustified.† Socrates then decides to accept his fate and proceeded with his execution. Socrates was a man who was in pursuit of the truth (Durant). In his refusal to accept exile from Athens or a commitment of silence as a penalty, he chooses 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 voluntarily. Socrates calmly debates with each friend over the moral value and justification of such an act. â€Å"...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 (Wolff 37). 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 ou ght 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. â€Å"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.† -Socrates (Wolff 40). In the arguments that Socrates makes, he emphasizes that what other people think does not matter. The only opinions that should matter are the ones of the individuals that truly know. â€Å"The truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action, so the only proper approach is to engage in the sort of careful moral reasoning by means of which one may hope to reveal it† (Wolff 43). According to Socrates, the only opinion that he is willing to consider would be that of the state. â€Å"...if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury,...we shall be angry with you ... ... state of Athens, constitutes disobedience against the state. He argues that obeying the state is a requirement right up until death. He says that by not obeying the state that he was raised in, it's like not obeying his parents that raised him. Socrates was a man who stuck to his commitment to truth, morality and philosophy over life. He had a great commitment to his state, therefore by disobeying it, he would be committing suicide in a sense. If Socrates had disobeyed his state, he would never be allowed to enter it again, nor would any other allow him to live peacefully. His arguments throughout the whole dialogue were very strong. Socrates looked out for his state, while Crito’s arguments were based on himself and how others would view him. Socrates’ conclusion to stay in the prison may have cost him his life, but his act saved the morality and truth of Athens. Works Cited Wolff, Robert Paul. â€Å"Ten Great Works of Philosophy†. New York: Penguin Group, 1969. Durant, William. â€Å"The Story of Philosophy†. New York: Washington Square Press Publications, 1961. Volume I, Ninth Edition. â€Å"Civilization: Past & Present†. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc., 2000. Socrates Essay examples -- essays research papers fc In Crito, Plato recounts the last days of Socrates, immediately before his execution was to take place in Athens. In the dialogue, Socrates’ pupil, Crito, proposes that Socrates escape from prison. Socrates considers this proposal, trying to decide whether escaping would be â€Å"just† and â€Å"morally justified.† Eventually, Socrates concludes that the act is considered â€Å"unjust† and â€Å"morally unjustified.† Socrates then decides to accept his fate and proceeded with his execution. Socrates was a man who was in pursuit of the truth (Durant). In his refusal to accept exile from Athens or a commitment of silence as a penalty, he chooses 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 voluntarily. Socrates calmly debates with each friend over the moral value and justification of such an act. â€Å"...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 (Wolff 37). 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 ou ght 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. â€Å"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.† -Socrates (Wolff 40). In the arguments that Socrates makes, he emphasizes that what other people think does not matter. The only opinions that should matter are the ones of the individuals that truly know. â€Å"The truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action, so the only proper approach is to engage in the sort of careful moral reasoning by means of which one may hope to reveal it† (Wolff 43). According to Socrates, the only opinion that he is willing to consider would be that of the state. â€Å"...if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for injury,...we shall be angry with you ... ... state of Athens, constitutes disobedience against the state. He argues that obeying the state is a requirement right up until death. He says that by not obeying the state that he was raised in, it's like not obeying his parents that raised him. Socrates was a man who stuck to his commitment to truth, morality and philosophy over life. He had a great commitment to his state, therefore by disobeying it, he would be committing suicide in a sense. If Socrates had disobeyed his state, he would never be allowed to enter it again, nor would any other allow him to live peacefully. His arguments throughout the whole dialogue were very strong. Socrates looked out for his state, while Crito’s arguments were based on himself and how others would view him. Socrates’ conclusion to stay in the prison may have cost him his life, but his act saved the morality and truth of Athens. Works Cited Wolff, Robert Paul. â€Å"Ten Great Works of Philosophy†. New York: Penguin Group, 1969. Durant, William. â€Å"The Story of Philosophy†. New York: Washington Square Press Publications, 1961. Volume I, Ninth Edition. â€Å"Civilization: Past & Present†. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, Inc., 2000.