Brandon Smith
Todd Marvin
English 001A
“From ‘Crito’”
In Socrates’ trial, Meletus, a leather-seller, seconded by Anytus, a poet, and Lycon, a rhetor, accused him of impiety in not worshipping the gods of the city, and in introducing new deities, and also of being a corrupter of youth. Socrates’ trial was probably the result of his close association with a number of men who had fallen out of political favor in Athens, including the traitors Alcibiades and Critias. This may have been the reason that Socrates received the death sentence. However, because an amnesty had been declared for political offenders, other charges had to be brought against him. Socrates made no preparations for his defense, and seems, indeed, not to have desired an acquittal. (History)
Finding an answer to the mystery of the trial of Socrates is complicated by the fact that the two surviving accounts of the defense (or apology) of Socrates both come from disciples of his, Plato and Xenophon. Historians suspect that Plato and Xenophon were intent on showing their master in a favorable light and failed to present in their accounts the most damning evidence against him. (The Trial)
Socrates did not have faith in a democratic form of government. He believed that people do not have the capacity for self-government and felt that citizens need the guidance of wise men, like a flock of sheep following the guidance of a wise shepherd. In addition, he repeatedly criticized the right of every citizen to have a voice in the Athenian assembly. (The Trial)
Socrates never documented his own thoughts, as he believed that writing impaired a person’s ability to remember, so our only chronicles of his life and thought come from others, whose motives are questionable. (The Word is a Way) Socrates taught a rhetorical technique called “Dialectic Syllogism”, that involves discovering the truth through a series of questions. He believed that if one asked the correct questions, the absolute truth could be found. “I not now only, but always, am a person who will obey nothing within me but reason, according as it appears to me on mature deliberation to be best.” (Crito) However, in his dialogues with Crito, Socrates would often provide a false premise and then “logically” arrive at the conclusion he desired.
Socrates proposes that there is a kind of social contract that exists between the individual and the state. He then reaches the false conclusion that by choosing to live in Athens, a citizen is implicitly endorsing the Laws, and is obligated to abide by them. (From “Crito”) Socrates obviously did not believe in limited government or in the right of a citizen to practice civil disobedience, and would have taken exception to the following quote. “I heartily accept the motto, –‘That government is best which governs least’; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically. Carried out, it finally amounts to this, which also I believe, –‘That government is best which governs not at all’; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.” (Civil Disobedience)
Socrates demonstrates his disdain for democracy in his dialogue with Crito.
Socrates: But why, my dear Crito, should we care so much for the opinion of the many? For the worthiest men, whom we ought rather to regard, will think that matters have transpired as they really have. Crito: Yet you see, Socrates, that it is necessary to attend to the opinion of the many. For the very circumstances of the present case show that the multitude are able to effect not only the smallest evils, but even the greatest, if any one is calumniated to them. Socrates: Would, O Crito that the multitude could effect the greatest evils, that they might also effect the greatest good, for then it would be well. Now they can do neither; for they can make a man neither wise nor foolish; but they do whatever chances. (Crito)
There are many reasons why Socrates should escape. Because of the length requirements of this essay, I can only name a few.
1. Socrates would be considered a hero for standing up for what is right, and for not accepting the unjust punishment of the jury. It would be selfish of Socrates to think only of himself, and not of his friends, who would be robbed of his wisdom and disgraced in the eyes of the public, who would think that they did nothing to try to save him. Furthermore, it would not cost much money for Socrates to escape, and his friends are more than willing to pay.
2. Socrates would be expected to escape from a murderer who is trying to kill him. Consequently, he would be expected to take the same action to protect himself from the Laws, as they are trying to kill him unjustly. This would be a reasonable action, since it is in self-defense.
3. He shouldn’t aid his enemies in wronging him unfairly by allowing them to kill him. Two wrongs do not make a right; Socrates shouldn’t accept an unjust punishment for an unjust ruling.
4. Socrates shouldn’t exaggerate the significance of his escape. Society won't disintegrate if he escapes from the sentence. If he escapes, the citizens of Athens will benefit, as they will be encouraged to find their own truth. If Socrates accepts death, other citizens will be more afraid to question the basis of the Laws, and will hesitate to think for themselves. He would also be supporting the idea that all laws are just, an idea that should be constantly questioned by citizens.
5. It is not sane to accept death rather than escape. Not only is it against human nature to ignore the desire for self-preservation, but Socrates also has a duty to remain alive to raise and educate his children.
6. Just as Socrates taught Athenian youths to not blindly accept wrong ideas from their parents, Socrates shouldn’t accept the wrongful judgement of death from the Laws (Who consider themselves the parents of Socrates).
7. The state used him as a scapegoat to draw attention away from the humiliating loss of the Peloponisian war. This is not a good enough reason for Socrates to die. He shouldn’t allow himself to be a scapegoat, and shouldn’t die for this reason.
8. No one would be harmed if Socrates escaped. It would ease the conscious of society if he escaped, because it was an unjust sentence.
One could argue that the world would have been far better off if Socrates had escaped. Thanks to Plato, Socrates was transformed into a martyr; consequently, his anti-democratic bias hindered the development of democracy. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that democracy gained real momentum and the concept of a citizen’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness became the Law of the land.
Works Cited
“Apology, Crito, and Phaedo of Socrates” EBook
#13726
Plato
“Crito”
Plato
<http://www.sparknotes.com>
“Civil Disobedience” Part 1 of 3
By Henry David Thoreau - 1849
<http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil1.html>
By Doug Linder<http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/socrates/socratesaccount.html>
“The Word is a Way”
Sandra Florence
<http://projects.ltc.arizona.edu/finding/Literacy/page52florence.html>
“From ‘Crito’”
Plato
A Smaller History of [Ancient] Greece
William Smith
<http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/ancient-greece/history-of-ancient-greece-14-socrates.asp>