The author introduces two main characters who are great friends; Crito and Socrates. Socrate was in prison waiting for the final judgments which could result in a death sentence. In the beginning, the author introduced us to Crito who went to visit his friend Socrate in jail to see how he was doing (Crito 43a-44a). Crato decides to help his friend to avoid blame from the people since they knew they were great friends. He came up with the idea of Socrate escaping from the jail. The main aim of his plans was to avoid blame from the people if Socrate dies. Critos arguments behind the failure of Socrates escape would cause pain to him in various ways. The first argument based on Socrates responsibility to his children. Crito says that if his friend dies, his children are going to suffer. The second claim is that his reputation will be aching and the last one is on individual opinion versus majority opinion; justice versus injustice facts on the execution of the Socrate.
Critos Argument
Critos first argument on the issue of the Socrates responsibility towards his children was observed if the Socrates dies, his children will not enjoy the parental care, and they are more likely to suffer. He continues to argue that as a parent, more so father it is his responsibility to see that his children are well catered for and gets the quality education. Crito claims that children cannot be brought up well and given quality education when their father is dead. Crito reminds his friend Socrates that his critical roles as a father in the family should be fulfilled by him only but not any other person including his friends. He continues to advise Socrates that a good father cares for his children. The Critos aim was to make sure his friend escape from the jail. He enriches Socrates with more pressure when he says that to escape from the prison needs courage and a brave person for the sake of his children (Crito 45c-d) but staying in prison is quite easy. The main agenda behind the Critos claim was based on the fates of Socrates children if he dies since Crito argues that if Socrates dies his children will suffer for they will not receive the right fathers care.
Contrary to the Critos argument, Socrates claims that his children will be catered for by his friends since they are capable of doing that if he dies or escapes from the jail. More so Thessaly where he was to hide after escaping, his children could not enjoy to the fullest since they could be considered foreigners. He argues that if he escapes from jail, his friends in Athens could take care of his children which could be the same way if he dies (Crito 54a-b).
Critos second claims revolve around his reputation. He says that it will be hurting if the Socrate dies since people will not understand Socrates chose to stay in jail rather than escaping. People will condemn Crito in the grounds of him valuing money more than his friend’s life (Crito 44b-c); he says that it is a bad thing for a person to wet in ways that will hurt a friend. This argument is not broad enough to discuss either negative or positive outcomes which may arise if Socrates dies or escapes.
The third argument is on the reason why Socrates wants to remain in jail; justice versus injustice facts on the issue of Socrate escaping from the prison. Crito does not want to lose his best friend through death that the reason why he tries to use prejudice means to save his friend. On the other hand, Socrates does not want to trouble his friends, through their plan of helping him to escape from the jail. But his fear is brought down by Critos claim when he says that he is ready to risk Socrates' escape or even anything worse that may arise in the process of saving him(Crito 45a-b). He continues to say that it is easy to bribe the guards and any other person who might disclose their escape plan thus lowering the risk chances of being caught. Crito works tirelessly to ensure his friend Socrate is free through illegal means of escaping from the jail.
Socrates Arguments
In response to the Critos arguments, Socrate considers the act of being liberal minded in decision making rather than following the will of the majority since the decisions made by the majority are most likely to be wrong. He believes that individual stand for making a decision is more robust since it is wise than that of the majority which appears as ignorant. He argues that if he listens to the decision made by the majority, he will end up hurting his soul which is the most sensitive part of harmed (Crito 47a-48a). Socrate stands strong to his opinion of making his own decision rather than following that of his friends. He believes that the most crucial aspect is to live a good life without developing the opinion of the majority.
He says that life is not just living but to live well (Crito 48b). That’s why he goes for what is morally right when he brought across the point of bribing the guards could have violated the laws and also the city could be affected negatively since the legal judgments could lose their power. This violation of rules will eventually destroy the city since no one will be following rules that are supposed to govern them. The reason behind Socrate opposing the decision of escaping from the jail is to avoid harming his soul by violating the laws of Athens which he agreed to abide with to the latter. He chose to remain justice and wait for his judgments and ignored the proposals the Crito brought across of escaping from the jail.
Conclusion
Crito’s arguments are not full enough to discuss the consequences of Socrate if he managed to escape from the jail and if he dies what will happen after that. The only substantial argument he raises is that of children, but it is highly opposed by Socrate when he chose to follow the law which governs him and the rest of the citizens. Socrate believes that if someone sticks to his own decision, then he will end up living well. At the end of the story, Socrates made the right decision of honoring the laws of his city in the sense of saving his town from destruction by law breakers since it is not wise to do wrong intentionally. Socrate honored the law when he chose to wait for the law to judge him rather than running away from the jail. Socrate is a symbol of truth and justice while his friend Crito is unjust and corrupt which is a dangerous character to be emulated.
Work Cited
Brost, Brian D. " The Argument has made the Decision": Deliberation in Plato's Crito." Southwest Philosophy Review31.1 (2015): 167-175.
