Socrates Claims In Plato's Crito

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Socrates claims in Plato’s Crito that “the most important thing is not life, but the good life” (48b). He issued this statement while responding to Crito when he suggested to him that he should escape and go into exile instead of allowing the law to prosecute him for what he did not do. Socrates wanted Crito to understand that he was not ready to break the laws of Athens. Because the Laws existed as a single entity, to break one of them simply meant to break all of them which means that if he agreed to escape, Socrates would cause great harm to the law. He explained plainly that the citizen is obliged to obey the law the same way a kid is bound to his or her parents. That is why he mentioned, "I cannot abandon the principles that I used to…show more content…
It is because the laws presented the duty of the citizens to them in the form of some social contract. When a citizen resides in Athens, he simply chooses to endorse the rules and is more than willing to obey them to the letter (Plato et al., 43). Therefore, to him, the most important thing is not life where he had to escape and go into exile and live comfortable under the care of his friends, but the good life where he had to abide by the law. He had no other option than to abide by it because he had lived a happy 70 years in Athens and he saw no need to disobey the law as he would be making himself an outlaw who would be guilty the whole of his life even in…show more content…
Socrates informed Crito that he was not ready to escape and go into exile because he had lived an honest life for seventy years and that he could not start breaking the law at that old age. In the court, he had an opportunity to lie and be liberated but he decided to tell the truth that landed him in problems but he could not care less since he had no guts to lie. Therefore, there is a strong link between Apology and Crito and I strongly agree with Socrates’ position because the truth always sets one free. Even though Socrates was sentenced to death, he died peacefully knowing that he had told the truth and his conscience was clear (Reeve 78). That is the best thing to do because other than the judges and the audience, God always watches from heaven, and He is the final judge of our lives. That is why Socrates mentioned, “"one simply has to conduct one's defense and argue one's case against and invisible opponent"

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