Introduction
Socrates is considered one of the greatest philosophers in the history of Western Europe. Virtually every person that goes through the education system must come across his name, his works, or his demise story. Greek official had previously put Socrates in jail for the charges of ‘corrupting the mind' of the Athens' youth. In the eyes of the wealthy and the influential, Socrates was making a fool of them by empowering the young people with new information about the society and its leadership among other things. When put to jail, he was scheduled for death in a few days, but his wealthy friend Crito visits and a discussion between the two ensue on the injustice in the justice systems in Athens. At the height of this conversation, Crito offers a prison break for this friend, but Socrates refuses the offer, seemingly wanting to die. In the dialogue, Socrates challenge Crito to provide the basis of the reasons why he should break out of the prison. According to the author, Crito is concerned with the opinion of the public if Socrates is to be put to death as scheduled. Crito worries judgment from the society if he fails to help his friend escape the unfair judgment. On the other hand, the author views Socrates as staunch in maintaining his stand concerning the moral of escaping prison. The author juxtaposes two distinct individual through argument and reason to show the responsibility of an individual for their morals.
The following paper describes the reasons why Socrates felt inclined to remain in jail. One of the two arguments that Socrates bases his choice to stay in prison is that one should not be worried about their opinions of the public. This is directed to Crito, who according to the author feels that the public would judge him for failing to help his friend escape. Secondly, Socrates argues that a wrong cannot be used to correct another wrong. As such, Crito’s desire to help him escape the judgment would not correct the injustice in the decision to see him hang.
As such, Socrates employed the use of logos, ethos, and pathos to induce some type of emotion to deliver a message to an audience. Logos entail an appeal to a person or audience that relies on the ability of a person to use logic and reason to persuade the other. Socrates employs logos in the dialogue as he presents the logical reasons as to why he should face the consequences of his actions. Ethos refers to a man's habits and morals. By depicting good morals, Socrates can convince Crito that his decision was right, and he was wrong. At some point, Socrates relies on the use of pathos to convey his message to Crito. The latter refer to the use of ‘suffering ‘emotion to persuade a person to understand a point. As such, the paper will analyze some of the main premises that Socrates based his choice to stay in jail and hang despite Crito's offer.
The Main Premises in the Dialogue
Evaluation of premise 1
One of the fascinating premise that Socrates base his reason upon is the realization ‘that the views of the masses do not matter'. It is vital to note that the society at the time Socrates lived was heavily structured with the rich, powerful and wealthy on top of the society. In such a society, Socrates conceives that a wise person would only stick to his opinion rather than that of the masses. In the context of the dialogue between Socrates and Crito, he infers that he would rather go with his opinion (offering Socrates an opportunity for a prison break). When the offer is first made, Socrates replies that the public stand does not matter; in turn, he should only seek the wise advice of an expert. It seems that Crito employs pathos to persuade Socrates to accept the prison break offer.
Crito argues that if Socrates chooses to remain in jail and face the consequences against him, the injustice of the system would prove themselves right in their wrongdoing. Furthermore, he argues that the choice to remain in jail would mean that his sons would be without a father. Crito is even emotional that if Socrates died, he would not get another friend like him.'let me entreat you once more to take my advice to escape.’ For if you die I shall not only lose a friend who I cannot replace' Although Socrates understands why his friend acts the way he does in showing remorse towards him, he goes forward to assert that people, including Crito, should not worry about other people of their reputations but those of their own. By doing so, they would embark in their good behavior rather than the concern of the behavior or fate of others who have failed to behave in the same way. This is depicted in this statement ‘But why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the many? Good men and they are the only persons who are worth considering, will think of these things truly as they happened'.
A sub premise arises in the course of this analysis; the authority is right and that the citizens are bound to obey. Following this, Socrates argues that people should not view the judgment of the authority as injustice; the injustice comes from the citizens behind the judgment. As such, an attempt to escape prison would be unjust to the society and the legal system. Socrates juxtaposes the attempt to escape as a strike by a child on a parent. To Socrates, the legal system binds the citizens to act as desired as a child is obliged to act as their parents dictate. In his view, Socrates argues that he would rather persuade the official to release his rather than seek justice for him by escaping. Socrates feels that every Athenian has a contract with the society if they choose to live there.
Therefore, the citizens are bound to act as per the contract, even accept a wrong judgment on their fate by the authorities’, but he who has experience of the manner in which we order justice and administer the State, and still remains, has entered into an implied contract that he will do as we commend. In stating this, Socrates argues that all people born in Athens have the responsibility to act as per the authority.
Evaluation of premise 2
In the Crito, the main problem that the reader identifies is the wrong accusations laid on Socrates and the empathic efforts by Crito to offer an escape plan to allow Socrates escape the unjust judgment. However, Socrates is adamant to accept the offer since he is convinced that a wrong cannot correct another wrong. In fact, he is certain that a wrong in response to another wrong is itself still a wrong. In the dialogue, the efforts made by Plato to separate the unjust actions of the people and the personal right seem impossible in Socrates' view. According to the citizens, Socrates’ actions are unjust and thus should be met with consequence. Crito feels that the people surrounding him would judge him if he failed to help Socrates escape. It is here where Socrates argues that one should be concerned about their personal right and not the opinions of others. According to him, Crito acts on his human emotions and according to the society’s standard but fails to recognize the morality of him helping Socrates escape.
Socrates, presented with the opportunity to escape this harsh judgment on him prefers to stay and die. He argues that escaping prison would itself be a wrong attempting to correct the wrong committed on him by the citizens who bestowed the unfair judgment on him. He further argues that his escaping prison would not only harm the moral setting of his motherland but also his friends and family..' "For just consider, if you transgress and err in this sort of way, what good will you do, either to yourself or to your friends?' Socrates had the option to flee Athens to other states where he would face more lenient judgment. From the dialogue, these include Lacedaemon and Crete. Socrates, however, opts not to break the law and escape to these states since he reckons that this act would not prove justice to his unjust accusers, but would make him the Athenian resident who escaped prison to seek justice for him. Even more important to Socrates was the contemplation that the action of escaping prison would harm his friends and family. As per the Athenian society, his friends and family were most likely to be questioned or even imprisoned following his escape from prison.
Evaluating the use of Logos
Premise 1
As described in the introduction, logos refer to the use of a logical process to appeal to the audience and conveniently convey one's arguments. In the first premise upon which Socrates bases his reasons to stay in prison and face the capital punishment, Socrates employs logos to convince Crito, which he should remain in prison despite the former's convincing reasons for him to escape. Here, he argues that the opinions of the public matter less when it comes to a man making his decision. On the contrary, he states that the peoples should concern themselves with their actions for the betterment of the society overall good. ‘Then, my friend, we must not regard what the many say about us: but what he, the one man who has understanding of just and unjust, will say, and what the truth will say..'. In this statement, Socrates employs reasoning and clarity in explaining that one should only focus on their understanding of justice and truth.
The effect that he intends to create here is convincing Crito to be concerned with his behavior and actions in the society, as anyone in the society should do. At the same time, when Socrates measures the weight of his escaping prison in the eyes of the Athenians, he employs logos. From the statements.' From these premises I proceed to argue the question whether I ought or ought not to try to escape without the consent of the Athenians: and if I am clearly right in escaping, then I will make the attempt; but if not, I will abstain' Socrates weighs the consequences of escaping the prison with the help of Crito and what would be the reactions from his fellow Athenians. As such, rather than jumping into conclusion and escaping from prison, Socrates can employ reasoning and logic and contemplate the consequences of his action to the future of his Athenian society. Furthermore, from the dialogue, Socrates conceives that escaping prison to another land would leave his friends and family in jeopardy.
Evaluation of logos in premise 2
In the second premise, the use of logos is equally significant. Here, Socrates argues that an attempt to escape prison would be a violation of the morals. Crito suggests that escaping prison would help Socrates escape the unfair judgment; however, Socrates conceives this as a wrong in response to another wrong. Herein, Socrates can argue that a citizen is bound to obey the moral code of the land they are born. As such, even Socrates himself, who has been unjustly accused must heed to the judgment put upon him and face the death row.
Evaluation of Pathos in Both Premises
In the Greek sense, pathos is the use of a metaphor language to convey a given meaning to the audience. In the same way, stories and anecdotes are used to depict some meaning in a current scenario. However, the basis of pathos is to deliver the suffering of the experiences of a character with the aim of juxtaposing it with a current situation and persuade the audience to act in a certain way. For instance, Socrates contemplates of a scenario where he escaped to a faraway land and sought comfort of Crito's friends' But if you go away from well-governed States to Crito's friends in Thessaly, where there is great disorder and license, they will be charmed to have the tale of your escape from prison, set off with ludicrous particulars of the manner in which you were wrapped in a goatskin or some other disguise.' From his understanding, Socrates realize that escaping prison would wow Crito's fiends but would at the same time create in him a mind that he violated the most sacred ethics of his maternal land. Crito, on the other hand, depicts empathy and emotion when persuading Socrates to escape from prison. He bases his argument on the deprivation of friendship that he would experience if Socrates were to die. Additionally, he invokes Socrates to think of the suffering that would befall his sons after his death.
Evaluation of Ethos in both Premises
Conclusion
The Crito presents the reader with controversial arguments on the courses of action that Socrates would have taken in the face of the imminent death senescence. However, the irony is that Socrates, even after being presented with an escape from prison chooses to stay and face his sentence. From the analysis of the logos, pathos, and ethos of the premises of Socrates reasons for defying his friend's argument that he should escape; it is evident that one cannot debate against his judgment to stay in prison. According to Socrates escaping his punishment would be a violation of the regulations if the land. Furthermore, it would pose a danger to his friends and family. One can hardly find a weakness in his arguments to stay and face the consequences laid upon him. To the masses and the fellow Athenians, his choice to stay and face the unjust judgment would pave a way for the continuation of injustice in the society. Ideally, the Athenians would have relied on a man like Socrates to bring a justice revolution to the nation, but his choice to succumb to injustice would create weakness in efforts to seek justice for the common.
Works Cited
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