Socrates was help in prison a month before his execution because the Athenian State Galley was away in Delos. Crito comes
to Socrates’ cell to warn him that the ship is rumored to return later that day. Socrates is scheduled to die the day after the ship arrives.
Socrates wakes up and sees Crito sitting in his cell. He asks Crito what he is doing there so early and why he didn’t wake him sooner. Crito replies that he wanted Socrates to sleep peacefully, because he has bad news. The ship is supposed to return that very day, and Socrates will die tomorrow. Socrates says that he will actually die in two days, because his dream told him the ship wouldn’t arrive until the following day.
Crito pleads with Socrates to let himself be saved. Crito tells him that it would be a great misfortune for him and all his friends if Socrates were really to die. Not only would they be losing him, but also Crito would be embarrassed for
people to think they had money to save him but didn’t want to. Crito does not want to be perceived as valuing money over friendship, and most people wouldn’t believe that Socrates preferred staying and dying to escaping. Socrates counters by saying Crito shouldn’t listen to what most people think, just reasonable individuals. Crito replies that majorities can be dangerous and cites Socrates’ situation as an example. In the defense of the majority, Socrates claims that if most are incapable of doing the greatest good, most are also incapable of doing the greatest harm. Rather, the influence of the majority is randomly in-between.
Crito changes tactics and tells Socrates not to worry about him or his friends being punished. Everyone has money to spend on helping the escape, and Socrates can stay with Crito’s friends in Thessaly. The risk to Crito is worth it, because to not help Socrates would be unjust. In fact, Socrates insisting on death was unjust because death is an easier path than escape, and it is not right to give up his life when he is leaving behind sons. In fact, the whole trial could have been avoided to begin with. Socrates agrees to examine Crito’s argument thoroughly.
First, Socrates asserts that one should value the opinions of some and not others. Good opinions are to be valued, and bad ones are to be disregarded. Furthermore, it is always better to listen to someone who has specific knowledge of the thing being discussed over everyone else. The example Socrates uses is that a man undergoing physical training should value his doctor’s opinion, and that listening to everyone else will cause his body harm. When you harm a part of yourself, especially your soul, life is not worth living if a piece of you is corrupt. Performing unjust acts also harms the soul, so it is better to listen to someone who has specific knowledge of justice than everyone else. While many people might advocate for Socrates’ death, many people also argue for his escape. In this case, listening to others in making this decision is not a valid argument.
Next, Socrates wants to examine whether escape would be a just act. To start, he says that injustice and wrongdoing are universally bad, and you can’t act wrongly in some cases and not others. It follows that it is not just to wrong someone in retaliation, or to mistreat someone who has mistreated you. Although this is not something most people believe, it is true if an injustice is always wrong.
We can conclude from this that one is obligated to honor an
agreement that is made justly. Socrates then states that he has an agreement with the city of Athens and its laws. To escape would be to break that agreement, because escape would nullify the court’s verdict. In turn, this would harm the courts if it was thought taking matters into could dismiss verdicts. Part of Socrates’ agreement with Athens is to uphold the decisions made by courts.
Socrates must honor his agreement with the city because he enjoyed all the benefits of citizenship. Athens raised him, educated him, provvided him culture, and gave him the opportunity to vote and serve in public office. If Socrates did not like Athens’ laws, he could have changed them. Also, Socrates could have freely left Athens if he felt dissatisfied there. By staying, Socrates solidified his agreement to uphold Athens’ laws. He proved his satisfaction not only by living there his whole life, but also by having children there. And during his trial, Socrates stated he preferred death to exile, so Athens again acted justly toward him in that respect.
A city is incapable of making anyone happy without its laws, and any city he went to would consider him a threat for flouting laws in his home city. In that case, Socrates would actually be guilty of corrupting the young. It wouldn’t be acceptable for him to go somewhere ill-governed like Thessaly given his beliefs about justice, either. Socrates knows his friends will have to educate his children whether he is dead or in exile, and he feels it is better to die now knowing he is acting justly than to face death after committing an injustice.
Crito and Socrates both agree to let Socrates face his execution instead of escaping to Thessaly.