Platos Crito

SOCRATES: Why did you come here so early, Crito? What time is it?
CRITO: It is dawn.
SOCRATES: How did the guard let you in?
CRITO: He knows me because I come here often. And he owes me a favor.
SOCRATES: Did you just arrive?
CRITO: No, I came some time ago.
SOCRATES: Then why did you sit and say nothing instead of waking me at once?
CRITO: Socrates, I myself am very upset and have trouble sleeping. I am amazed
that you can sleep so peacefully. I did not wake you because I want you to be free
of pain. I have always considered you a happy man because you are so calm, yet I
am surprised by how cheerfully you are reacting to being in prison and perhaps
executed.
SOCRATES: Well, Crito, a man as old as me does not become unhappy thinking
about death.
CRITO: Yet other old men in similar circumstances do fear death.
SOCRATES: Perhaps, but why are you here so early?
CRITO: I have a sad and painful message for you. It might not be sad and painful
for you, but it is sad and painful for your friends, especially me.
SOCRATES: What! I suppose the message is that I will die today.
CRITO: No, but I have heard that tomorrow will be the last day of your life.
SOCRATES: Very well, Crito. If that is the will of the gods, I accept it. However, I
believe that my death will be delayed by one day.
CRITO: Why do you say this?
SOCRATES: I will tell you. I had a vision last night actually, the vision occurred
when you allowed me to sleep just now. A beautiful woman wearing white clothes
came to me and told me that in three days, I will go to the city where I will die.
CRITO: What an amazing dream, Socrates!
SOCRATES: There can be no doubt about the dreams meaning, Crito.
CRITO: Yes, the meaning is very clear. But my dear Socrates, let me plead with you
again to escape from this prison. If you die, I will lose a friend who can never be
replaced. But there is a worse evil: people who do not know us will think that I
Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett
(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
could have saved you by paying money, but that I didnt save you because I didnt
care. Can there be a worse disgrace than people thinking that I value money more
than the life of a friend? Nobody will believe that I wanted to help you escape and
that you then refused.
SOCRATES: But, Crito, why should we care about what the public thinks? Good
men are the only men who we should care about, and good men will know what
really happened.
CRITO: But, Socrates, the opinion of the public is important. Look at your own
situation. The public can do the greatest evil to anyone who they dislike.
SOCRATES: I wish that were true, Crito, because then the public could also do the
greatest good. But the truth is that the public can do neither good nor evil. The
public cannot make a man wise or foolish.
CRITO: I do not disagree, but tell me, Socrates, if you are refusing to escape
because you want to protect your friends. Perhaps you are afraid that if you
escape, we will get into trouble because we helped you escape. Perhaps you are
afraid that we will lose our money or perhaps an even greater evil. If this is your
fear, do not worry. We would take this risk and many more in order to save you.
Please do as I say.
SOCRATES: Yes, Crito, that is one fear of mine, but it is not my only fear.
CRITO: Do not worry! We can pay the informers to keep your escape secret. They
do not ask for much money. There are many men with much money who all want to
help you escape. Do not hesitate to escape because you dont want us to spend too
much money. In court, you said that you would not know where to go if you
escaped. Socrates, you can go many places. I have friends who will protect you in
Thessaly.
You are not right to let them kill you when we can help save you. You would be
betraying yourself and your children. You should remain alive to raise your children
and educate them. Do you want them to be orphans? No man should bring
children into the world if he is unwilling to persevere to the end for their good
upbringing and education. You are taking the easy way out, not the way that is
appropriate for someone like you who is virtuous in all your actions. Indeed, I am
ashamed of you. But I am ashamed at those of us who are your friends, as well.
Everyone will think that you died because we are cowards. They will think that it
would have been easy for you to escape, but your friends did nothing.
Socrates, it is too late to keep thinking about it. You must escape. You must escape
tonight. Socrates, I am pleading with you to do as I say.
SOCRATES: Dear Crito, enthusiasm is invaluable if it is right, but if it is wrong,
great enthusiasm causes great evil. Therefore, we should consider whether these
Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett
(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
things should be done or not. I must always be guided by reason. I cannot abandon
all of my prior reasonings just because of my current situation. I still honor the
principles that I have always honored and been faithful to. Unless we can find other
and better principles right now, I will not agree to escape not even if the public
made my situation a thousand times worse.
The best way to consider this question is to review the arguments that we agreed
on before I was condemned. We agreed that we should only value the opinions of
some men and that we should not value the opinions of other men. Now we must
determine if that argument was correct when we originally agreed on it. And if it
was correct at that time, we must now determine if the argument is somehow
different because of my current situation. Was I correct to maintain that the
opinions of good men should be valued and the opinions of bad men should not be
valued?
CRITO: Certainly.
SOCRATES: And the opinions of the wise are good, while the opinions of the unwise
are evil?
CRITO: Certainly.
SOCRATES: And should an athlete pay attention to the praise and instructions of
every man or of only one man his trainer?
CRITO: Of one man only the trainer.
SOCRATES: And the athlete should fear disapproval from only one man, not from
many men? And he should welcome the praise of only one man, not the praise of
the many?
CRITO: That is clear.
SOCRATES: And the athlete should eat and live and exercise according to the
instructions of his single trainer, who has understanding not according to the
opinion of all other men put together?
CRITO: True.
SOCRATES: And if the athlete disobeys his trainer and does not care about his
trainers approval, but instead cares more about the opinion of the many, who have
no understanding then the athlete would suffer evil?
CRITO: Certainly.
SOCRATES: And what would the evil be how would it affect the disobedient
athlete?

Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett

(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
CRITO: The evil for the athlete would negatively affect his body.
SOCRATES: And isnt the same true for many other things? On the subject of just
and unjust, good and evil, we should follow the opinion of the many or the opinion
of the one man who has understanding the one man who we should respect more
than any other person in the world. Isnt this a correct principle?
CRITO: Certainly, Socrates.
SOCRATES: If an athlete follows the advice of men who have no understanding, the
athlete destroys his body, which is the part of man that is improved by health and
damaged by disease - correct?
CRITO: Yes.
SOCRATES: Can a person live with a destroyed body?
CRITO: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: And if anybody harms that higher part of man which is improved by
justice and damaged by injustice, is life worth living? Do we believe that this
principle related to justice and injustice, whatever this principle might be in
humans, is inferior to the body?
CRITO: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: Then, the principle concerning justice and injustice is more honored?
CRITO: Far more honored.
SOCRATES: Then, my friend, we must not care about what the many say about us.
Instead, we must concern ourselves with the sayings of the one man who has
understanding of what is just and unjust. We must concern ourselves only with the
truth. Therefore, you began in error when you argued that we should value the
opinion of the many regarding justice and injustice, good and evil, honorable and
dishonorable. But I suppose somebody may say, The many can kill us.
CRITO: Yes, Socrates. That is clearly the answer.
SOCRATES: It is true, but the original argument is still sound. And may I also say
that there is another sound proposition: we should not value life, but rather we
should value only a good life.
CRITO: Yes, that remains sound.
SOCRATES: And a good life is a life that is just and honorable, correct?
CRITO: Yes.

Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett

(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
SOCRATES: Very well. I will use these principles to argue whether or not I should
escape from Athens and without the consent of the Athenians. If it is clearly right
for me to escape, I will escape. If not, I will abstain.
The arguments you made earlier about money, shame, and the responsibility to
raise and educate children are nothing more than the beliefs of the multitude. We
have already agreed that we should not value the beliefs of the many. The only
question is whether I would be right to escape and trouble others to help me
escape or whether I would not be right to do so. If I would not be right to do so,
then my death or any other potential disaster related to my imprisonment here are
not relevant.
Let us consider the problem together. You try to prove me wrong. If you can refute
me, then I will escape. If you cannot refute me, then you must stop asking me to
escape against the desire of the Athenians. I would love for you to convince me,
but I will not abandon reason and logic. So now, let us consider my first position.
Do your best to answer me.
CRITO: I will do my best.
SOCRATES: We agree that we should never intentionally do wrong. It is incorrect
that sometimes we should do wrong and sometimes we should not do wrong. The
opinion of the many, negative or positive consequences of our actions do not
change the fact that injustice is always an evil. Doing wrong is always shameful.
Can we agree to that?
CRITO: Yes.
SOCRATES: Then we must never do wrong.
CRITO: Certainly not.
SOCRATES: And when we are injured, we must not injure in return although many
believe that we should. We should never injure anyone at all.
CRITO: That is correct.
SOCRATES: Once again, Crito, may we ever do evil?
CRITO: Surely not, Socrates.
SOCRATES: What about doing evil when evil has been done to us? That is the
morality of many people. Is it just or not?
CRITO: Not just.
SOCRATES: Because doing evil to somebody is the same as injuring him?
CRITO: Very true.
Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett
(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
SOCRATES: So we should never retaliate; we should never do evil to somebody
even if they have just done evil to us. But do you really mean this, Crito? The
multitude will always disagree with you. Think about it seriously and be certain. Do
you agree that it is never right to do evil in order to retaliate or even to prevent
another evil?
CRITO: I agree.
SOCRATES: Let us proceed to the next step. Should a man do what he knows is
right, or should he betray what he knows is right?
CRITO: He should do what he thinks is right.
SOCRATES: Well then, if this is true, we need to think about its application. If I
leave this prison against the will of the Athenians, am I doing wrong to anyone? Do
I not abandon the principles that we just agreed are just?
CRITO: I cannot tell, Socrates. I do not know.
SOCRATES: Think about it this way. Imagine that I am going to escape soon. The
government comes and asks me, What are you doing, Socrates? Are you going to
escape and overturn the laws and the whole State? Do you imagine that a State
can exist and not be overthrown if its laws have no power and individuals can ignore
them? What will be my answer, Crito? There is much to say about the evil of
ignoring the laws of a state. But perhaps I reply, Yes, but the State has done me
wrong and has made an unjust decision. What if I say that?
CRITO: Very good, Socrates.
SOCRATES: The State would say, And what was our agreement with you? Tell us
how you can justify this attempt to destroy the State and the laws. Do you think
that you have the right to destroy the State just because the State decided to
destroy you? Doesnt the State deserve more honor than any mother or father?
When a father becomes angry, the son must respectfully try to persuade him, and if
the father is not persuaded, the son must obey his father. And when the father
punishes his son, the son must endure the punishment in silence. Is it not the same
with the State? And when the State leads us to harm in battle, it is right to follow
the orders of the State. Whether in battle or in a court of law, a man must either do
what his city and country order him to do or persuade them about what is just. If a
man may not do violence to his father or mother, then he certainly may not do
violence to the State, which is higher than his parents. Is this all true, Crito?
CRITO: I think it is true.
SOCRATES: Then the State will say, If this is true, Socrates, you are doing the
State wrong by escaping. The State has given you and every citizen the right to
leave Athens and live somewhere else if you do not agree with the laws of the city.
Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett
(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)

Platos Crito
The State will never stop anyone from leaving Athens if they disagree with our laws.
But anyone who chooses to remain in Athens has made an implied contract that he
will obey the laws of the city or persuade us that the laws are wrong. There is clear
proof, Socrates, that you never disagreed with the laws of the city. Of all the
Athenians, you are the one who has never left except for during military duty. As
you never leave the city, it may be assumed that you love the city. You were never
curious to know the laws of other cities and States. You have always been quite
pleased with this State. You even chose to have children here, which proves that
you are satisfied with the States laws. During your trial, you even had the option of
choosing to leave Athens as your punishment. However, you stated that you prefer
death over exile. Yet now you wish to ignore the laws and destroy them; you wish
to break the contract you made as a citizen. How would I answer that, Crito?
CRITO: There is no help, Socrates.
SOCRATES: Then the State will say, If you commit this evil of escaping, Socrates,
what good will you be doing to yourself and your friends? It is almost certain that
the State will imprison your friends who help you escape. As for you, wherever you
go, that city will see you as an enemy who will ignore its own laws as you have
ignored the laws of Athens. What then? Will you run away from all well-governed
cities and virtuous men? Perhaps you will find a city without laws. But there, you
will live without justice or virtue. Perhaps you will say that you are escaping in order
to continue raising and educating your children. But will it benefit your children to
take them out of Athens so you can try to educate them in a city with no justice and
no virtue? Or is it better for them to remain here in Athens to be raised and
educated by your friends, who will carry on your work?
Now listen, Socrates. Do not think first about life and your children and then think
about justice later. Think of justice first, and you will be justified before the princes
of the world. You will die in innocence, a sufferer not a doer of evil. You will not be
a victim of the laws, but rather a victim of the multitudes opinion. But if you
escape, doing more evil because you think evil has been done to you, you will be
doing wrong to yourself, your friends, and your country. Listen, then, to the State,
and not to Crito.
Crito, this is what the State will say to me if I escape. Speak if you have anything to
say.
CRITO: I have nothing to say, Socrates.
SOCRATES: Then let me follow the commands of the gods.

Adapted from the translation by Benjamin Jowett

(http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/crito.html)