Crito

Plato’s Crito is, on one level, a fictionalized representation of the end of Socrates’s life and how he responds to the opportunity to escape execution. As is the case with other Platonic dialogues, Crito is not necessarily meant to represent an actual conversation. We have no way of knowing if such a conversation ever took place—although it is plausible that Socrates’s friends would try to help him escape and that he would refuse. Thus, set in a realistic but still fictionalized scenario, Crito is an opportunity for Plato to explore larger philosophical issues, as he does in all his dialogues. In this case, Plato uses Socrates’s imprisonment to explore justice and injustice, especially when it comes to obedience to the law.

In this dialogue, Plato introduces a number of philosophical concepts that he also explores in other dialogues. One major concept is that of justice, which is to Plato the quality or virtue of people who live good and well-ordered lives. Plato explores justice in far more detail in his Republic, a significantly longer work. In Crito, justice and its opposite—injustice—are relevant in that Socrates initially thinks Crito’s plan to escape is not just or virtuous, whereas Crito initially believes Socrates’s refusal to escape is not just or virtuous. Crito says, “Socrates, I do not think that what you are doing is just, to give up your life when you can save it” (45c). Crito also argues that Socrates’s refusal to escape shows a lack of courage. By the end of the dialogue, however, Socrates has convinced Crito that escape is unjust—or, at least, Crito has no adequate argument or rebuttal when Socrates argues it is unjust.

Plato also raises the idea of impiety—a concept explored extensively in other dialogues such as Euthyphro—in Socrates’s personification of the laws of Athens. These laws point out to Socrates that they are, in a way, his father and guardian. For Socrates to defy them is impious because “it is impious to bring violence to bear against your mother or father” (51c). As scholars frequently group Crito in the same set of dialogues as Euthyphro, partially because both are set around the same time (Euthyphro takes place a few weeks before Socrates’s trial), the reader is primed to consider this discussion of piety as a part of Plato’s larger exploration of the concept within his corpus.

Likewise, Crito raises the idea of the good life. Plato explores the idea of a good life and human happiness throughout his dialogues, most famously in Socrates’s well-known statement in Apology that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (38a). In Crito, however, Socrates brings up the good life when he says that “the most important thing is not life, but the good life” (48b). He means to argue that he should not escape because such a life, that of a fugitive from the law, would not be a good life. He should remain in prison for his execution because to do so would be to live a better life, even if a shorter one. Although Plato explores these larger philosophical concepts in Crito, they appear for the most part in how they specifically relate to Socrates’s opportunity to escape.

Plato focuses on two concepts that have enormous relevance to the end of Socrates’s life—the law and the state. The law and the state are, in some sense, the reason that Socrates’s life is about to end. In 399 BCE, Socrates went on trial for impiety and corrupting the minds of the Athenian youth. When found guilty, each side offered a punishment, and the jurors were required to choose between them. The prosecution suggested execution, whereas Socrates suggested his “punishment” should be free meals for life. Given these two options, the jurors chose execution. Despite the role that Athenian laws and the state of Athens had in Socrates’s conviction and execution, in Plato’s Crito Socrates remains adamant that these institutions are just. Much of the dialogue is occupied by Socrates’s defense of the Athenian legal system.

Socrates shows through his discussion with the personified Athenian laws that it is wrong to disobey the laws simply because one disagrees with specific government officials (in this case, the jurors who voted to convict Socrates and sentence him to death). Socrates argues “that neither to do wrong nor to return a wrong is ever correct, nor is doing harm in return for harm done” (49d). He means that all wrongdoing is bad, whether or not someone has done wrong to you. The laws tell Socrates: “If you depart after shamefully returning wrong for wrong and mistreatment for mistreatment, after breaking your agreements and commitments with us, after mistreating those you should mistreat least—yourself, your friends, your country, and us” (54c), that this behavior would reflect poorly on Socrates in the underworld. Escape would be wrong, despite the unfortunate circumstances of Socrates’s imprisonment and impending execution. By escaping, Socrates would not only mistreat those who sentenced him to death (although that would still be bad), he would also mistreat himself and the institutions of Athens. This difference between individuals who participate in legal processes and the institutions of government is of core importance to Socrates’s argument against escape. Although some might disagree with this particular case’s outcome, they cannot deny the value of the Athenian legal system itself. Thus, an important message of Crito is to respect and uphold political institutions even when one disagrees with the individuals who manage those institutions.

As in all his dialogues, Plato uses his Crito to showcase his teacher and mentor Socrates—or, at least, Plato’s reimagining of the historical Socrates. Plato’s Socrates is not necessarily Socrates the man. He is rather a literary creation that Plato uses to explore philosophical concepts and values, although this literary creation might indeed resemble the historical Socrates, who left no writings behind. Plato also juxtaposes Socrates with Crito, emphasizing how their characters differ, especially when it comes to their reactions to Socrates’s upcoming death.

Crito, who is distraught at the idea that his longtime friend might soon die, thinks that Socrates should not be so calm. And yet Socrates is calm, citing his age and his devotion to living a good and just life. He cites his age—about 70—when he says, “It would not be fitting at my age to resent the fact that I must die now” (43b). Seventy was not an age unheard of in ancient Athens, but it was certainly an advanced age. While Crito believes that Socrates should fight for any moments he might have left, Socrates disagrees, preferring to live a good life rather than merely a longer one. He says, “The most important thing is not life, but the good life” (48b). Again, the quality and integrity of life matter far more to Socrates than the quantity.

Socrates also remains entirely devoted to his pursuit of philosophy, reason, justice, and virtue. He even says near the beginning of the dialogue that “not only now but at all times I am the kind of man who listens to nothing within me but the argument that on reflection seems best to me” (46b). Socrates emphasizes that this characteristic is so strong that it remains important at every moment of his life, even when facing death. Plato’s characterization of Socrates in Crito echoes other dialogues, where Socrates is depicted as always devoted to logic, reason, and virtue. And yet, given Crito’s setting on the cusp of Socrates’s death, his devotion to these ideals seems even more powerful.