Trial of Socrates: Crito

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Contents5 premises

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Premises

1The case against escape

Conclusion

2The laws’ claim on Socrates

3Principle over survival

4Limits of the crowd’s power

5Timing left to the god

Responses

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Conclusion

The case against escape

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Premise details for "The case against escape"

Socrates must not escape

Details for "Socrates must not escape"

Socrates decides that escaping would violate justice, break his agreements with the laws, and wrong his country, friends, and himself.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "This, dear Crito, is the voice which I seem to hear murmuring in my ears, like the sound of the flute in the ears of the mystic; that voice, I say, is humming in my ears, and prevents me from hearing any other. And I know that anything more which you may say will be vain.". Original claim

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The laws’ claim on Socrates

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Premise details for "The laws’ claim on Socrates"

Socrates must not escape

Details for "Socrates must not escape"

Socrates decides that escaping would violate justice, break his agreements with the laws, and wrong his country, friends, and himself.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

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Escape would wrong the laws

Details for "Escape would wrong the laws"

Socrates reasons that escaping without the Athenians’ consent would injure the laws and the city rather than merely avoid punishment.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "Consider, Socrates, if we are speaking truly that in your present attempt you are going to do us an injury.". Original claim

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and

The laws formed Socrates

Details for "The laws formed Socrates"

The laws claim they brought Socrates into existence, regulated his upbringing and education, and gave him the benefits of civic order.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "Well then, since you were brought into the world and nurtured and educated by us, can you deny in the first place that you are our child and slave, as your fathers were before you?". Original claim

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Axiom: Domain Rule

and

Residence implies agreement

Details for "Residence implies agreement"

The laws claim that an adult who remains in the city after knowing its ways has implicitly agreed to obey its commands or persuade it otherwise.

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Source — Based on origin text "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 command him.". Original claim

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Axiom: Domain Rule

and

Socrates accepted the city

Details for "Socrates accepted the city"

The laws argue that Socrates stayed in Athens for seventy years, rarely traveled, and therefore showed continued attachment to the city and its laws.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "after you have had seventy years to think of them, during which time you were at liberty to leave the city, if we were not to your mind, or if our covenants appeared to you to be unfair.". Original claim

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and

Escape would damage others

Details for "Escape would damage others"

The laws say escaping would exile or impoverish Socrates’s friends, make him an enemy of well-governed cities, and confirm the judges’ condemnation.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "That your friends will be driven into exile and deprived of citizenship, or will lose their property, is tolerably certain; and you yourself, if you fly to one of the neighbouring cities, as, for example, Thebes or Megara, both of which are well governed, will come to them as an enemy". Original claim

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and

Justice outranks life

Details for "Justice outranks life"

Socrates concludes that one must value a good, just, and honorable life above mere survival, so consequences like death or loss do not decide the moral question.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "And I should like to know whether I may say the same of another proposition—that not life, but a good life, is to be chiefly valued?". Original claim

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and

Laws require obedience or persuasion

Details for "Laws require obedience or persuasion"

The laws assert that a citizen must obey them or persuade them they are wrong; otherwise he must endure their punishments without resistance.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "he must do what his city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is just". Original claim

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Axiom: Domain Rule

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Principle over survival

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Justice outranks life

Details for "Justice outranks life"

Socrates concludes that one must value a good, just, and honorable life above mere survival, so consequences like death or loss do not decide the moral question.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "And I should like to know whether I may say the same of another proposition—that not life, but a good life, is to be chiefly valued?". Original claim

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Reason governs Socrates

Details for "Reason governs Socrates"

Socrates says he has always followed the best reasoning available to him and will not abandon his principles unless better ones are found.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "For I am and always have been one of those natures who must be guided by reason, whatever the reason may be which upon reflection appears to me to be the best". Original claim

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and

Zeal can be dangerous

Details for "Zeal can be dangerous"

Socrates says Crito’s eagerness helps only if it is right; if wrong, great zeal increases danger and must be checked by reflection.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "Dear Crito, your zeal is invaluable, if a right one; but if wrong, the greater the zeal the greater the danger; and therefore we ought to consider whether I shall or shall not do as you say.". Original claim

U → T

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and

Wrongdoing is never right

Details for "Wrongdoing is never right"

Socrates maintains that one must never intentionally do wrong, and that injustice is always evil and dishonorable.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "shall we insist on the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil and dishonour to him who acts unjustly?". Original claim

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Axiom: Background Assumption

and

Retaliation is unjust

Details for "Retaliation is unjust"

Socrates holds that one must not injure in return or repay evil with evil, because doing evil to another is itself wrong.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him.". Original claim

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Axiom: Background Assumption

and

One must do the right

Details for "One must do the right"

A person ought to do what he judges right and must not betray the right once he recognizes it.

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Source — Based on origin text "Ought a man to do what he admits to be right, or ought he to betray the right?". Original claim

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Axiom: Background Assumption

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Limits of the crowd’s power

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Zeal can be dangerous

Details for "Zeal can be dangerous"

Socrates says Crito’s eagerness helps only if it is right; if wrong, great zeal increases danger and must be checked by reflection.

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U → T

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The many are not authoritative

Details for "The many are not authoritative"

Socrates holds that the opinion of the many should not guide action; only the judgment of good and wise people deserves regard.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "Then, my friend, we must not regard what the many say of us; but what he, the one man who has understanding of just and unjust, will say, and what the truth will say.". Original claim

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Axiom: Background Assumption

and

The many cannot do greatest evil

Details for "The many cannot do greatest evil"

Socrates argues that the many cannot make a person wise or foolish, so they can do neither the greatest good nor the greatest evil.

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Source — Based on origin text "But in reality they can do neither; for they cannot make a man either wise or foolish; and whatever they do is the result of chance.". Original claim

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Axiom: Background Assumption

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Timing left to the god

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Socrates follows God’s will

Details for "Socrates follows God’s will"

Socrates ends by leaving the matter to God’s will and following wherever that guidance leads.

No citations. The argument supports this claim through a premise that concludes it, or an axiom.

Source — Based on origin text "Leave me then, Crito, to fulfil the will of God, and to follow whither he leads.". Original claim

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The Delos ship nears arrival

Details for "The Delos ship nears arrival"

The ship from Delos has not yet arrived, but it will probably arrive that day; therefore the next day will be Socrates’s last day of life.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "No, the ship has not actually arrived, but she will probably be here to-day, as persons who have come from Sunium tell me that they have left her there; and therefore to-morrow, Socrates, will be the last day of your life.". Original claim

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and

Socrates accepts divine will

Details for "Socrates accepts divine will"

Socrates is willing to die if that is God’s will, though he thinks the ship’s arrival will be delayed by a day.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "Very well, Crito; if such is the will of God, I am willing; but my belief is that there will be a delay of a day.". Original claim

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and

The dream predicts departure

Details for "The dream predicts departure"

Socrates’s dream of a woman saying “The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go” points to his death occurring after a short delay.

This claim has no citation and isn't the consequent of any premise.

Source — Based on origin text "‘The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.’". Original claim

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About this source

This argument is a Proposit showcase: a formal reconstruction of a canonical work by Socrates / Plato. The original text is that author’s; the analysis below it is ours.

About: Crito

The Crito is a short dialogue by Plato, set in the prison where Socrates awaits execution. His wealthy friend Crito urges him to escape into exile; Socrates refuses. He reasons that one must never act unjustly — even in return for an injustice suffered — and that fleeing would wrong the laws of Athens that gave him birth, upbringing, and a lifetime of benefit. A citizen who freely remains, he argues, has agreed to obey the city's judgments or persuade it otherwise, and a just life matters more than mere survival.

Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.

Read more: Crito on Wikipedia · Full text: Crito at Wikisource

What Proposit adds is the structure: the work’s reasoning restated as explicit claims and premises, with each inference laid out so it can be examined, cited and disputed on its own terms. Readers can respond to any individual premise rather than to the work as a whole.

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Socrates / Plato

This account pairs the Athenian philosopher Socrates with Plato, the student who preserved his thought. Socrates (c. 470–399 BCE), a founding figure of Western moral philosophy, wrote nothing himself; he is known for the Socratic method of inquiry through persistent questioning, and was tried and executed by Athens for impiety and "corrupting the youth." Plato (c. 428–348 BCE), his pupil, recorded his teacher's conversations in dialogues such as the Apology and Crito, through which Socrates' arguments survive. The two appear here as a single author voice.

Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.

About this document

About: Crito

Original summary for this showcase, informed by public sources including Wikipedia.

Read more: Crito on Wikipedia · Full text: Crito at Wikisource

Source text

Plato, Crito, B. Jowett, Trans. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1871.⚠ Not in IEEE format — needs conversionType: Book · guessed

5,408 words · 19 traced passagesThe text this argument was built from. Open it to read it, step through the passages its premises and claims trace back to, or find a phrase in it.

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