Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right (Crito by Plato)
It is clear in "Crito" that Plato is holding Socrates up on a pedestal. There is a reason that Plato does this. He is trying to teach the reader a lesson on human values, with Socrates as the epitome of a model citizen. The question of what Plato is trying to teach is where I will begin my inquiry. What truth about life does Plato want his audience to discover, and how does he go about teaching them? One thing that we must note is that the "Crito" is written completely in dialogue format between Socrates and his pupil Crito. Dialogue, which is the main module of the Socratic Method, is an alternative to the lecture format. Socrates and Plato both believe in dialogue as a better method of teaching, and there is a reason for this. Plato uses the dialogue format so he can install a character, Crito, who has values that are common to the average moral citizen of the time. These values become apparent when Crito attempts to persuade Socrates to escape. Crito reasons that if Socrates were to stay in the prison and accept his fate, he would be "letting down [his] sons," his pupils, and his friend (100). This shows that Crito values frien
We can now assume that Plato's main intent in writing "Crito" is to teach something so we can all have in ourselves a part Socrates, who is in this case the model citizen that we should follow. The lesson learned is that honor is more important than any other human value, including love. We must never fall victim to hypocrisy, as Socrates would have done had he committed a wrong in retaliation for another wrong. We can see that after Crito is finished questioning Socrates' lack of will to retaliate, the real teacher begins taking control. The aggressive persuasion tactics of Crito does not impact Socrates, as see though the way Socrates addresses Crito in a calm manner, calling him his "dear Crito (129)." Plato then slowly begins to build Socrates' ethos, which is one of wisdom. The systematic manner in which Socrates makes his points shows that he is the teacher, and Crito is his pupil. From here on out, Socrates is asking rhetorical questions like "one should regard the good [advice] and not the bad," and "is [an unqualified opinion] all nonsense (196)." These questions all provoke agreement from Crito, who was once sure that the
Some common words found in the essay are:
Socrates Socrates, Socrates Plato, Crito Plato, Socratic Method, Crito Dialogue, socrates escape, fall victim, human value, plato trying teach, dialogue format, crito values, crito confident, accept fate, model citizen, dialogue crito, format socrates,
Approximate Word count = 774
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
