Dr. Ari Santas’

Crito Exercise

Background: As the dialogue begins, Socrates’ sentence has been delayed for about a month. During this time his friends made repeated attempts to convince him he should escape into exile. The practice was common, and the Athenians would not mind, since they just wanted him to leave town anyway. This dialogue probably has some basis in fact, and it may reflect the last attempt by Crito, a long-time friend, to convince Socrates to leave. Crito gives three different kinds of argument

·  Selfish à I’ll lose a friend. / What will they think?

·  Practical à We have the means. / There’s a place to go.

·  Moral à It’s wrong to forsake a life. / It’s wrong to abandon your sons. / It’s cowardly to not fight back.

Socrates replies to all three and then develops his own argument in an imaginary dialogue with the laws of the state (personified). In this dialogue he discusses the idea of a social contract (that there is an agreement between citizen and state), the importance of obedience to authority, and the destructive consequences of ignoring the dictates of law (“destroying” the laws).

Phase 1 [In small groups, ½ doing #1, ½ doing #2]

1.   What are Crito’s strongest arguments for Socrates’ escape? Make a list. What does Socrates find wrong with each of these? Explain.

2.   What are Socrates’ main reasons for staying in prison and facing his execution? Make a list. What could have Crito said to challenge these arguments?

Phase 2 [In combined groups, share answers from #1 & 2, answer #3]

3.   Should Socrates have escaped prison? What would you have done if put in Socrates position? Would you have chosen to escape? If not, why not? If so, what would you have said to the Laws when they confronted you at the city gates? Is your case different than that of Socrates? Explain.

Phase 3 [using text and videos from Thoreau, King, Gandhi]

4.   At his trial, Socrates made it quite clear that he would not obey the court if it asked him to discontinue his mission. But while in prison, he argued to Crito that one must never "destroy the laws" by disobeying them. This appears to be inconsistent. Why obey some laws and not others? Throughout history, civil rights activists like Henry David Thoreau, Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are accused of a similar inconsistency; and they answer by making a distinction between just and unjust laws. Discuss Socrates' mission, his conception of wisdom, his basic moral principles, the concept of law and Civil Disobedience.