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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1657-h.zip b/1657-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0cdd885 --- /dev/null +++ b/1657-h.zip diff --git a/1657-h/1657-h.htm b/1657-h/1657-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce18a4c --- /dev/null +++ b/1657-h/1657-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1048 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML><HEAD> +<TITLE>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Crito, by Plato</TITLE> +<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +<!-- +DIV.book { margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%; text-align: justify; } +P { text-indent: 2em; } +P.pg { text-indent: 0em; } +SUP { text-decoration: none; } +--> +</STYLE> +</HEAD> +<BODY> +<center><h1>The Project Gutenberg EBook of<br><a href="#title"><i>Crito,</i></a> by Plato</h1></center> +<DIV align="justify"> +<p class="pg"><br> +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. +<p class="pg"> +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** +<p class="pg"> +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** +<p class="pg"> +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** +<p class="pg"> +Title: Crito +<p class="pg"> +Author: Plato +<p class="pg"> +Release Date: March, 1999 [Etext #1657] +<br>[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +<br>[This HTML edition was first posted on March 22, 2003] +<p class="pg"> +Edition: 10 +<p class="pg"> +Language: English +<p class="pg"> +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 +<p class="pg"> +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF CRITO, BY PLATO *** +<p class="pg"><br><br> +This eBook was converted to HTML, with additional editing, by Jose Menendez +from the text edition produced by Sue Asscher.<br> +<br><br><br></DIV> +<DIV class="book"> +<a name="title"></a><hr size="3" noshade><br><br> +<center> +<h1>CRITO</h1><h3>BY</h3><h2>PLATO</h2><br><br> +<h4>TRANSLATED BY BENJAMIN JOWETT</h4><br> +<hr size="3" noshade><br><br> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2></center> +<p><br> +The <i>Crito</i> seems intended to exhibit the character of Socrates in one light +only, not as the philosopher, fulfilling a divine mission and trusting in +the will of heaven, but simply as the good citizen, who having been +unjustly condemned is willing to give up his life in obedience to the laws +of the state . . . +<p> +The days of Socrates are drawing to a close; the fatal ship has been seen +off Sunium, as he is informed by his aged friend and contemporary Crito, +who visits him before the dawn has broken; he himself has been warned in a +dream that on the third day he must depart. Time is precious, and Crito +has come early in order to gain his consent to a plan of escape. This can +be easily accomplished by his friends, who will incur no danger in making +the attempt to save him, but will be disgraced for ever if they allow him +to perish. He should think of his duty to his children, and not play into +the hands of his enemies. Money is already provided by Crito as well as by +Simmias and others, and he will have no difficulty in finding friends in +Thessaly and other places. +<p> +Socrates is afraid that Crito is but pressing upon him the opinions of the +many; whereas, all his life long he has followed the dictates of reason +only and the opinion of the one wise or skilled man. There was a time when +Crito himself had allowed the propriety of this. And although someone +will say ‘the many can kill us,’ that makes no difference; but a good life, +in other words, a just and honourable life, is alone to be valued. All +considerations of loss of reputation or injury to his children should be +dismissed: the only question is whether he would be right in attempting to +escape. Crito, who is a disinterested person not having the fear of death +before his eyes, shall answer this for him. Before he was condemned they +had often held discussions, in which they agreed that no man should either +do evil, or return evil for evil, or betray the right. Are these +principles to be altered because the circumstances of Socrates are altered? +Crito admits that they remain the same. Then is his escape consistent with +the maintenance of them? To this Crito is unable or unwilling to reply. +<p> +Socrates proceeds:—Suppose the Laws of Athens to come and remonstrate with +him: they will ask, ‘Why does he seek to overturn them?’ and if he replies, +‘They have injured him,’ will not the Laws answer, ‘Yes, but was that the +agreement? Has he any objection to make to them which would justify him in +overturning them? Was he not brought into the world and educated by their +help, and are they not his parents? He might have left Athens and gone +where he pleased, but he has lived there for seventy years more constantly +than any other citizen.’ Thus he has clearly shown that he acknowledged +the agreement, which he cannot now break without dishonour to himself and +danger to his friends. Even in the course of the trial he might have +proposed exile as the penalty, but then he declared that he preferred death +to exile. And whither will he direct his footsteps? In any well-ordered +state the Laws will consider him as an enemy. Possibly in a land of +misrule like Thessaly he may be welcomed at first, and the unseemly +narrative of his escape will be regarded by the inhabitants as an amusing +tale. But if he offends them he will have to learn another sort of lesson. +Will he continue to give lectures in virtue? That would hardly be decent. +And how will his children be the gainers if he takes them into Thessaly, +and deprives them of Athenian citizenship? Or if he leaves them behind, +does he expect that they will be better taken care of by his friends +because he is in Thessaly? Will not true friends care for them equally +whether he is alive or dead? +<p> +Finally, they exhort him to think of justice first, and of life and +children afterwards. He may now depart in peace and innocence, a sufferer +and not a doer of evil. But if he breaks agreements, and returns evil for +evil, they will be angry with him while he lives; and their brethren the +Laws of the world below will receive him as an enemy. Such is the mystic +voice which is always murmuring in his ears. +<p> +That Socrates was not a good citizen was a charge made against him during +his lifetime, which has been often repeated in later ages. The crimes of +Alcibiades, Critias, and Charmides, who had been his pupils, were still +recent in the memory of the now restored democracy. The fact that he had +been neutral in the death-struggle of Athens was not likely to conciliate +popular good-will. Plato, writing probably in the next generation, +undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular, not to +the Athenians of his day, but to posterity and the world at large. +<p> +Whether such an incident ever really occurred as the visit of Crito and the +proposal of escape is uncertain; Plato could easily have invented far more +than that; <a href="#1"><small><sup>1</sup></small></a> and in the selection of Crito, the aged friend, as the +fittest person to make the proposal to Socrates, we seem to recognize the +hand of the artist. Whether anyone who has been subjected by the laws of +his country to an unjust judgment is right in attempting to escape, is a +thesis about which casuists might disagree. Shelley <a href="#2"><small><sup>2</sup></small></a> is of +opinion that Socrates ‘did well to die,’ but not for the ‘sophistical’ +reasons which Plato has put into his mouth. And there would be no +difficulty in arguing that Socrates should have lived and preferred to a +glorious death the good which he might still be able to perform. ‘A +rhetorician would have had much to say upon that point.’ It may be +observed however that Plato never intended to answer the question of +casuistry, but only to exhibit the ideal of patient virtue which refuses to +do the least evil in order to avoid the greatest, and to show his master +maintaining in death the opinions which he had professed in his life. Not +‘the world,’ but the ‘one wise man,’ is still the paradox of Socrates in +his last hours. He must be guided by reason, although her conclusions may +be fatal to him. The remarkable sentiment that the wicked can do neither +good nor evil is true, if taken in the sense, which he means, of moral +evil; in his own words, ‘they cannot make a man wise or foolish.’ +<p> +This little dialogue is a perfect piece of dialectic, in which granting the +‘common principle,’ there is no escaping from the conclusion. It is +anticipated at the beginning by the dream of Socrates and the parody of +Homer. The personification of the Laws, and of their brethren the Laws in +the world below, is one of the noblest and boldest figures of speech which +occur in Plato. +<br><br><hr><br> +<center><h2>CRITO</h2> +<p><br> +PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE:<br><i>Socrates, Crito.</i> +<p><br> +SCENE: <i>The Prison of Socrates</i>.</center> +<br><br><p> +SOCRATES: Why have you come at this hour, Crito? it must be quite early? +<p> +CRITO: Yes, certainly. +<p> +SOCRATES: What is the exact time? +<p> +CRITO: The dawn is breaking. +<p> +SOCRATES: I wonder that the keeper of the prison would let you in. +<p> +CRITO: He knows me, because I often come, Socrates; moreover, I have done +him a kindness. +<p> +SOCRATES: And are you only just arrived? +<p> +CRITO: No, I came some time ago. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then why did you sit and say nothing, instead of at once +awakening me? +<p> +CRITO: I should not have liked myself, Socrates, to be in such great +trouble and unrest as you are—indeed I should not: I have been watching +with amazement your peaceful slumbers; and for that reason I did not awake +you, because I wished to minimize the pain. I have always thought you to +be of a happy disposition; but never did I see anything like the easy, +tranquil manner in which you bear this calamity. +<p> +SOCRATES: Why, Crito, when a man has reached my age he ought not to be +repining at the approach of death. +<p> +CRITO: And yet other old men find themselves in similar misfortunes, and +age does not prevent them from repining. +<p> +SOCRATES: That is true. But you have not told me why you come at this +early hour. +<p> +CRITO: I come to bring you a message which is sad and painful; not, as I +believe, to yourself, but to all of us who are your friends, and saddest of +all to me. +<p> +SOCRATES: What? Has the ship come from Delos, on the arrival of which I +am to die? +<p> +CRITO: 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. +<p> +SOCRATES: 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. +<p> +CRITO: Why do you think so? +<p> +SOCRATES: I will tell you. I am to die on the day after the arrival of +the ship? +<p> +CRITO: Yes; that is what the authorities say. +<p> +SOCRATES: But I do not think that the ship will be here until to-morrow; +this I infer from a vision which I had last night, or rather only just now, +when you fortunately allowed me to sleep. +<p> +CRITO: And what was the nature of the vision? +<p> +SOCRATES: There appeared to me the likeness of a woman, fair and comely, +clothed in bright raiment, who called to me and said: O Socrates, +<center><br> +‘The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.’ <a href="#3"><small><sup>3</sup></small></a></center> +<p> +CRITO: What a singular dream, Socrates! +<p> +SOCRATES: There can be no doubt about the meaning, Crito, I think. +<p> +CRITO: Yes; the meaning is only too clear. But, oh! my beloved Socrates, +let me entreat you once more to take my advice and escape. For if you die +I shall not only lose a friend who can never be replaced, but there is +another evil: people who do not know you and me will believe that I might +have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did not +care. Now, can there be a worse disgrace than this—that I should be +thought to value money more than the life of a friend? For the many will +not be persuaded that I wanted you to escape, and that you refused. +<p> +SOCRATES: But why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the +many? Good men, and they are the only persons who are worth considering, +will think of these things truly as they occurred. +<p> +CRITO: But you see, Socrates, that the opinion of the many must be +regarded, for what is now happening shows that they can do the greatest +evil to anyone who has lost their good opinion. +<p> +SOCRATES: I only wish it were so, Crito; and that the many could do the +greatest evil; for then they would also be able to do the greatest good—and +what a fine thing this would be! 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. +<p> +CRITO: Well, I will not dispute with you; but please to tell me, Socrates, +whether you are not acting out of regard to me and your other friends: are +you not afraid that if you escape from prison we may get into trouble with +the informers for having stolen you away, and lose either the whole or a +great part of our property; or that even a worse evil may happen to us? +Now, if you fear on our account, be at ease; for in order to save you, we +ought surely to run this, or even a greater risk; be persuaded, then, and +do as I say. +<p> +SOCRATES: Yes, Crito, that is one fear which you mention, but by no means +the only one. +<p> +CRITO: Fear not—there are persons who are willing to get you out of +prison at no great cost; and as for the informers, they are far from being +exorbitant in their demands—a little money will satisfy them. My means, +which are certainly ample, are at your service, and if you have a scruple +about spending all mine, here are strangers who will give you the use of +theirs; and one of them, Simmias the Theban, has brought a large sum of +money for this very purpose; and Cebes and many others are prepared to +spend their money in helping you to escape. I say, therefore, do not +hesitate on our account, and do not say, as you did in the court <a href="#4"><small><sup>4</sup></small></a> +that you will have a difficulty in knowing what to do with yourself +anywhere else. For men will love you in other places to which you may go, +and not in Athens only; there are friends of mine in Thessaly, if you like +to go to them, who will value and protect you, and no Thessalian will give +you any trouble. Nor can I think that you are at all justified, Socrates, +in betraying your own life when you might be saved; in acting thus you are +playing into the hands of your enemies, who are hurrying on your +destruction. And further I should say that you are deserting your own +children; for you might bring them up and educate them; instead of which +you go away and leave them, and they will have to take their chance; and if +they do not meet with the usual fate of orphans, there will be small thanks +to you. No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to +persevere to the end in their nurture and education. But you appear to be +choosing the easier part, not the better and manlier, which would have been +more becoming in one who professes to care for virtue in all his actions, +like yourself. And indeed, I am ashamed not only of you, but of us who are +your friends, when I reflect that the whole business will be attributed +entirely to our want of courage. The trial need never have come on, or +might have been managed differently; and this last act, or crowning folly, +will seem to have occurred through our negligence and cowardice, who might +have saved you, if we had been good for anything; and you might have saved +yourself, for there was no difficulty at all. See now, Socrates, how sad +and discreditable are the consequences, both to us and you. Make up your +mind then, or rather have your mind already made up, for the time of +deliberation is over, and there is only one thing to be done, which must be +done this very night, and, if we delay at all, will be no longer practicable +or possible; I beseech you therefore, Socrates, be persuaded by me, and do +as I say. +<p> +SOCRATES: 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. 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; and now that this chance has befallen me, I cannot repudiate my own +words: the principles which I have hitherto honoured and revered I still +honour, and unless we can at once find other and better principles, I am +certain not to agree with you; no, not even if the power of the multitude +could inflict many more imprisonments, confiscations, deaths, frightening +us like children with hobgoblin terrors. <a href="#5"><small><sup>5</sup></small></a> What will be the +fairest way of considering the question? Shall I return to your old +argument about the opinions of men?—we were saying that some of them are +to be regarded, and others not. Now were we right in maintaining this +before I was condemned? And has the argument which was once good now +proved to be talk for the sake of talking—mere childish nonsense? That is +what I want to consider with your help, Crito:—whether, under my present +circumstances, the argument appears to be in any way different or not; and +is to be allowed by me or disallowed. That argument, which, as I believe, +is maintained by many persons of authority, was to the effect, as I was +saying, that the opinions of some men are to be regarded, and of other men +not to be regarded. Now you, Crito, are not going to die to-morrow—at +least, there is no human probability of this—and therefore you are +disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which +you are placed. Tell me then, whether I am right in saying that some +opinions, and the opinions of some men only, are to be valued, and that +other opinions, and the opinions of other men, are not to be valued. I ask +you whether I was right in maintaining this? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly. +<p> +SOCRATES: The good are to be regarded, and not the bad? +<p> +CRITO: Yes. +<p> +SOCRATES: And the opinions of the wise are good, and the opinions of the +unwise are evil? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly. +<p> +SOCRATES: And what was said about another matter? Is the pupil who +devotes himself to the practice of gymnastics supposed to attend to the +praise and blame and opinion of every man, or of one man only—his +physician or trainer, whoever he may be? +<p> +CRITO: Of one man only. +<p> +SOCRATES: And he ought to fear the censure and welcome the praise of that +one only, and not of the many? +<p> +CRITO: Clearly so. +<p> +SOCRATES: And he ought to act and train, and eat and drink in the way +which seems good to his single master who has understanding, rather than +according to the opinion of all other men put together? +<p> +CRITO: True. +<p> +SOCRATES: And if he disobeys and disregards the opinion and approval of +the one, and regards the opinion of the many who have no understanding, +will he not suffer evil? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly he will. +<p> +SOCRATES: And what will the evil be, whither tending and what affecting, +in the disobedient person? +<p> +CRITO: Clearly, affecting the body; that is what is destroyed by the evil. +<p> +SOCRATES: Very good; and is not this true, Crito, of other things which we +need not separately enumerate? In questions of just and unjust, fair and +foul, good and evil, which are the subjects of our present consultation, +ought we to follow the opinion of the many and to fear them; or the opinion +of the one man who has understanding? ought we not to fear and reverence +him more than all the rest of the world: and if we desert him shall we not +destroy and injure that principle in us which may be assumed to be improved +by justice and deteriorated by injustice—there is such a principle? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly there is, Socrates. +<p> +SOCRATES: Take a parallel instance:—if, acting under the advice of those +who have no understanding, we destroy that which is improved by health and +is deteriorated by disease, would life be worth having? And that which has +been destroyed is—the body? +<p> +CRITO: Yes. +<p> +SOCRATES: Could we live, having an evil and corrupted body? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly not. +<p> +SOCRATES: And will life be worth having, if that higher part of man be +destroyed, which is improved by justice and depraved by injustice? Do we +suppose that principle, whatever it may be in man, which has to do with +justice and injustice, to be inferior to the body? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly not. +<p> +SOCRATES: More honourable than the body? +<p> +CRITO: Far more. +<p> +SOCRATES: 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. And therefore you begin in error when +you advise that we should regard the opinion of the many about just and +unjust, good and evil, honourable and dishonourable.—‘Well,’ someone will +say, ‘but the many can kill us.’ +<p> +CRITO: Yes, Socrates; that will clearly be the answer. +<p> +SOCRATES: And it is true; but still I find with surprise that the old +argument is unshaken as ever. 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? +<p> +CRITO: Yes, that also remains unshaken. +<p> +SOCRATES: And a good life is equivalent to a just and honourable one—that +holds also? +<p> +CRITO: Yes, it does. +<p> +SOCRATES: From these premises I proceed to argue the question whether I +ought or ought not to try and escape without the consent of the Athenians: +and if I am clearly right in escaping, then I will make the attempt; but if +not, I will abstain. The other considerations which you mention, of money +and loss of character and the duty of educating one’s children, are, I +fear, only the doctrines of the multitude, who would be as ready to restore +people to life, if they were able, as they are to put them to death—and +with as little reason. But now, since the argument has thus far prevailed, +the only question which remains to be considered is whether we shall do +rightly either in escaping or in suffering others to aid in our escape and +paying them in money and thanks, or whether in reality we shall not do +rightly; and if the latter, then death or any other calamity which may +ensue on my remaining here must not be allowed to enter into the +calculation. +<p> +CRITO: I think that you are right, Socrates; how then shall we proceed? +<p> +SOCRATES: Let us consider the matter together, and do you either refute me +if you can, and I will be convinced; or else cease, my dear friend, from +repeating to me that I ought to escape against the wishes of the Athenians: +for I highly value your attempts to persuade me to do so, but I may not be +persuaded against my own better judgment. And now please to consider my +first position, and try how you can best answer me. +<p> +CRITO: I will. +<p> +SOCRATES: Are we to say that we are never intentionally to do wrong, or +that in one way we ought and in another way we ought not to do wrong, or is +doing wrong always evil and dishonourable, as I was just now saying, and as +has been already acknowledged by us? Are all our former admissions which +were made within a few days to be thrown away? And have we, at our age, +been earnestly discoursing with one another all our life long only to +discover that we are no better than children? Or, in spite of the opinion +of the many, and in spite of consequences whether better or worse, shall we +insist on the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil +and dishonour to him who acts unjustly? Shall we say so or not? +<p> +CRITO: Yes. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then we must do no wrong? +<p> +CRITO: Certainly not. +<p> +SOCRATES: Nor, when injured, injure in return, as the many imagine; for we +must injure no one at all? <a href="#6"><small><sup>6</sup></small></a> +<p> +CRITO: Clearly not. +<p> +SOCRATES: Again, Crito, may we do evil? +<p> +CRITO: Surely not, Socrates. +<p> +SOCRATES: And what of doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality +of the many—is that just or not? +<p> +CRITO: Not just. +<p> +SOCRATES: For doing evil to another is the same as injuring him? +<p> +CRITO: Very true. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to +anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him. But I would have you +consider, Crito, whether you really mean what you are saying. For this +opinion has never been held, and never will be held, by any considerable +number of persons; and those who are agreed and those who are not agreed +upon this point have no common ground, and can only despise one another +when they see how widely they differ. Tell me, then, whether you agree +with and assent to my first principle, that neither injury nor retaliation +nor warding off evil by evil is ever right. And shall that be the premise +of our argument? Or do you decline and dissent from this? For so I have +ever thought, and continue to think; but, if you are of another opinion, +let me hear what you have to say. If, however, you remain of the same mind +as formerly, I will proceed to the next step. +<p> +CRITO: You may proceed, for I have not changed my mind. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then I will go on to the next point, which may be put in the +form of a question:—Ought a man to do what he admits to be right, or ought +he to betray the right? +<p> +CRITO: He ought to do what he thinks right. +<p> +SOCRATES: But if this is true, what is the application? In leaving the +prison against the will of the Athenians, do I wrong any? or rather do I +not wrong those whom I ought least to wrong? Do I not desert the +principles which were acknowledged by us to be just—what do you say? +<p> +CRITO: I cannot tell, Socrates; for I do not know. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then consider the matter in this way:—Imagine that I am about +to play truant (you may call the proceeding by any name which you like), +and the laws and the government come and interrogate me: ‘Tell us, +Socrates,’ they say; ‘what are you about? are you not going by an act of +yours to overturn us—the laws, and the whole state, as far as in you lies? +Do you imagine that a state can subsist and not be overthrown, in which the +decisions of law have no power, but are set aside and trampled upon by +individuals?’ What will be our answer, Crito, to these and the like words? +Anyone, and especially a rhetorician, will have a good deal to say on +behalf of the law which requires a sentence to be carried out. He will +argue that this law should not be set aside; and shall we reply, ‘Yes; but +the state has injured us and given an unjust sentence.’ Suppose I say +that? +<p> +CRITO: Very good, Socrates. +<p> +SOCRATES: ‘And was that our agreement with you?’ the law would answer; ‘or +were you to abide by the sentence of the state?’ And if I were to express +my astonishment at their words, the law would probably add: ‘Answer, +Socrates, instead of opening your eyes—you are in the habit of asking and +answering questions. Tell us,—What complaint have you to make against us +which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the state? In the +first place did we not bring you into existence? Your father married your +mother by our aid and begat you. Say whether you have any objection to +urge against those of us who regulate marriage?’ None, I should reply. +‘Or against those of us who after birth regulate the nurture and education +of children, in which you also were trained? Were not the laws, which have +the charge of education, right in commanding your father to train you in +music and gymnastic?’ Right, I should reply. ‘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? And if this is true you are not on equal terms with us; nor can you +think that you have a right to do to us what we are doing to you. Would +you have any right to strike or revile or do any other evil to your father +or your master, if you had one, because you have been struck or reviled by +him, or received some other evil at his hands? You would not say this. +And because we think right to destroy you, do you think that you have any +right to destroy us in return, and your country as far as in you lies? +Will you, O professor of true virtue, pretend that you are justified in +this? Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is +more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any +ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of +understanding? also to be soothed, and gently and reverently entreated when +angry, even more than a father, and either to be persuaded, or if not +persuaded, to be obeyed? And when we are punished by her, whether with +imprisonment or stripes, the punishment is to be endured in silence; and if +she lead us to wounds or death in battle, thither we follow as is right; +neither may anyone yield or retreat or leave his rank, but whether in +battle or in a court of law, or in any other place, he must do what his +city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is +just: and if he may do no violence to his father or mother, much less may +he do violence to his country.’ What answer shall we make to this, Crito? +Do the laws speak truly, or do they not? +<p> +CRITO: I think that they do. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then the laws will say: ‘Consider, Socrates, if we are speaking +truly that in your present attempt you are going to do us an injury. For, +having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given +you and every other citizen a share in every good which we had to give, we +further proclaim to any Athenian by the liberty which we allow him, that if +he does not like us when he has become of age and has seen the ways of the +city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his +goods with him. None of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him. +Anyone who does not like us and the city, and who wants to emigrate to a +colony or to any other city, may go where he likes, retaining his property. +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. And he who disobeys us is, as +we maintain, thrice wrong; first, because in disobeying us he is +disobeying his parents; secondly, because we are the authors of his +education; thirdly, because he has made an agreement with us that he will +duly obey our commands; and he neither obeys them nor convinces us that our +commands are unjust; and we do not rudely impose them, but give him the +alternative of obeying or convincing us;—that is what we offer, and he +does neither. These are the sort of accusations to which, as we were saying, you, +Socrates, will be exposed if you accomplish your intentions; you, above all +other Athenians.’ +<p> +Suppose now I ask, why I rather than anybody else? they +will justly retort upon me that I above all other men have acknowledged the +agreement. ‘There is clear proof,’ they will say, ‘Socrates, that we and +the city were not displeasing to you. Of all Athenians you have been the +most constant resident in the city, which, as you never leave, you may be +supposed to love. <a href="#7"><small><sup>7</sup></small></a> For you never went out of the city +either to see the games, except once when you went to the Isthmus, or to +any other place unless when you were on military service; nor did you +travel as other men do. Nor had you any curiosity to know other states or +their laws: your affections did not go beyond us and our state; we were +your especial favourites, and you acquiesced in our government of you; and +here in this city you begat your children, which is a proof of your +satisfaction. Moreover, you might in the course of the trial, if you had +liked, have fixed the penalty at banishment; the state which refuses to let +you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you +preferred death to exile, <a href="#8"><small><sup>8</sup></small></a> and that you were not unwilling +to die. And now you have forgotten these fine sentiments, and pay no +respect to us the laws, of whom you are the destroyer; and are doing what +only a miserable slave would do, running away and turning your back upon +the compacts and agreements which you made as a citizen. And first of all +answer this very question: Are we right in saying that you agreed to be +governed according to us in deed, and not in word only? Is that true or +not?’ How shall we answer, Crito? Must we not assent? +<p> +CRITO: We cannot help it, Socrates. +<p> +SOCRATES: Then will they not say: ‘You, Socrates, are breaking the +covenants and agreements which you made with us at your leisure, not in any +haste or under any compulsion or deception, but 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. You had your choice, and might have gone either to Lacedaemon +or Crete, both which states are often praised by you for their good +government, or to some other Hellenic or foreign state. Whereas you, above +all other Athenians, seemed to be so fond of the state, or, in other words, +of us, her laws (and who would care about a state which has no laws?), that +you never stirred out of her; the halt, the blind, the maimed were not +more stationary in her than you were. And now you run away and forsake +your agreements. Not so, Socrates, if you will take our advice; do not +make yourself ridiculous by escaping out of the city. +<p> +‘For just consider, if you transgress and err in this sort of way, what +good will you do either to yourself or to your friends? 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, Socrates, and their +government will be against you, and all patriotic citizens will cast an +evil eye upon you as a subverter of the laws, and you will confirm in the +minds of the judges the justice of their own condemnation of you. For he +who is a corrupter of the laws is more than likely to be a corrupter of the +young and foolish portion of mankind. Will you then flee from well-ordered +cities and virtuous men? and is existence worth having on these terms? Or +will you go to them without shame, and talk to them, Socrates? And what +will you say to them? What you say here about virtue and justice and +institutions and laws being the best things among men? Would that be +decent of you? Surely not. But if you go away from well-governed states +to Crito’s friends in Thessaly, where there is great disorder and licence, +they will be charmed to hear the tale of your escape from prison, set off +with ludicrous particulars of the manner in which you were wrapped in a +goatskin or some other disguise, and metamorphosed as the manner is of +runaways; but will there be no one to remind you that in your old age you +were not ashamed to violate the most sacred laws from a miserable desire of +a little more life? Perhaps not, if you keep them in a good temper; but if +they are out of temper you will hear many degrading things; you will live, +but how?—as the flatterer of all men, and the servant of all men; and +doing what?—eating and drinking in Thessaly, having gone abroad in order +that you may get a dinner. And where will be your fine sentiments about +justice and virtue? Say that you wish to live for the sake of your +children—you want to bring them up and educate them—will you take them +into Thessaly and deprive them of Athenian citizenship? Is this the +benefit which you will confer upon them? Or are you under the impression +that they will be better cared for and educated here if you are still +alive, although absent from them; for your friends will take care of them? +Do you fancy that if you are an inhabitant of Thessaly they will take care +of them, and if you are an inhabitant of the other world that they will not +take care of them? Nay; but if they who call themselves friends are good +for anything, they will—to be sure they will. +<p> +‘Listen, then, Socrates, to us who have brought you up. Think not of life +and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that +you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither +will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this +life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in +innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws, +but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for +injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, +and wronging those whom you ought least of all to wrong, that is to say, +yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you +while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive +you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy +us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito.’ +<p> +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. Yet speak, if you have +anything to say. +<p> +CRITO: I have nothing to say, Socrates. +<p> +SOCRATES: Leave me then, Crito, to fulfil the will of God, and to follow +whither he leads. +<br><br><hr><br> +<a name="1">1.</a> See <i>Phaedrus</i><br> +<a name="2">2.</a> See <i>Prose Works</i><br> +<a name="3">3.</a> Homer, <i>Iliad</i>, IX<br> +<a name="4">4.</a> Cp. <i>Apology</i><br> +<a name="5">5.</a> Cp. <i>Apology</i><br> +<a name="6">6.</a> Cp. <i>Republic</i><br> +<a name="7">7.</a> Cp. <i>Phaedrus</i><br> +<a name="8">8.</a> Cp. <i>Apology</i> +<br><br><hr size="3" noshade></DIV> +<br><DIV align="justify"> +<a name="footer">*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OF CRITO, BY PLATO ***</a> +<p class="pg"> +This file should be named crito10h.htm or crito10h.zip<br> +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, crito11h.htm<br> +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, crito10a.htm +<p class="pg"> +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Sue Asscher <asschers@aia.net.au> + + + + + +CRITO + +by Plato + + + + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +The Crito seems intended to exhibit the character of Socrates in one light +only, not as the philosopher, fulfilling a divine mission and trusting in +the will of heaven, but simply as the good citizen, who having been +unjustly condemned is willing to give up his life in obedience to the laws +of the state... + +The days of Socrates are drawing to a close; the fatal ship has been seen +off Sunium, as he is informed by his aged friend and contemporary Crito, +who visits him before the dawn has broken; he himself has been warned in a +dream that on the third day he must depart. Time is precious, and Crito +has come early in order to gain his consent to a plan of escape. This can +be easily accomplished by his friends, who will incur no danger in making +the attempt to save him, but will be disgraced for ever if they allow him +to perish. He should think of his duty to his children, and not play into +the hands of his enemies. Money is already provided by Crito as well as by +Simmias and others, and he will have no difficulty in finding friends in +Thessaly and other places. + +Socrates is afraid that Crito is but pressing upon him the opinions of the +many: whereas, all his life long he has followed the dictates of reason +only and the opinion of the one wise or skilled man. There was a time when +Crito himself had allowed the propriety of this. And although some one +will say 'the many can kill us,' that makes no difference; but a good life, +in other words, a just and honourable life, is alone to be valued. All +considerations of loss of reputation or injury to his children should be +dismissed: the only question is whether he would be right in attempting to +escape. Crito, who is a disinterested person not having the fear of death +before his eyes, shall answer this for him. Before he was condemned they +had often held discussions, in which they agreed that no man should either +do evil, or return evil for evil, or betray the right. Are these +principles to be altered because the circumstances of Socrates are altered? +Crito admits that they remain the same. Then is his escape consistent with +the maintenance of them? To this Crito is unable or unwilling to reply. + +Socrates proceeds:--Suppose the Laws of Athens to come and remonstrate with +him: they will ask 'Why does he seek to overturn them?' and if he replies, +'they have injured him,' will not the Laws answer, 'Yes, but was that the +agreement? Has he any objection to make to them which would justify him in +overturning them? Was he not brought into the world and educated by their +help, and are they not his parents? He might have left Athens and gone +where he pleased, but he has lived there for seventy years more constantly +than any other citizen.' Thus he has clearly shown that he acknowledged +the agreement, which he cannot now break without dishonour to himself and +danger to his friends. Even in the course of the trial he might have +proposed exile as the penalty, but then he declared that he preferred death +to exile. And whither will he direct his footsteps? In any well-ordered +state the Laws will consider him as an enemy. Possibly in a land of +misrule like Thessaly he may be welcomed at first, and the unseemly +narrative of his escape will be regarded by the inhabitants as an amusing +tale. But if he offends them he will have to learn another sort of lesson. +Will he continue to give lectures in virtue? That would hardly be decent. +And how will his children be the gainers if he takes them into Thessaly, +and deprives them of Athenian citizenship? Or if he leaves them behind, +does he expect that they will be better taken care of by his friends +because he is in Thessaly? Will not true friends care for them equally +whether he is alive or dead? + +Finally, they exhort him to think of justice first, and of life and +children afterwards. He may now depart in peace and innocence, a sufferer +and not a doer of evil. But if he breaks agreements, and returns evil for +evil, they will be angry with him while he lives; and their brethren the +Laws of the world below will receive him as an enemy. Such is the mystic +voice which is always murmuring in his ears. + +That Socrates was not a good citizen was a charge made against him during +his lifetime, which has been often repeated in later ages. The crimes of +Alcibiades, Critias, and Charmides, who had been his pupils, were still +recent in the memory of the now restored democracy. The fact that he had +been neutral in the death-struggle of Athens was not likely to conciliate +popular good-will. Plato, writing probably in the next generation, +undertakes the defence of his friend and master in this particular, not to +the Athenians of his day, but to posterity and the world at large. + +Whether such an incident ever really occurred as the visit of Crito and the +proposal of escape is uncertain: Plato could easily have invented far more +than that (Phaedr.); and in the selection of Crito, the aged friend, as the +fittest person to make the proposal to Socrates, we seem to recognize the +hand of the artist. Whether any one who has been subjected by the laws of +his country to an unjust judgment is right in attempting to escape, is a +thesis about which casuists might disagree. Shelley (Prose Works) is of +opinion that Socrates 'did well to die,' but not for the 'sophistical' +reasons which Plato has put into his mouth. And there would be no +difficulty in arguing that Socrates should have lived and preferred to a +glorious death the good which he might still be able to perform. 'A +rhetorician would have had much to say upon that point.' It may be +observed however that Plato never intended to answer the question of +casuistry, but only to exhibit the ideal of patient virtue which refuses to +do the least evil in order to avoid the greatest, and to show his master +maintaining in death the opinions which he had professed in his life. Not +'the world,' but the 'one wise man,' is still the paradox of Socrates in +his last hours. He must be guided by reason, although her conclusions may +be fatal to him. The remarkable sentiment that the wicked can do neither +good nor evil is true, if taken in the sense, which he means, of moral +evil; in his own words, 'they cannot make a man wise or foolish.' + +This little dialogue is a perfect piece of dialectic, in which granting the +'common principle,' there is no escaping from the conclusion. It is +anticipated at the beginning by the dream of Socrates and the parody of +Homer. The personification of the Laws, and of their brethren the Laws in +the world below, is one of the noblest and boldest figures of speech which +occur in Plato. + + +CRITO + +by + +Plato + +Translated by Benjamin Jowett + + +PERSONS OF THE DIALOGUE: Socrates, Crito. + +SCENE: The Prison of Socrates. + + +SOCRATES: Why have you come at this hour, Crito? it must be quite early. + +CRITO: Yes, certainly. + +SOCRATES: What is the exact time? + +CRITO: The dawn is breaking. + +SOCRATES: I wonder that the keeper of the prison would let you in. + +CRITO: He knows me because I often come, Socrates; moreover. I have done +him a kindness. + +SOCRATES: And are you only just arrived? + +CRITO: No, I came some time ago. + +SOCRATES: Then why did you sit and say nothing, instead of at once +awakening me? + +CRITO: I should not have liked myself, Socrates, to be in such great +trouble and unrest as you are--indeed I should not: I have been watching +with amazement your peaceful slumbers; and for that reason I did not awake +you, because I wished to minimize the pain. I have always thought you to +be of a happy disposition; but never did I see anything like the easy, +tranquil manner in which you bear this calamity. + +SOCRATES: Why, Crito, when a man has reached my age he ought not to be +repining at the approach of death. + +CRITO: And yet other old men find themselves in similar misfortunes, and +age does not prevent them from repining. + +SOCRATES: That is true. But you have not told me why you come at this +early hour. + +CRITO: I come to bring you a message which is sad and painful; not, as I +believe, to yourself, but to all of us who are your friends, and saddest of +all to me. + +SOCRATES: What? Has the ship come from Delos, on the arrival of which I +am to die? + +CRITO: 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. + +SOCRATES: 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. + +CRITO: Why do you think so? + +SOCRATES: I will tell you. I am to die on the day after the arrival of +the ship? + +CRITO: Yes; that is what the authorities say. + +SOCRATES: But I do not think that the ship will be here until to-morrow; +this I infer from a vision which I had last night, or rather only just now, +when you fortunately allowed me to sleep. + +CRITO: And what was the nature of the vision? + +SOCRATES: There appeared to me the likeness of a woman, fair and comely, +clothed in bright raiment, who called to me and said: O Socrates, + +'The third day hence to fertile Phthia shalt thou go.' (Homer, Il.) + +CRITO: What a singular dream, Socrates! + +SOCRATES: There can be no doubt about the meaning, Crito, I think. + +CRITO: Yes; the meaning is only too clear. But, oh! my beloved Socrates, +let me entreat you once more to take my advice and escape. For if you die +I shall not only lose a friend who can never be replaced, but there is +another evil: people who do not know you and me will believe that I might +have saved you if I had been willing to give money, but that I did not +care. Now, can there be a worse disgrace than this--that I should be +thought to value money more than the life of a friend? For the many will +not be persuaded that I wanted you to escape, and that you refused. + +SOCRATES: But why, my dear Crito, should we care about the opinion of the +many? Good men, and they are the only persons who are worth considering, +will think of these things truly as they occurred. + +CRITO: But you see, Socrates, that the opinion of the many must be +regarded, for what is now happening shows that they can do the greatest +evil to any one who has lost their good opinion. + +SOCRATES: I only wish it were so, Crito; and that the many could do the +greatest evil; for then they would also be able to do the greatest good-- +and what a fine thing this would be! 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. + +CRITO: Well, I will not dispute with you; but please to tell me, Socrates, +whether you are not acting out of regard to me and your other friends: are +you not afraid that if you escape from prison we may get into trouble with +the informers for having stolen you away, and lose either the whole or a +great part of our property; or that even a worse evil may happen to us? +Now, if you fear on our account, be at ease; for in order to save you, we +ought surely to run this, or even a greater risk; be persuaded, then, and +do as I say. + +SOCRATES: Yes, Crito, that is one fear which you mention, but by no means +the only one. + +CRITO: Fear not--there are persons who are willing to get you out of +prison at no great cost; and as for the informers they are far from being +exorbitant in their demands--a little money will satisfy them. My means, +which are certainly ample, are at your service, and if you have a scruple +about spending all mine, here are strangers who will give you the use of +theirs; and one of them, Simmias the Theban, has brought a large sum of +money for this very purpose; and Cebes and many others are prepared to +spend their money in helping you to escape. I say, therefore, do not +hesitate on our account, and do not say, as you did in the court (compare +Apol.), that you will have a difficulty in knowing what to do with yourself +anywhere else. For men will love you in other places to which you may go, +and not in Athens only; there are friends of mine in Thessaly, if you like +to go to them, who will value and protect you, and no Thessalian will give +you any trouble. Nor can I think that you are at all justified, Socrates, +in betraying your own life when you might be saved; in acting thus you are +playing into the hands of your enemies, who are hurrying on your +destruction. And further I should say that you are deserting your own +children; for you might bring them up and educate them; instead of which +you go away and leave them, and they will have to take their chance; and if +they do not meet with the usual fate of orphans, there will be small thanks +to you. No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to +persevere to the end in their nurture and education. But you appear to be +choosing the easier part, not the better and manlier, which would have been +more becoming in one who professes to care for virtue in all his actions, +like yourself. And indeed, I am ashamed not only of you, but of us who are +your friends, when I reflect that the whole business will be attributed +entirely to our want of courage. The trial need never have come on, or +might have been managed differently; and this last act, or crowning folly, +will seem to have occurred through our negligence and cowardice, who might +have saved you, if we had been good for anything; and you might have saved +yourself, for there was no difficulty at all. See now, Socrates, how sad +and discreditable are the consequences, both to us and you. Make up your +mind then, or rather have your mind already made up, for the time of +deliberation is over, and there is only one thing to be done, which must be +done this very night, and if we delay at all will be no longer practicable +or possible; I beseech you therefore, Socrates, be persuaded by me, and do +as I say. + +SOCRATES: 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. 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; and now that this chance has befallen me, I cannot repudiate my own +words: the principles which I have hitherto honoured and revered I still +honour, and unless we can at once find other and better principles, I am +certain not to agree with you; no, not even if the power of the multitude +could inflict many more imprisonments, confiscations, deaths, frightening +us like children with hobgoblin terrors (compare Apol.). What will be the +fairest way of considering the question? Shall I return to your old +argument about the opinions of men?--we were saying that some of them are +to be regarded, and others not. Now were we right in maintaining this +before I was condemned? And has the argument which was once good now +proved to be talk for the sake of talking--mere childish nonsense? That is +what I want to consider with your help, Crito:--whether, under my present +circumstances, the argument appears to be in any way different or not; and +is to be allowed by me or disallowed. That argument, which, as I believe, +is maintained by many persons of authority, was to the effect, as I was +saying, that the opinions of some men are to be regarded, and of other men +not to be regarded. Now you, Crito, are not going to die to-morrow--at +least, there is no human probability of this, and therefore you are +disinterested and not liable to be deceived by the circumstances in which +you are placed. Tell me then, whether I am right in saying that some +opinions, and the opinions of some men only, are to be valued, and that +other opinions, and the opinions of other men, are not to be valued. I ask +you whether I was right in maintaining this? + +CRITO: Certainly. + +SOCRATES: The good are to be regarded, and not the bad? + +CRITO: Yes. + +SOCRATES: And the opinions of the wise are good, and the opinions of the +unwise are evil? + +CRITO: Certainly. + +SOCRATES: And what was said about another matter? Is the pupil who +devotes himself to the practice of gymnastics supposed to attend to the +praise and blame and opinion of every man, or of one man only--his +physician or trainer, whoever he may be? + +CRITO: Of one man only. + +SOCRATES: And he ought to fear the censure and welcome the praise of that +one only, and not of the many? + +CRITO: Clearly so. + +SOCRATES: And he ought to act and train, and eat and drink in the way +which seems good to his single master who has understanding, rather than +according to the opinion of all other men put together? + +CRITO: True. + +SOCRATES: And if he disobeys and disregards the opinion and approval of +the one, and regards the opinion of the many who have no understanding, +will he not suffer evil? + +CRITO: Certainly he will. + +SOCRATES: And what will the evil be, whither tending and what affecting, +in the disobedient person? + +CRITO: Clearly, affecting the body; that is what is destroyed by the evil. + +SOCRATES: Very good; and is not this true, Crito, of other things which we +need not separately enumerate? In questions of just and unjust, fair and +foul, good and evil, which are the subjects of our present consultation, +ought we to follow the opinion of the many and to fear them; or the opinion +of the one man who has understanding? ought we not to fear and reverence +him more than all the rest of the world: and if we desert him shall we not +destroy and injure that principle in us which may be assumed to be improved +by justice and deteriorated by injustice;--there is such a principle? + +CRITO: Certainly there is, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Take a parallel instance:--if, acting under the advice of those +who have no understanding, we destroy that which is improved by health and +is deteriorated by disease, would life be worth having? And that which has +been destroyed is--the body? + +CRITO: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Could we live, having an evil and corrupted body? + +CRITO: Certainly not. + +SOCRATES: And will life be worth having, if that higher part of man be +destroyed, which is improved by justice and depraved by injustice? Do we +suppose that principle, whatever it may be in man, which has to do with +justice and injustice, to be inferior to the body? + +CRITO: Certainly not. + +SOCRATES: More honourable than the body? + +CRITO: Far more. + +SOCRATES: 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. And therefore you begin in error when +you advise that we should regard the opinion of the many about just and +unjust, good and evil, honorable and dishonorable.--'Well,' some one will +say, 'but the many can kill us.' + +CRITO: Yes, Socrates; that will clearly be the answer. + +SOCRATES: And it is true; but still I find with surprise that the old +argument is unshaken as ever. 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? + +CRITO: Yes, that also remains unshaken. + +SOCRATES: And a good life is equivalent to a just and honorable one--that +holds also? + +CRITO: Yes, it does. + +SOCRATES: From these premisses I proceed to argue the question whether I +ought or ought not to try and escape without the consent of the Athenians: +and if I am clearly right in escaping, then I will make the attempt; but if +not, I will abstain. The other considerations which you mention, of money +and loss of character and the duty of educating one's children, are, I +fear, only the doctrines of the multitude, who would be as ready to restore +people to life, if they were able, as they are to put them to death--and +with as little reason. But now, since the argument has thus far prevailed, +the only question which remains to be considered is, whether we shall do +rightly either in escaping or in suffering others to aid in our escape and +paying them in money and thanks, or whether in reality we shall not do +rightly; and if the latter, then death or any other calamity which may +ensue on my remaining here must not be allowed to enter into the +calculation. + +CRITO: I think that you are right, Socrates; how then shall we proceed? + +SOCRATES: Let us consider the matter together, and do you either refute me +if you can, and I will be convinced; or else cease, my dear friend, from +repeating to me that I ought to escape against the wishes of the Athenians: +for I highly value your attempts to persuade me to do so, but I may not be +persuaded against my own better judgment. And now please to consider my +first position, and try how you can best answer me. + +CRITO: I will. + +SOCRATES: Are we to say that we are never intentionally to do wrong, or +that in one way we ought and in another way we ought not to do wrong, or is +doing wrong always evil and dishonorable, as I was just now saying, and as +has been already acknowledged by us? Are all our former admissions which +were made within a few days to be thrown away? And have we, at our age, +been earnestly discoursing with one another all our life long only to +discover that we are no better than children? Or, in spite of the opinion +of the many, and in spite of consequences whether better or worse, shall we +insist on the truth of what was then said, that injustice is always an evil +and dishonour to him who acts unjustly? Shall we say so or not? + +CRITO: Yes. + +SOCRATES: Then we must do no wrong? + +CRITO: Certainly not. + +SOCRATES: Nor when injured injure in return, as the many imagine; for we +must injure no one at all? (E.g. compare Rep.) + +CRITO: Clearly not. + +SOCRATES: Again, Crito, may we do evil? + +CRITO: Surely not, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: And what of doing evil in return for evil, which is the morality +of the many--is that just or not? + +CRITO: Not just. + +SOCRATES: For doing evil to another is the same as injuring him? + +CRITO: Very true. + +SOCRATES: Then we ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to any +one, whatever evil we may have suffered from him. But I would have you +consider, Crito, whether you really mean what you are saying. For this +opinion has never been held, and never will be held, by any considerable +number of persons; and those who are agreed and those who are not agreed +upon this point have no common ground, and can only despise one another +when they see how widely they differ. Tell me, then, whether you agree +with and assent to my first principle, that neither injury nor retaliation +nor warding off evil by evil is ever right. And shall that be the premiss +of our argument? Or do you decline and dissent from this? For so I have +ever thought, and continue to think; but, if you are of another opinion, +let me hear what you have to say. If, however, you remain of the same mind +as formerly, I will proceed to the next step. + +CRITO: You may proceed, for I have not changed my mind. + +SOCRATES: Then I will go on to the next point, which may be put in the +form of a question:--Ought a man to do what he admits to be right, or ought +he to betray the right? + +CRITO: He ought to do what he thinks right. + +SOCRATES: But if this is true, what is the application? In leaving the +prison against the will of the Athenians, do I wrong any? or rather do I +not wrong those whom I ought least to wrong? Do I not desert the +principles which were acknowledged by us to be just--what do you say? + +CRITO: I cannot tell, Socrates, for I do not know. + +SOCRATES: Then consider the matter in this way:--Imagine that I am about +to play truant (you may call the proceeding by any name which you like), +and the laws and the government come and interrogate me: 'Tell us, +Socrates,' they say; 'what are you about? are you not going by an act of +yours to overturn us--the laws, and the whole state, as far as in you lies? +Do you imagine that a state can subsist and not be overthrown, in which the +decisions of law have no power, but are set aside and trampled upon by +individuals?' What will be our answer, Crito, to these and the like words? +Any one, and especially a rhetorician, will have a good deal to say on +behalf of the law which requires a sentence to be carried out. He will +argue that this law should not be set aside; and shall we reply, 'Yes; but +the state has injured us and given an unjust sentence.' Suppose I say +that? + +CRITO: Very good, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: 'And was that our agreement with you?' the law would answer; 'or +were you to abide by the sentence of the state?' And if I were to express +my astonishment at their words, the law would probably add: 'Answer, +Socrates, instead of opening your eyes--you are in the habit of asking and +answering questions. Tell us,--What complaint have you to make against us +which justifies you in attempting to destroy us and the state? In the +first place did we not bring you into existence? Your father married your +mother by our aid and begat you. Say whether you have any objection to +urge against those of us who regulate marriage?' None, I should reply. +'Or against those of us who after birth regulate the nurture and education +of children, in which you also were trained? Were not the laws, which have +the charge of education, right in commanding your father to train you in +music and gymnastic?' Right, I should reply. '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? And if this is true you are not on equal terms with us; nor can you +think that you have a right to do to us what we are doing to you. Would +you have any right to strike or revile or do any other evil to your father +or your master, if you had one, because you have been struck or reviled by +him, or received some other evil at his hands?--you would not say this? +And because we think right to destroy you, do you think that you have any +right to destroy us in return, and your country as far as in you lies? +Will you, O professor of true virtue, pretend that you are justified in +this? Has a philosopher like you failed to discover that our country is +more to be valued and higher and holier far than mother or father or any +ancestor, and more to be regarded in the eyes of the gods and of men of +understanding? also to be soothed, and gently and reverently entreated when +angry, even more than a father, and either to be persuaded, or if not +persuaded, to be obeyed? And when we are punished by her, whether with +imprisonment or stripes, the punishment is to be endured in silence; and if +she lead us to wounds or death in battle, thither we follow as is right; +neither may any one yield or retreat or leave his rank, but whether in +battle or in a court of law, or in any other place, he must do what his +city and his country order him; or he must change their view of what is +just: and if he may do no violence to his father or mother, much less may +he do violence to his country.' What answer shall we make to this, Crito? +Do the laws speak truly, or do they not? + +CRITO: I think that they do. + +SOCRATES: Then the laws will say: 'Consider, Socrates, if we are speaking +truly that in your present attempt you are going to do us an injury. For, +having brought you into the world, and nurtured and educated you, and given +you and every other citizen a share in every good which we had to give, we +further proclaim to any Athenian by the liberty which we allow him, that if +he does not like us when he has become of age and has seen the ways of the +city, and made our acquaintance, he may go where he pleases and take his +goods with him. None of us laws will forbid him or interfere with him. +Any one who does not like us and the city, and who wants to emigrate to a +colony or to any other city, may go where he likes, retaining his property. +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. And he who disobeys us is, as +we maintain, thrice wrong: first, because in disobeying us he is +disobeying his parents; secondly, because we are the authors of his +education; thirdly, because he has made an agreement with us that he will +duly obey our commands; and he neither obeys them nor convinces us that our +commands are unjust; and we do not rudely impose them, but give him the +alternative of obeying or convincing us;--that is what we offer, and he +does neither. + +'These are the sort of accusations to which, as we were saying, you, +Socrates, will be exposed if you accomplish your intentions; you, above all +other Athenians.' Suppose now I ask, why I rather than anybody else? they +will justly retort upon me that I above all other men have acknowledged the +agreement. 'There is clear proof,' they will say, 'Socrates, that we and +the city were not displeasing to you. Of all Athenians you have been the +most constant resident in the city, which, as you never leave, you may be +supposed to love (compare Phaedr.). For you never went out of the city +either to see the games, except once when you went to the Isthmus, or to +any other place unless when you were on military service; nor did you +travel as other men do. Nor had you any curiosity to know other states or +their laws: your affections did not go beyond us and our state; we were +your especial favourites, and you acquiesced in our government of you; and +here in this city you begat your children, which is a proof of your +satisfaction. Moreover, you might in the course of the trial, if you had +liked, have fixed the penalty at banishment; the state which refuses to let +you go now would have let you go then. But you pretended that you +preferred death to exile (compare Apol.), and that you were not unwilling +to die. And now you have forgotten these fine sentiments, and pay no +respect to us the laws, of whom you are the destroyer; and are doing what +only a miserable slave would do, running away and turning your back upon +the compacts and agreements which you made as a citizen. And first of all +answer this very question: Are we right in saying that you agreed to be +governed according to us in deed, and not in word only? Is that true or +not?' How shall we answer, Crito? Must we not assent? + +CRITO: We cannot help it, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Then will they not say: 'You, Socrates, are breaking the +covenants and agreements which you made with us at your leisure, not in any +haste or under any compulsion or deception, but 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. You had your choice, and might have gone either to Lacedaemon +or Crete, both which states are often praised by you for their good +government, or to some other Hellenic or foreign state. Whereas you, above +all other Athenians, seemed to be so fond of the state, or, in other words, +of us her laws (and who would care about a state which has no laws?), that +you never stirred out of her; the halt, the blind, the maimed, were not +more stationary in her than you were. And now you run away and forsake +your agreements. Not so, Socrates, if you will take our advice; do not +make yourself ridiculous by escaping out of the city. + +'For just consider, if you transgress and err in this sort of way, what +good will you do either to yourself or to your friends? 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, Socrates, and their +government will be against you, and all patriotic citizens will cast an +evil eye upon you as a subverter of the laws, and you will confirm in the +minds of the judges the justice of their own condemnation of you. For he +who is a corrupter of the laws is more than likely to be a corrupter of the +young and foolish portion of mankind. Will you then flee from well-ordered +cities and virtuous men? and is existence worth having on these terms? Or +will you go to them without shame, and talk to them, Socrates? And what +will you say to them? What you say here about virtue and justice and +institutions and laws being the best things among men? Would that be +decent of you? Surely not. But if you go away from well-governed states +to Crito's friends in Thessaly, where there is great disorder and licence, +they will be charmed to hear the tale of your escape from prison, set off +with ludicrous particulars of the manner in which you were wrapped in a +goatskin or some other disguise, and metamorphosed as the manner is of +runaways; but will there be no one to remind you that in your old age you +were not ashamed to violate the most sacred laws from a miserable desire of +a little more life? Perhaps not, if you keep them in a good temper; but if +they are out of temper you will hear many degrading things; you will live, +but how?--as the flatterer of all men, and the servant of all men; and +doing what?--eating and drinking in Thessaly, having gone abroad in order +that you may get a dinner. And where will be your fine sentiments about +justice and virtue? Say that you wish to live for the sake of your +children--you want to bring them up and educate them--will you take them +into Thessaly and deprive them of Athenian citizenship? Is this the +benefit which you will confer upon them? Or are you under the impression +that they will be better cared for and educated here if you are still +alive, although absent from them; for your friends will take care of them? +Do you fancy that if you are an inhabitant of Thessaly they will take care +of them, and if you are an inhabitant of the other world that they will not +take care of them? Nay; but if they who call themselves friends are good +for anything, they will--to be sure they will. + +'Listen, then, Socrates, to us who have brought you up. Think not of life +and children first, and of justice afterwards, but of justice first, that +you may be justified before the princes of the world below. For neither +will you nor any that belong to you be happier or holier or juster in this +life, or happier in another, if you do as Crito bids. Now you depart in +innocence, a sufferer and not a doer of evil; a victim, not of the laws, +but of men. But if you go forth, returning evil for evil, and injury for +injury, breaking the covenants and agreements which you have made with us, +and wronging those whom you ought least of all to wrong, that is to say, +yourself, your friends, your country, and us, we shall be angry with you +while you live, and our brethren, the laws in the world below, will receive +you as an enemy; for they will know that you have done your best to destroy +us. Listen, then, to us and not to Crito.' + +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. Yet speak, if you have +anything to say. + +CRITO: I have nothing to say, Socrates. + +SOCRATES: Leave me then, Crito, to fulfil the will of God, and to follow +whither he leads. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Crito, by Plato + diff --git a/1657.zip b/1657.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2ea7e9d --- /dev/null +++ b/1657.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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