Socrates in jail Essay

Crito comes early one morning to see his good friend Socrates while in jail. He doesn't awake Socrates right away for he is far too impressed that someone who is sentenced to death can sleep so peacefully. When Socrates wakes up he sees that Crito has come to visit him but more importantly that he has come this time to persuade him in escaping from jail so that he isn't exe-cuted. This particular day was suppose to be the day in which the state executed Socrates for the crimes they found against him, so it was imperative that Crito make his case to Socrates as for why he should escape with him right away. He starts off by giving Socrates sound arguments in hopes that Socrates will reason with him and see the importance of living. But like typical Socrates he has to question and decide whether or not something is just before he can actually make a decision.
Crito quickly makes the argument that if Socrates does not escape to safety and goes through with the execution Crito will lose an irreplaceable friend. He says that if he doesn't leave with him right away the majority will see that Crito did nothing in his power to help his friend escape. No one will ever know that Socrates denied Crito's plea to help him, choosing death over freedom. He believes that overall this act could be detrimental to his repu-tation and that in and of itself is enough to ruin Crito. He will then be seen as caring more about his money than his friends which is a very unhonorable quality in the eyes of others. It's the rep-utation of all the friends of Socrates that is at stake, not just his own, and it is because of this that Crito keeps insisting. Crito assures Socrates that he will live peacefully and safely in exile in a place with people that would welcome him with open arms. This isn't at all a question of money or practicality. He can be safely taken to Thessaly away from all those condemning him to death. He worries about what the majority will think about them but more importantly about what they could do to them. The majority would see that none of Socrates' friends cared enough to sacrifice what they have to help him and because of that they could potentially harm them. A bad reputation with the majority is seen as extremely harmful. Would it be just to not help a friend knowing that it could be very detrimental to him? Socrates responds to Crito telling him that the majority cannot do the worst of things to someone. They cannot make someone foolish and that above all is the worst of things that can be done to someone. Socrates then explains that one should take heed to what the wise men say and not the foolish men. For what the foolish men say shouldn't be valued over what the wise men say (Plato, 47a).