What Is the Purpose of the ‘Speech of the Laws’, in...

Political Philosophy What is the purpose of the ‘speech of the laws’, in Plato’s Crito? How is it related to Crito’s political opinions and preferences as expressed in this dialogue? The ‘speech of the laws’ as witnessed in Plato’s Crito is of utmost importance to one of Plato’s shorter dialogues and serves multiple purposes, some of which will be engaged with here. The speech will be looked in terms of its methodological purpose and will question what functions this serves. Philosophically speaking the Crito remains a dialogue concerning justice and the ‘speech of the laws’ provides a different interpretation of the concept of justice to that of which the character of Crito holds. The conflict between the ‘speech of the laws’ and Crito†¦show more content†¦Crito expounds an almost subjective approach to what justice is and what the right thing to do is. Some of Crito’s arguments in the dialogue as to why escaping prison is favourable to death are: 1. If Socrates is put to death; Crito will lose a friend who is irreplaceable. 2. The many will not look kindly on the character of Crito as they would view him as a man who forsakes his friends. 3. If Socrates dies, Crito and Socrates’ other friends may be put in danger from their perceived lack of action. Throughout this exchange Crito lets it be known that himself and Socrates’ other friends have sufficient funds available to bribe anybody who threatens either theirs or Socrates’ well-being. This is evidenced by the very fact that Crito has bribed a guard in the prison to be able to converse with Socrates in the first place. Although Socrates is able to refute these concerns of Crito quite easily that is not the point. The point is that behind all of Crito’s given reasons as to why Socrates should escape, it is the figure of Crito, not Socrates, as the one who is being harmed by the ultimate finale of Socrates’ execution. A great deal of irony exists in this exchange also. Crito is so blinded by his subjective notions of what justice is that he advocates and actually carries out the act of the bribery of officials without either realizing or consciously acknowledging that this is breaking the law. This irony is almost humorous by the fact that what the two men areShow MoreRelatedWhat is the purpose of the ‚Äà ²speech of the laws‚Äà ´, in Plato‚Äà ´s Crito? How is it related to Crito‚Äà ´s political opinions and preferences as expressed in this dialogue?2082 Words   |  9 PagesEdelheit What is the purpose of the ‘speech of the laws’, in Plato’s Crito? How is it related to Crito’s political opinions and preferences as expressed in this dialogue? Introduction In the following essay I will be discussing the purpose of the speech of laws in Plato’s Crito. I will also be discussing its relation to Crito’s political opinions and preferences as expressed in the dialogue. I will be focussing on the purpose of the speech of laws. In my discussion on their purpose I will be