Crito Review

Crito By Plato
         …Virtue and justice are man's most precious possession

Is loyalty to country to be given any consideration even if it has wrongfully convicted one of major crimes? Does duty to one’s children take precedence over duty to one’s country? This text answers these questions and many more. Socrates deduces through strong arguments that loyalty to one’s country is more important even than loyalty to one’s parents.He will prefer dying to mistreating his country.

The arguments given by Socrates are thought provoking and dispassionate. However it seemed that he could have been convinced of the opposite with simplest logic if Crito had tried. Unlike the other dialogues the inability and helplessness does not seem to be due to the effect produced by Socrates characteristic style of questioning but Crito’s incompetence. Crito is never convincing either in passion or in logic. He is anxious that the majority will see him as a friend who didn’t even try to salvage Socrates. Socrates makes this anxiousness seem pointless by giving counter arguments to prove that majority is not to be trusted in all issues. Only specific people who have wisdom may be considered. This seems paradoxical with Socrates' stance to be loyal for the country but country here is not the same as majority. The concept of country refers to the laws, legacy and services collectively while majority refers to only the people.

This text is recommended for readers interested in understanding the problem encountered by several thinkers when dwelling on the precedence of individuality over nation or vice-versa.