Analysis of Crito

Analysis of Crito         The question is raised within the dialogue between Socrates and Crito concerning civil disobedience. Crito has the desire, the means, and many compelling reasons with which he tries to convince the condemned to acquiesce in the plan to avoid his imminent death. Though Crito's temptation is imposing, it is in accord with reason and fidelity that Socrates chooses to fulfill his obligation to the state, even to death.         Before addressing Crito's claims …

…his assertion, "expressed" in his dialogue with the laws, that the state is to be more respected than one's parents. I contend that one would never willingly oblige himself to a totalitarian state in which the laws and the magistrates are to be regarded more highly than one's own family. One would only contract with a government whose power insures the public good and whose establishment seeks the to extend to its citizens utilitarian needs.