Abstract
In this paper, I argue against the institutional reading of the persuasion of the laws in Plato’s Crito. My interpretation focuses on how the clause “persuade or obey” may be read such as to allow citizens to disobey the law or its commands without such actions being unjust. I first summarize the authoritarian position of the laws and present the existing interpretations of the persuasion of the laws. I then show why I believe that none of the existing interpretations is satisfactory. Finally, I present my own interpretation of the persuasion of the laws, which follows Socrates’ own rule of following reason and the strongest available argument.
Note
This article is based on my two earlier Czech texts Jirsa (2020a) and Jirsa (2020b). I am grateful to Nicholas D. Smith for his comments on the draft of this paper and to all participants of the colloquium organized by The International Society for Socratic Studies where this draft was presented.
Bibliography
Allen, Reginald E. (1980): Socrates and legal obligation. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Search in Google Scholar
Barker, Andrew (1977): “Why did Socrates refuse to escape?” Phronesis 22, pp. 13–28.10.1163/156852877X00155Search in Google Scholar
Benitez, Eugenia (1996): “Deliberation and Moral Expertise in Plato’s Crito”, Apeiron 29 (4), pp. 21–47.10.1515/APEIRON.1996.29.4.21Search in Google Scholar
Bostock, David (1990): “The Interpretation of Plato’s Crito”, Phronesis 35, pp. 1–20.10.1163/156852890X00015Search in Google Scholar
Brickhouse, Thomas and Nicholas D. Smith, eds. (2004): Routledge philosophy guidebook to Plato and the trial of Socrates. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780203645963Search in Google Scholar
Brickhouse, Thomas and Nicholas D. Smith (1989): Socrates on Trial. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Brickhouse, Thomas and Nicholas D. Smith (2000): The philosophy of Socrates. Boulder: Westview Press.Search in Google Scholar
Brickhouse, Thomas and Nicholas D. Smith (1994): Plato’s Socrates. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780195081756.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Brown, Lesley (2002): “Did Socrates Agree to Obey the Laws of Athens?” In: Gillian Clark and Tessa Rajak (eds.): Philosophy and Power in the Graeco-Roman World: Essays in Honour of Miriam Griffin, Oxford University Press, pp. 13–30.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198299905.003.0002Search in Google Scholar
Colson, Darrel D. (1989): ““Crito” 51A-C: To What Does Socrates Owe Obedience?” Phronesis 34, pp. 27–55.10.1163/156852889X00026Search in Google Scholar
Dasti, Matthew (2007): “The Crito’s Integrity”, Apeiron 40 (2), pp. 123–140.10.1515/APEIRON.2007.40.2.123Search in Google Scholar
DeFilippo, Joseph G. (1991): “Justice and Obedience in the Crito”, Ancient Philosophy 11, pp. 249–263.10.5840/ancientphil19911122Search in Google Scholar
Dyson, Michael (1978): “The Structure of the Laws’ Speech in Plato’s Crito”, The Classical Quarterly, New Series 28, pp. 427–436.10.1017/S0009838800034960Search in Google Scholar
Euben, J. Peter (1978): “Philosophy and Politics in Plato’s Crito”, Political Theory 6 (2), pp. 149–172.10.1177/009059177800600202Search in Google Scholar
Grote, George (2010): Plato, and the other companions of Sokrates. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511707414Search in Google Scholar
Harte, Verity (1999): “Conflicting Values in Plato’s Crito”, Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 81 (2), pp. 117–147.10.1515/agph.1999.81.2.117Search in Google Scholar
Jirsa, Jakub (2020): “Dialog ‘Kritón’. Lze přemlouvat zákony?”, Filosofický Časopis 68 (3), pp. 387–406.Search in Google Scholar
Jirsa, Jakub (2020b): “Proč poslouchat zákony?” In: Jakub Jinek and Jakub Jirsa (eds.): Platónův dialog Kritón, Oikoymenh, pp. 44–68.Search in Google Scholar
Kraut, Richard (1984): Socrates and the State. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Lane, Melissa (1998): “Argument and Agreement in Plato’s “Crito””, History of Political Thought 19, pp. 313–330.Search in Google Scholar
Miller, Mitchell (1996): ““The Arguments I Seem to Hear”: Argument and Irony in the “Crito””, Phronesis 41, pp. 121–137.10.1163/156852896321051684Search in Google Scholar
Moore, Christopher (2011): “Socratic Persuasion in the Crito”, British Journal for the History of Philosophy 19, pp. 1021–1046.10.1080/09608788.2011.624700Search in Google Scholar
Penner, Terry (1997): “Two Notes on the Crito: The Impotence of the Many, and “Persuade or Obey””, The Classical Quarterly, New Series 47, pp. 153–166.10.1093/cq/47.1.153Search in Google Scholar
Rosen, F. (1998): ““A Creature of Modern Scholarship”: Disobedience and the Crito Problem”, Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought 15 (1–2), pp. 1–12.10.1163/20512996-90000001Search in Google Scholar
Scott, Kyle (2009): “Lessons from the Crito”, Polis: The Journal for Ancient Greek Political Thought 26 (1), pp. 31–51.10.1163/20512996-90000141Search in Google Scholar
Sedley, David (2004): The Midwife of Platonism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0199267030.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Sobel, Jordan Howard (2008): “Plato’s Crito: a question of agreement”, Theoria 60 (1), pp. 1–26.10.1111/j.1755-2567.1994.tb00875.xSearch in Google Scholar
Steadman, Geoffrey D. (2006): “The Unity of Plato’s “Crito””, The Classical Journal 101, pp. 361–382.Search in Google Scholar
Stokes, Michael C. (2005): Dialectic in action: an examination of Plato’s Crito. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales.10.2307/j.ctv1n357kfSearch in Google Scholar
Wade, Francis C. (1971): “In Defense of Socrates”, The Review of Metaphysics 25 (2), pp. 311–325.Search in Google Scholar
Wasmuth, Ellisif (2020): “Why Socrates’ Legs Didn’t Run Off to Megara: Moral Deliberation in Plato’s Crito”, Phronesis 65, pp. 380–413.10.1163/15685284-BJA10011Search in Google Scholar
Weinrib, E. J. (1982): “Obedience to the Law in Plato’s Crito”, The American Journal of Jurisprudence 27 (1), pp. 85–108.10.1093/ajj/27.1.85Search in Google Scholar
Weiss, Roslyn (1998): Socrates dissatisfied: an analysis of Plato’s Crito. New York: Oxford University Press.10.1093/0195116844.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Woozley, A. D. (1979): Law and obedience: the arguments of Plato’s Crito. London: Duckworth.Search in Google Scholar
Young, Charles M. (2006): “Plato’s Crito on the Obligation to Obey the Law”, Philosophical Inquiry 28 (1), pp. 79–90.10.5840/philinquiry2006281/215Search in Google Scholar
Young, Gary (1974): “Socrates and Obedience”, Phronesis 19, pp. 1–29.10.1163/156852874X00068Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Articles
- Persuasion of the Laws in Plato’s Crito: When Does It Happen?
- The Descent of Reason: Reading Plato’s Cave as Psychic Drama
- Both Generable and Alterable in Aristotle’s On Generation and Corruption I.1 & I.4
- The Boogeyman in the Closet: A Cognitive-Behavioral Account of Epicurean Emotions
- Reviews
- 10.1515/rhiz-2024-0005
- Reviews
- Barbara M. Sattler, The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2020. x + 427 pp.
Articles in the same Issue
- Titelseiten
- Articles
- Persuasion of the Laws in Plato’s Crito: When Does It Happen?
- The Descent of Reason: Reading Plato’s Cave as Psychic Drama
- Both Generable and Alterable in Aristotle’s On Generation and Corruption I.1 & I.4
- The Boogeyman in the Closet: A Cognitive-Behavioral Account of Epicurean Emotions
- Reviews
- 10.1515/rhiz-2024-0005
- Reviews
- Barbara M. Sattler, The Concept of Motion in Ancient Greek Thought: Foundations in Logic, Method, and Mathematics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2020. x + 427 pp.