Life and Death Situation
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After reading chapter one and the dialogue between Socrates and Plato, I found that the question, "If you were Socrates, would you escape with Crito or drink the poison hemlock?" is one of the most difficult questions I've ever had to answer.
Through much of Socrates' and Plato's dialogue in chapter one and even going into chapter two with Aristotle's views and beliefs on ethics, we see that they all have one thing in common: to ultimately discover what is good and bad and what is just and evil. In doing so, they hope to influence one another to see it as they see it within themselves. Before trying to answer the question in regards to what we would or should do in Socrates' difficult position we should first ask if there is a universal right and wrong or should the decisions that we make be based upon or influenced by special circumstances. If there is a universal right and wrong then there can be only one answer. However, if there is not, how do we come to a conclusion or decide which is the right path to take.
At the end of chapter one, discussion question two states, "Does being born and staying and living in a community give a person an absolute obligation to obey the laws of that community?" Before answering the discussion question I feel it necessary to explore this one so that it might better help us to understand Socrates' position and what it is that is asked of him by Plato. If at birth we were given the opportunity to coherently pick and choose and decipher between all cities, laws, and political views and choose the one we feel that would best suit our lifestyles then I would say yes, we would have an obligation to obey the laws of that community...