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Peference: Our reading is the Crito,a conversation between Socrates and his longtime friend Crito.The scene is Socrates's prison cell: He has been sentenced to death and
will be executed as soon as the Athenian ship returns from its religious
expedition to the island of Delos.Crito,who has been regularly visiting
Socrates in prison,brings the news that the ship has been sighted and
will soon arive.Crito urges Socrates,one last time, to escape and save
his life; all the arrangements have been made. Since Socrates seems unwilling to escape, despite his inocence of the charges for which he was condemned, Crito gives Socrates several reasons for escaping. Socrates replies that he will escape only if it would be moral to do so. He then states two moral principles that he and Crito have long agreed are valid: One should never intentionally wrong another,even if wronged; and one should fulfill one's just agreements. To determine whether his escape would violate these moral principles. Socrates imagines the law of Athen addressing him. Their speech convinces Socrates that to escape would be wrong because Socrates would be breaking both principles. First, Socrates would be harming another, namely the laws. The laws, moreover, had benefited Socrates and had never harmed him (at his trial, it was the jurors who were unjust, not the laws). Second, Socrates would be breaking a just agreement---his agreement to abide the laws of Athen. Socrates argues that when we live in a socity and accept its benefits, we enter into a tacit agreement to obey its law and are obligated to keep our agreement. Socrates' conversation with Crito not only sets forth his theory of political obligation; it also illustrates his conviction that philosophy requires one to act in accordance with one's principles, no matter what the cost. To violate a moral principle is to harm one's soul, and no bodily benefit gained by an unjust action can outweigh the damage that injustice does to one's soul. 萝卜翻译，欢迎指正 译文：前言 我们的下文是关于苏格拉底和他一生最好的朋友Crito 的 一段对话。谈话的背景是在苏格拉底的牢房里：苏格拉底已被判死刑，一旦奉命前往Delos 岛虔诚远征的希腊船回来，死刑就要执行。Crito 已经定期地来牢房探望过苏格拉底几次了，今天他给苏格拉底带来最新消息：虔诚远征的希腊船已经返航了，并且可以远远地望见了，应该很快就到了。这是 Crito 最后一次催促苏格拉底逃狱：我们已经为你做好了逃狱的一切准备。虽然Crito已经跟苏格拉底说了几个可以逃跑的理由，但是苏格拉底看起来还是不怎么愿意 逃跑，尽管在这件责难他的案件中，他是无辜的。苏格拉底回答说只有逃跑是合乎道德的，他才会这么做。接着，苏格拉底提起他和Crito一直坚守的两个道德 原则：一是，谁也不可以使别人犯错，即使别人已经使你犯错了；二是，谁都要履行自己达成的公平协议。 为了弄清他的逃跑是否违背了这些道德原则，苏格拉底假想希腊的法律是一个人并且跟他谈话。这个谈话使苏格拉底确信逃跑是不对的，因为这样做苏格拉底已经违 背了上面的两个道德原则：第一，苏格拉底将要伤害别人，也就是说伤害了希腊的法律。可是希腊的法律已经给苏格拉底带来了好处，而且从没伤害过他（对他的判 刑，是法官的不公正而不是法律的不公）；第二，苏格拉底将会违背一个公平的协议——他必须遵守希腊的法律。苏格拉底认为：当我们生活在一个社会中并且接受 了它的恩惠，我们无形中就跟这个社会达成了一个协议——服从社会的法律并且有义务去遵守法律。
苏格拉底跟Crito的谈话不但诠释了他关于政治义务的理论，而且阐明了他的一个信念——哲学必须要求行为跟思想（言行）一致，无论必须为此付出多大的代
价。去违背一个道德准则就是伤害了你自己的灵魂，而这个因为违背道德准则而获得的肉体上的快乐远没有它带给你精神上的伤害大。 |
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