Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
1992
Publication Title
Law and Philosophy
Abstract
Of all the Platonic dialogues, the Crito best depicts the citizenship of Socrates. This is a well-known and widely accepted fact. What has gone largely unnoticed, however, is the counter evidence suggesting that Socrates is no citizen at all. It is here argued that beneath the surface of the dialogue lies an account of Socrates as a wholly autonomous man, one who minimizes or denies his obligations to the city. Socrates is apolitical, or outside the city, not in consequence of a libertarian interpretation of the law, as is sometimes thought, but because of his special status as a philosopher.
Volume
1
First Page
84
Last Page
110
Rights
© The author
Recommended Citation
Coby, John Patrick, "The Philosopher Outside the City: The Apolitical Socrates of the Crito" (1992). Government: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/gov_facpubs/33
Comments
Peer reviewed accepted manuscript.
Law and Philosophy vol, 1, edited by, Robert Stone, John Murley, and William Braithwaite (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1992)