Apology

In the Apology, Socrates asserts, “Neither I nor any person should, on trial or in war, contrive to avoid death at any cost” and, in the Crito, Socrates claims “the most important thing is not life, but the good life.” How does Socrates assess the ease versus the propriety of the contrasting orientations that he sketches (avoiding death and avoiding wickedness)? There are different instances when the life of a person may be endangered due to the need of doing good. This, at present, may be related to exposing the wrong doings of others. At times, the most excruciating challenge is having the need to expose the wrong doings of those others who might be close to the heart of one.

Understandably, it could be noted that somehow, these instances makes it harder for an individual to do the right thing as it would mean losing some of the closest people in their lives. Hence, balancing themselves and their decisions with their emotional dictation intends to provide much pressure especially on the part of those deciding upon the matter. On the other end, some individuals in the position could also be bribed to pass on a project that may have lesser benefits from the disadvantages that it poses to the public. However, along with the possible monetary bribe is that of the threat for lost reputation or worse, losing one’s life over the disapproval of the said project. What shall the official in position do? Shall he push through with the project even though he knows it would be dangerous for the people but would practically provide him the stability that his reputation would not be ruined and his life would be spared? Yes, it remains on the said man how he would decide on the matter.

His capability to decide on such matters shall identify his being and identify the stand he takes between good or bad. Truthfully, everyday, humans are faced with the need to choose and decide upon certain matters. These decisions may not be as hard to deal with as mentioned in the examples above but they all sure poses the chance for one to choose good over evil. But then again, if a person does choose to do good, he must know that there are consequences for it, his willingness to accept these consequences just so to be able to protect his principles for doing good shall identify his being as a human.