Crito (philosopher)

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Crito (around 465 - around 395 BC) was a friend and student of Socrates . He is said to have written a number of philosophical dialogues, but these have not been preserved. The exact dates of his life are not known. Socrates calls him his "peer".

Already in antiquity, Crito was best known for his friendship with his teacher. According to Diogenes Laertios , he was "permeated by a deep affection for Socrates, whom he cared for so that he always had everything he needed". Crito appears in several dialogues of Plato , whereby his connection with Socrates is also emphasized.

Xenophon counts him in his memories of Socrates ( Memorabilia ) with Chairephon, Chairekrates, Hermogenes , Simmias, Kebes and Phaidondas to the real followers of Socrates. Crito himself, under the influence of his teacher, wrote 17 philosophical dialogues on topics mainly from the field of epistemology and ethics, which were summarized in a book. They had the following titles: Acquiring knowledge does not make one virtuous , About greed , About the purposeful or politicos , About the beautiful , About iniquity , About orderliness , About the law , About the divine , About the arts , About community , About wisdom , Protagoras or Politics , About Scripture , About Poetry , About Learning , About Knowledge , or About Science , What Is Knowledge .

As the works About the Beautiful , About the Arts and About Poetry show, Crito was also interested in aesthetic questions. The article "On Poetry" is the only known plant that in front of the "poetics" of Aristotle devoted to this topic.

Xenophon also describes how Crito, as a businessman , had to suffer from the sycophants , who were rampant in Athens at the time, who tried to force him to go to court in an extortionate way. Socrates was able to provide his friend with decisive help in this regard by introducing him to the legally trained Archedemos, who, on the basis of detective research, succeeded in demonstrating criminal crimes against the annoying sycophants, threatening them with trials himself and thereby preventing them from pursuing Crito any further .

Crito used his riches, which Socrates jokingly mentions in the Platonic dialogue " Euthydemus ", for noble purposes. His two sons were also disciples of Socrates. The oldest of them was Critobulus, also mentioned in several Platonic dialogues.

After Socrates was sentenced to death, Crito explored ways for his teacher to escape from prison and tried to persuade him to flee, as we learn in Plato's dialogue named after him. After Socrates 'death it was Crito who closed the dead Socrates' eyes.

swell

  • Diogenes Laertios: Life and Teaching of the Philosophers 2, 121
  • Plato: Apology of Socrates and Crito
  • Xenophon: Memories of Socrates 1, 2, 48; 2, 9, 1ff.

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Diogenes Laertios 2,121.
  2. ↑ Xenophon, Memorabilia I 2.48.
  3. ↑ Xenophon, Memorabilia II 9.1 ff.
  4. ↑ Diogenes Laertius II 121 speaks of four sons.
personal data
SURNAME Crito
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek philosopher
DATE OF BIRTH around 465 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH around 395 BC Chr.