cannot accept Critos pleas unless he can give just cause as to why he should flee, and thus break the law. The biggest argument Crito makes is this: he believes it will reflect poorly on they and their colleagues if Socrates does not escape. Socrates knows that it will reflect even worse if he breaks the rules he has always lived by and doled out. As an elitist, Socrates cares not for what others may think of him, he knows the only opinion that is truly significant is his own. He says I cannot abandon the arguments I used to expound in the past simply because this accident has happened to me. The state may be wrong, but he was tried though due process and respects the outcome nonetheless. Socrates is old; he has lived a long and moral life. He does not fear death, rather welcomes it as a new venture for his philosophy. Thus, Socrates has followed his own principles to his own death. He was truly patriotic to his government until the very end....
