Martin Luther King Civil Disobedience Analysis

I disagree with Martin Luther King Jr. when he says in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” “… Socrates practiced civil disobedience.” I will use background information to set the stage, definitions of terms, and evidence drawn from King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Plato’s “Apology”, and Plato’s “Crito” to show that, while Socrates’ actions were similar to and may have inspired civil disobedience, he did not actually practice it. Socrates was born around 470 BCE in Athens, Greece. He was a soldier in his early life and then devoted himself to the search of truth. Because of this search, Socrates’ friend Chaerephon went to the Oracle of Delphi and she told him that nobody was wiser than Socrates. When Chaerephon told Socrates this, Socrates
There are five main points. First, “Nonviolent direct action [i.e. civil disobedience] seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” (King, 37). Second, the action must also break a law or social code “openly, lovingly, and with willingness to accept the penalty” (King, 40). Third, you must have a defendable reason for taking the action. Fourth, all of your actions must be done with an intent of changing the issue. Lastly, negotiation must be tried first. Civil disobedience is a last resort option (King, 36-37) to force negotiation on an otherwise unwilling community or
Socrates did not try to negotiate first, since there was nobody to negotiate with. King clearly states that you must try to negotiate first, because nonviolent direct action is a last resort strategy. Let’s examine another point. Socrates started talking to people as a result of the Oracle of Delphi’s prophesy. His talks that caused all this animosity toward him started, not because of a want to change the status quo, but because he wanted to prove the gods wrong. He wanted to show he was not the wisest, and so he ended up making tension. In his trail, he says to Meletus “If my offence is unintentional… you ought to have taken me privately, and warned and admonished me… I should have left off doing what I only did unintentionally - no doubt I should…” (“Apology”, 8). He is saying that if someone had just told him what was going on, he would have stopped. He isn’t “seeking to create such a crisis… that a community… is forced to confront the issue” (King, 37) he just wants to find his answers and teach some people to think in a new way. Since, in order for it to be civil disobedience, the actions must be done with the intent to change the issue, Socrates does not fit that