Similarities Between Martin Luther King Jr And Socrates

Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. have shown and voiced their own and have their own definitions of civil disobedience. Socrates believed in the law as complete truth. He believed that all individuals are to follow the laws. Martin Luther King Jr. believed that the laws had flaws, and that it was our responsibility to get them to change. Would Socrates agree with Martin Luther King Jr. on his acts of civil disobedience? I believe Socrates would agree with Martin Luther King Jr. on everything that he did, except when he actually broke the law which led him to be jailed in Birmingham.

Socrates refuses to disobey the law. He believes in the correctness of the cities laws. He believes it is never right to act unjustly. He thinks that if you do not agree with the laws of the area that you are living at, then to leave and go somewhere else. He argues that the government could be seen as “his parents, also those who brought him up,” (Crito, 51e), since he has lived there his entire life and when you live somewhere for so long you should “persuade us or to do what we say,” (Crito, 52a) or leave. Socrates tells Crito that

up until he got caught for marching without a permit because King was not doing anything wrong up until that point. King was trying to change the law, persuade the law for African Americans. King was trying to persuade the people, not because he wanted to ultimately overthrow the laws, but because he wanted to help change. He and his following got to the point where sitting down and talking and trying to propose their ideas simply did not work. So, they began to try and persuade in a different light. It was another take of persuasion that they took to try and spread. This is something Socrates consistently insisted on, “You must either persuade or obey it’s [the laws] orders,” (Crito 51b). By King trying to persuade they law, he is in fact following Socrates guidelines for living under the