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Analysis Of Socrates Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Muhammad Aiman Azani Socrates on Civil Disobedience In this paper, I will first discuss the descriptions of civil disobedience as presented in Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. Second, I will demonstrate that Socrates does not practice civil disobedience, as opposed to the King in his letter “To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience” (King). Finally, for the purpose of this paper, I will offer my explanations for my claims based on the Socrates’s arguments in the Apology and King’s letter from the Birmingham jail only. In the letter from a Birmingham jail, King states that there are two types of laws – just and unjust law. He states that one has moral responsibility to obey just law and conversely, he also states that one has moral responsibility to disobey unjust law. …show more content…

He was wrongly accused of impiety and corrupting the young men of Athens. Unlike Socrates, King was intentionally disobeying the law in order to protect the colored people from unjust law. Since the condition that the court offers to Socrates degrades his life, the condition can be classified as unjust. Next, I will offer my explanations, although Socrates was given unjust condition by the court if he wants his freedom, he does not means to disobey it and thus proves King’s claims about Socrates is not true. My first argument is Socrates prioritizes god law over men law. On the beginning of his defenses, Socrates had told by the Oracle of Delphi that he is the wisest of all men. However, Socrates does not believe Oracle’s words and then he goes out to find someone wiser. He had investigated the politicians, poets and craftsmen in order to understand the meaning of the Delphi’s claims (Apology 22a – d). However, he found out that none of them were wiser. By showing people who thought they were wise but actually they are not, this proves that Socrates is following god

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This paper seeks to compare and contrast Plato’s Crito and Martin Luther King Jr. letter from Birmingham Jail. Both Socrates and King make a case from similar perspective, though separated through a vast amount of years, both are unjustly arrested and charged with seemingly ridiculous sentences; awaiting trial in prison, and they are presented with a choice to flee incarceration or to stay and accept their fate. Their argument, in my option is over whether it is moral or not to disobey the law, despite the fact that it is unjust. In “The Crito” Plato documents a conversation between Crito and Socrates.

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Ty’ Keylah White Ms. Edwina Mosby English Composition I October 31, 2017 Rhetorical Analysis: Letter from Birmingham Jail Summary/Assessment: In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is responding to a few white religious leaders who stated that his nonviolent reveal against segregation was “unwise and untimely” (1). Dr. King had to be really upset at the clergymen because he rarely acknowledges criticism of his work. He states that since they brought up “outsiders coming in”, meaning that they went to the city of Birmingham to start a conflict.

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In King’s essay, “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, King brilliantly employs the use of several strategies that are pivotal in successfully influencing critics of his philosophical views on civil disobedience. In the letter, King expresses his extreme disappointment over the criticism of his leadership by Alabama clergymen, his understanding of why oppressed people must resist their oppression, and his deep faith in the fundamental decency of all Americans. King implements idea from philosophers, such as Socrates, to make his dissertation. King begins with differentiating between just and unjust laws.

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