Comparing Socrates And Mlk's Letter From Birmingham Jail

Socrates established his presence in Athens through personification of a gadfly, whizzing around the city-state stirring up knowledge and Truths. Martin Luther King, henceforth referred to as MLK or simply King, connects with the views of Socrates through his practices, as well as through his written words. Due this connection with the non-violent protest and complying with authority approach that Socrates detailed during his trial and in prison, MLK allowed himself to be jailed without resistance in order to raise awareness about systematic corruption. As such, the tactics used by Socrates within Plato’s Dialogues became MLK’s model in rallying support and protesting, as well as his prompt for penning “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. The main

Although he claims to follow Socrates approach to philosophical debate, Martin Luther King willfully aligns himself as a sort of sophist, which gives him the advantage of fully embracing and applying rhetoric to his communications, effectively strengthening his ability to argue. Martin Luther King embodies a complete knowledge of rhetorical and oratory skills, while Socrates fails to read his audience and removes a third of his appeal, and under this comparison, Martin Luther King reflects and delivers his view in a more effectual way than Socrates. Socrates determines his own capabilities as a debater as above those which Sophist employ. Distancing himself from the so-called con men, he states that “if you have heard from anyone that I undertake to tech people and charge a fee for it, that is not true either” (Apology 19d). In doing this, Socrates rejects fundamental pieces of rhetoric, simply because he believes that it has a negative connotation due to his discontent with the Sophists. He also attempts to show his cleverness and oratorical skills by claiming to be without them, a move of reverse psychology, lest he be referred to as a Sophist. From the beginning of his trial, Socrates