Similarities Between Socrates And Martin Luther King

Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. were both faced with unjust laws and had to make the decision to whether to break these unjust laws or to take the punishment. Socrates and King had different opinions on how to deal with these unjust laws. Plato argues through Socrates that one must never willingly wrong someone and that if you are wronged you may not wrong someone else in return. This means that just because something in your mind is unjust you can’t combat it with an action that is also unjust. In Socrates case, he was put in prison unjustly but he cannot break out of prison because that would be unjust. Socrates had the option to escape prison and be valued in a new town without anything to worry about but since breaking out of prison

He supports this claim by saying he could have left Athens at any time if he disagreed with their laws. The city educated him and allowed him to make his own decisions. Since he didn’t leave when he had the opportunity, he is agreeing to follow the cities laws. Socrates final argument is that escaping jail will ruin his reputation he has been building his whole life. After escaping Socrates couldn’t flee to a good Greek city but they won’t want him because he will have a reputation of breaking the law. Socrates and his family could move to a non-Greek city where he would be accepted but it will not be as safe or nice as a Greek city. Socrates would not only ruin his reputation by escaping jail he would also hurt his kids because they will be known for having a father that broke the law. Socrates has these four arguments to show why it is not just for him or anyone else to break the law. He agrees that some laws are unjust but he does not have the right to break these unjust laws. In his case, he thinks he was put in jail unjustly but it is only just for him to deal with the punishment the city gives

King does state that if someone is punished for breaking an unjust law they must be willing to accept the punishment because they are breaking a law. King says that if someone wants an unjust law to be changed in the future, people should disobey it and accept the punishments they are given with hopes it will eventually be changed. In King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” he says “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” What King is saying is that any injustices, even small ones will ruin the point of justice and will not allow for a just society. He believes all unjust laws must be broken and be made just to allow for a just