Socrates -- King Civil Disobedience:

Socrates -- King

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE:

SOCRATES' CRITO AND DR. KING'S

LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL

In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, written in response to a statement issued by eight clergymen from Alabama and "composed under somewhat constricting circumstances," Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declares that "there are two types of laws: just and unjust... One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all" ("Martin Luther King's Letter," Internet). In contrast, Crito's advice to the philosopher Socrates, who awaits his execution while confined in a jail cell, that he should escape results in Socrates relating "that to escape would be unjust or an act of wrongdoing," two traits that are "neither noble nor in ones best interest" ("Plato's Crito," Internet). Of course, both King and Socrates are referring to civil disobedience or the act of going against the law without depending on acts of violence. From a logical standpoint, it appears that Dr. King is correct in his view that unjust laws should not be obeyed as contrasted with Socrates who would rather sit in jail and wait for death.

From Dr. King's viewpoint, civil disobedience is at times mandatory in order to illustrate that certain laws are unjust, for according to Dr. King, a just law "is a man-made code that squares with the moral law... An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas... Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust" ("Martin Luther King's Letter,' Internet). Thus, Dr. King is attempting to say that regardless of how federal, state and local authorities interpret specific laws and regulations, if such laws are unjust, meaning that they lower or degrade human beings, they must not be obeyed. Also, since just laws are meant to increase and support human morals, these laws deserve to be obeyed by all in society.

Obviously, Dr. King views his imprisonment as an unjust act, for he was simply expressing his opinions as the leader of the Civil Rights movement, opinions which are protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, yet in the eyes of the government, Dr. King broke the law as an "irritant" to society, thus placing him in jail. As Dr. King puts it, "I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest" ("Martin Luther King's Letter," Internet).

In addition, Dr. King in his letter provides another way of looking at just and unjust laws. He states that "An unjust law is a code that a... power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal" ("Martin Luther King's Letter,' Internet). Dr. King's first point concerns unjust laws that appear to have been created to serve the needs of "power groups" at the expense of powerless groups, such as tax breaks on the federal Inheritance Tax which benefits the wealthy. His second point concerns just laws that were created to serve the needs of all citizens and which are obeyed by everyone regardless of social standing, such as laws forbidding murder. In essence, Dr. King is advocating civil unrest against those laws which he sees as unjust.

In contrast to Dr. King's views on just and unjust laws as they relate to civil disobedience, Socrates, upon considering Crito's suggestion that he escape from prison (interestingly, both King and Socrates are in jail for almost the exact same reason, namely, civil disobedience), rejects Crito's proposal and then offers his personal opinions on the matter. First, Socrates declares that "to escape is neither just nor is it good" for himself, reference to his agreement with the officials in the Greek city of Athens to obey their laws at all times as a citizen. Socrates adds that escape is not to his benefit because "he who does wrong cannot live well" and "if one cannot live well, life is not worth living" ("Plato's Crito," Internet).