According to Socrates, Should you Obey an Unjust Law

Convicted For Living? Do we have an obligation to obey any law, no matter how unjust or evil, provided only that it is in fact a valid rule of the legal system in which we happen to be physically located? In the following composition, I am going to examine the answer to this question in accordance to what Socrates believes. The best way to understand this almost â€Å"WWSD† (What Would Socrates Do) approach is by looking at Socrates actions in the three Platonic dialogues we have read. These dialogues bring forth three possible bases for why Socrates believes one should obey the law. First, that there is a distinction between the the â€Å"justness† of a law and how that law is applied. Second, that if one willingly accepts living in a†¦show more content†¦At no point during the proceedings did Socrates deny that corrupting the youth was a criminal act punishable by death. Socrates in fact believes that it is noble to prosecute those who corrupt the minds of the youth. Moreover, i n the Euthyphro Dialogue, Socrates even praises Meletus saying that, â€Å"He [Meletus] is the only one who begins at the right point in his political reforms; for his first care is to make the young men as good as possible† (2). Therefore, while Socrates may not have necessarily agreed with the verdict of his trial, he did agree with the essence and/or idea of what the law that he â€Å"broke† was founded on. Socrates was accused of corrupting the young through the ideas he taught and the manner in which he taught them, ergo his acts were inseparable from the crime of which he was accused of. Consequently, and quite frankly rather humorously, the sheer enormity of Socrates crime could have hardly been outdone by that of any other of its time. Whereas it meant that everything Socrates had done in his life was illegal, since practically his entire life stood for the proposition that he ought to teach his philosophy to anyone who would listen. Socrates believed that the life unexamined is one not worth living.. The depth of that belief made the accusation of corrupting the young almost equivalent to being charged with the crime of having lived. If Socrates pupils were not harmed, whoShow MoreRelatedUnjust Laws1747 Words   |  7 Pagesmorally obliged to obey even unjust laws? Think about what this means. This means that laws, regardless of how unfair, unjust, or immoral they may be, must be followed with no better reason that they are the law. To the thesis that we are obliged to obey even unjust laws, I will argue that the standard objections to Civil Disobedience, given by Singer, are incorrect To begin, however, I believe it is necessary to define an unjust law. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, Any law that uplifts humanRead MoreSocrates and Civil Obecience or Disobedience1538 Words   |  7 Pageson whether or not I believe that Socrates’ views in the Crito contradict his views expressed in the Apology. 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