Socrates on Athenian law and obedience

Socrates said in a dialogue with Crito: "You must either persuade [your country] or obey its orders, and endure in silence whatever it instructs you to endure... leads you into was to be wounded or killed, you must obey" (Crito 51b). Socrates believed this argument for the following reasons: 1) as a member of a society, each citizen had a responsibility and obligation to obey the laws of their society, 2) because the society gave you an …

…certain law. This would lead to anarchy. Athens was considered to be a civilized city of intellectual people. If someone believed that a certain law was unjust then they had a few choices, to obey, to leave, or to persuade people to change the laws because it did not correspond to the "nature of justice". BIBLIOGRAPHY Plato, (1975) "The Trail and Death of Socrates", translated by G.M.A Grube, Indianapolis, Indiana. Hackett Publishing Company Ltd.