Socrates' Social Contract

Socrates makes his presentation of the Social Contract in what is sometimes called “The Speech of the Laws” in the Crito, sections 50a-54d. Crito has come to persuade Socrates, who is in jail awaiting

The first criticism of Socrates argument is that Athens did not uphold its end of the agreement. Socrates’ agreement with the state insists that he must obey and uphold the law or persuade the state that the law is not just. (51c) “He [Socrates] correctly assumes that Athens’ congeniality to him obligates him to follow the tenets of the agreement, but he does not ask if Athens feels similarly obligated” (Post, 1998) Post argues that the agreement between Socrates and the state would be valid of the state had upheld its half of the agreement. The agreement rests on the fact that because of the congeniality of the state of Athens toward Socrates he must obey the laws or persuade the state that they are not just. “This implies both the obligation to obey the laws and the right to change them.” (Post, 1998) Post argues that Socrates is charged with doing what the agreement allows in trying to persuade the state that its ways are unjust. “By constantly questioning those who are considered wise, by showing others the worthlessness of human wisdom, Socrates was attempting to change those aspects of Athenian society he found unsatisfactory.” (Post, 1998) If the state constantly brushes these attempts off by labeling them as “corruption of the youth” and “impiety”, then it is ignoring its portion of the agreement Socrates had with it. Of course, the argument could also be made that is Socrates doesn’t abide by the agreement; he would be doing a “wrong” simply for retaliation, which he had previously prohibited. (Crito, 49a)

“Socrates’ second argument is the argument later employed by the Social Contract theory of political obligation, which a man ought to obey the law to the extent that he has given an undertaking that he will.” (Woozley, 1980, pp.314) Many thinkers have given the credit to Socrates for originating the idea of the Social Contract, whether they agreed with the theory or not. “The only passage I meet with in antiquity where the obligation of obedience is ascribed to a promise is in Plato’s Crito, where Socrates refuses to escape from prison because he had tacitly promised to obey the laws.” (Hume, 1748) Philosophers such as Locke and Rousseau later developed this idea more completely, but Socrates was the first to propose the notion.

Finally Woozley arrives at a theory that sufficiently explains this inconsistency. Woozley holds that what Socrates is prepared to do against the court in the Apology, is different from what he is not prepared to do against the court in the Crito. (Woozley, 1980, pp.307) In the Apology Socrates will only disobey the court if he is released with the conditions previously mentioned. He would disobey this by continuing to openly practice philosophy with whomever he sees fit, he would not hide his philosophizing. By accepting the consequences of his actions Socrates doesn’t feel he is doing any harm or injury to the laws. However, if Socrates were to escape from prison, he would be injuring the laws by his disobedience. “And all disobedience to the lawful commands is of this kind, with the single exception of attempting to convince the state that it is wrong in the law or command concerned.” (Woozley, 1980, pp.307) Woozley claims this is civil disobedience and of the kind that tries to change minds by reason, and doesn’t attempt to escape the legal consequences of doing it. (Woozley, 1980, pp.308) Woozley maintains that this theory corrects the inconsistency between the Apology and the Crito

I will first discuss all the possible interpretations that Woozley doesn’t accept as being plausible. The first in the question, is the court in the Apology offering Socrates a conditional discharge? The distinction being that, the court could possibly discharge Socrates conditionally and not offer a conditional discharge. The difference being that in the former Socrates would be released and if caught doing philosophy he would be killed, the lat

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