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Reading Comprehension And Criticism

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Bowie State University

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Socrates, Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King

What is the connection between such philosophers and social activists as Socrates,

Thoreau, or Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King? The work of Benjamin O. Arah is dedicated to

the analysis of this connection. The author shows that the similarities, connecting all these

outstanding people, are associated with their nonviolent methods of political struggle. In contrast

to radical ideas of such philosophers as Karl Marx, who promoted the ideology of violent

revolutionary changes, Martin Luther King, as well as other abovementioned thinkers, used the

advantages of nonviolent resistance. It does not mean that their struggle was more conformist or

not so radical. They also wanted radical social changes in their struggle for the elimination of

injustice, but they showed that nonviolent method is more effective against injustice. In this

context, the strong side of Arah’s work is associated exactly with his deep analysis of a large

influence that Socrates, Thoreau, and Gandhi had on Dr. King. However, it does not mean that

only these thinkers had influenced Dr. King. Although Arah mentioned that Dr. King was a very

broad-minded person with broad knowledge in philosophy and theology, but he have not

described Dr. King’s basic philosophic and theological background as a whole and the lack of

such description can be considered as a weak side of Arah’s article.

First, Arah compares the ideas of the ancient philosopher Socrates with Martin Luther

King’s ideas and argues about a strong influence of Socrates on Dr. King. According to Arah

(280), Socrates was one of the first thinkers who applied the way of non-violent civil

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disobedience. Dr. King directly referred to Socrates in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” of

1963, where he showed that ideas of this Greek philosopher have created an intellectual

framework for the modern social philosophy of civil disobedience (Arah 281). Especially, it

concerns Socrates’ ideas about the necessity of tensions in mind that can liberate people from the

bondage of myths and stereotypes (Arah 281). Socrates argued that a philosopher must be a

moral “gadfly” for society, who blames all manifestations of injustice as things that contradict

the higher law of God, which transcends all laws of humans. Thus, a philosopher should do it if

even this blaming would contradict the artificial human law (Arah 281). In this context, Arah

shows how the ideas of Dr. King, who always argued about the superiority of moral law that is

opposed to all kinds of injustice, were similar to abovementioned ideas from the philosophy of

Socrates. However, it does not necessary mean that Dr. King developed his worldview exactly

under the influence of Socrates, but Arah did not highlight this aspect.

The second philosopher, whose ties to Dr. King were analyzed in the work of Benjamin

O. Arah, is Henry David Thoreau. In contrast, to Dr. King’s connections to Socrates, which

actually were embodied only in his reference in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” there are

more strong evidences showing that Dr. King was largely inspired directly by the ideas of Henry

David Thoreau. According to Arah (280), Dr. King has firstly read Thoreau’s famous work

Essay on Civil Disobedience and this work influenced him. Moreover, as Arah (280) notices, Dr.

King said that he was “fascinated by the idea of refusing to cooperate with an evil system.”

Henry David Thoreau himself was a supporter of the abolitionist movement. In the context of his

political struggle against slavery in the United States, he argued that resistance against injustice

was a moral responsibility of citizens and, therefore, the unjust policy of government, such as the

support of slavery or the support of unjust Mexican-American War, should be criticized (Arah

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Last Name 1 Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Number Date Socrates, Thoreau, Gandhi, and Dr. King What is the connection between such philosophers and social activists as Socrates, Thoreau, or Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King? The work of Benjamin O. Arah is dedicated to the analysis of this connection. The author shows that the similarities, connecting all these outstanding people, are associated with their nonviolent methods of political struggle. In contrast to radical ideas of such philosophers as Karl Marx, who promoted the ideology of violent revolutionary changes, Martin Luther King, as well as other abovementioned thinkers, used the advantages of nonviolent resistance. It does not mean that their struggle was more conformist or not so radical. They also wanted radical social changes in their struggle for the elimination of injustice, but they showed that nonviolent method is more effective against injustice. In this context, the strong side of Arah’s work is associated exactly with his deep analysis of a large influence that Socrates, Thoreau, and Gandhi had on Dr. King. However, it does not mean that only these thinkers had influenced Dr. King. Although Arah mentioned that Dr. King was a very broad-minded person with broad knowledge in philosophy and theology, but he have not described Dr. King’s basic philosophic and theological background as a whole and the lack of such description can be considered as a weak side of Arah’s article. First, Arah comp ...
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