Assignment due at first class meeting (January 4):

Read (in order)

1. The introduction to Princeton Readings in Political Thought;

2. “Socrates’ Defense” (also known as “The Apology”) by Plato, Princeton Readings, pp. 19-39 together with Arnhart, Political Questions, pp. 11-15 -- Read this material mainly as background for the next reading;

3. “Crito” by Plato, available on line at

http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/publications/projects/digitexts/plato/crito/crito.html and

http://www.infomotions.com/etexts/philosophy/400BC-301BC/plato-crito-340.txt, together with Arnhart, pp. 15-18;

4. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King, Princeton Readings, pp. 623-635;

5. Selections from The Republic by Plato, Princeton Readings pp. 39-106 together with the rest of Arnhart’s Chapter 1. (Note: Read all of Arnhart’s chapter, Princeton Readings up to at least page 65 and then as much of the rest of The Republic selection as you have the time and interest for. By the way, wherever there are three asterisks in the text, this signifies that some part of the book – often a large part – has been left out.)

Note: I will post study questions and further advice and explanations to help with your reading of Plato on my website (see above) sometime before the beginning of the class preparation period on December 27

Write: 2-4 pages (typed, double-spaced – i.e., 500-1000 words) answering the following questions:

1. In the Crito Socrates imagines that the laws of Athens speak to him and argue that it would be wrong for him to try to avoid his execution by escaping from prison. How does this argument go?

2. Do you think Socrates is right to conclude that he has ‘agreed’ to obey the laws of Athens and is honor-bound not to escape?

3. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Martin Luther King says that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” (p. 627) But he also says (p. 628), “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law. . ..” Do you think that his understanding of a person’s obligation to obey the law is different from Socrates’, or is it really the same? (Explain.)

4. Dr. King gives several explanations of the difference between a just law and an unjust law. Do you think that these explanations succeed in making the distinction clear? Do you agree that there is an important distinction between “man-made law,” on the one hand, and “the moral law” or “natural law” or “eternal law” or “the law of God” on the other hand? What should we do when people disagree about what “the moral law” or “the natural law” says?