ally weighty sense, based on an implied but still binding contract between the individual and the state:
Socrates had had the benefit of those laws all his life; if he had not wished for this protection, he could have left Athens and gone to live elsewhere; and so by his conduct he has tacitly agreed to respect them (Kelly 16).
Socrates argues that every citizen is a product of influences that derive from the city in which he lives. The city gives us certain gifts, and we owe a debt of gratitude for what we have received: "It may be our duty to reject them, in the name of something higher; it is also our duty to respect them" (Barker 142).
Plato presents his explicit statement of the relationship between the individual and society--even an unjust society--in the form of the "Apology," the statement of Socrates to the court that ultimately sentences him to death. The speech represents the conflict that often develops between the power of the state and the integrity of the individual. The court gives Socrates an out if he recants his teachings, but he will not do it. Socrates represents the primary social value of inquiry, of the pursuit of philosophy, of the examination of the meaning of life. He also represents integrity, for when we inquire into the meaning of existence and develop a set of beliefs, we must live up to those beliefs. Socrates believes the unexamined life is not worth living, and if he accepts the right of the court to judge his thoughts, he has lost his integrity and so would deny all his ideas. This probably means he also cannot pay a fine, for to do so would be to accept the right of the court to judge his thoughts, though it is not clear that he refused to pay a fine. The way Socrates uses irony in court makes it difficult to judge some of his statements, as will be seen. Socrates is a poor man who is rich in intellect and in dedication. His followers carry on his ideas for him, and as is mad...