Analysis Of Letter From Birmingham Jail By Martin Luther King, Jr.

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For Socrates, philosophy is to self-examine and cross-examine others, stating that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology 9). He believes that through the practice of elenchus, one can examine their knowledge more deeply, and eventually come to appreciate virtue, justice, and truth.
In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. practices philosophy according to Socrates through the avocation of the use of elenchus. He believes that segregation is unjust because it “distorts the soul and damages the personality” (King 4). Therefore, he wants to create tensions in people’s mind through demonstrations, to make them self-examine their view on segregation, so that they can “rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism”
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