Philip Zimbardo's Prison Experiment

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Philip Zimbardo's Prison Experiment at Stanford clearly shows this phenomena in the results "You cannot be a prisoner if no one will be your guard, and you cannot be a prison guard if no one takes your prison seriously. Therefore, over time a perverted symbiotic relationship is developed. As the guards became more aggressive, prisoners became more passive.. As these differences in behavior, mood, and perception became more evident to all, the need for the now "righteously" powerful guards to rule the obviously inferior and powerless inmates became a sufficient reason to almost any further indignity of man against man" (518). As seen in Zimbardo's experiment, any human given the position of power will enforce rules meant to merely assert their …show more content…
Milgram's shock experiment clearly shows this disturbing tendency "For many people, obedience is a deeply ingrained behavior tendency, indeed a potent impulse overriding training in ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct" (499). In other words, people have a natural reaction to obey whoever is in charge, despite their own moral beliefs. People have given responsibility for their actions to a governing body, which allows them to perform actions they would normally consider wrong. This can be extended to Socrates situation and reality in multiple ways. One is that the athenian officials could be giving responsibility for their actions to the law instead of acting with their own moral values. Given that, The opinion of the expert is nothing more than an extension of the potentially oppressive law they act on. As well, Socrates too could be falling into the tendency to obey. Instead of taking his life and family into his own hands, and potentially teaching countless others of his work, Socrates instead gives responsibility of his actions to the "expert" rather than really questioning the motivations at …show more content…
Crito outlines to Socrates reasons why he should disobey and leave "Wherever you go, there are plenty of places where you will find a welcome..I don't feel that it is right to try to do what you are doing, throwing away when you might save it. You are doing your best to treat yourself in exactly the same way your enemies would, or rather did, when they wanted to ruin you. What is more it seems to me is that you are letting your sons down too” (577). Crito pleads that Socrates should save his life, fulfill his duty as a father to his two sons, and continue his teachings in many other places where he is welcome. This shows that Socrates would have motives much beyond selfish intent, and even beyond his own family to greater service to the public. Socrates motivations would then be righteous compared to the self maintaining laws of the Athenian government. This clearly shows Socrates had the right to disobey and should have escaped with his
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