Socrates and Thoreau are similar through the fact that both of them lobbied for a just world where slavery would not be present concomitantly with taking advantage of the institution of slavery. Socrates would thus identify with Thoreau, given that each of these two men lived in a time when their opinions were worthless when compared to those of the masses. Thoreau and Socrates were well aware that violence would be pointless in times when slavery was still considered to be normal by the majority. Socrates would however feel that Thoreau's perspective in regard to Brown's decision to use violence as a means to achieve justice is erroneous. This is because Socrates lived in a period when slavery was highly esteemed and when it was virtually impossible for someone to rise against the state with the purpose of abolishing it. In contrast, Thoreau, his abolitionist contemporaries, and society in general...
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