Topic > Relationship between politics and justice In Antigone

Antigone is a play written by Sophocles and The Apology and the Crito are two works written by Plato. Both of these works bring out the notions and the relationship between politics and justice. The Cambridge Dictionary defines politics “as the activities of government, members of legislative organizations or people seeking to influence the way in which a country is governed, and the study of the ways in which a country is governed” (“Politics” ). Justice can be defined as what is right, what can get us the best outcome. However, as human beings we decided/were forced to live in a political community in order to live together in peace. In the interest of life and survival as a whole, laws must be enforced. Laws according to which the human beings who are part of this community In these two stories, the two main characters, Antigone and Socrates, both decide at a certain point to disobey a law because they consider it unjust. In their opinion, disobeying these laws was the right thing to do. Socrates disobeyed the law in favor of his ideas about how life should be lived, he advocates a philosophical life guided by justice, vertu and truth. As a result he spends his time questioning the laws, the people around him... which unfortunately brings him a death sentence. In Antigone's case, she decided to disobey Creon, the king of Thebes, because he refused to give her brother a proper funeral because he was a traitor. She goes ahead and gives him a proper funeral behind Creon's back who also sends her to a death sentence. Antigone should obey an unjust law because; politics and ethics are not compatible in society and she has the duty to obey the principles. He wants us to philosophize about life for the sake of having a philosophical life. Defends critical thinking. We can see in this text, Socrates goes around the city and questions everyone, the merchants, the politicians… He questions the laws of society, the power that makes society work, he challenges authority, wisdom, common opinion, tradition and questions God. This gives him the right to question their authority and consequently their legitimacy when he discovers that authorities can be classified; politics has authority and legitimacy, but the gods have more. However, the ultimate form of authority and legitimacy would be an independent standard of right and wrong that each of us would have to obey, above all else. You must live and act justly and wisely. Following in Socrates' footsteps, Antigone chooses to act on what she believes is right, which is to save her brother. He feels that he has a duty to his family that is higher than his duty to his political authority, his king. Political duties cannot be our most important. What he values ​​most in his life is doing the right thing for his brother – he values ​​that more than his life itself. We might ask the question whether an ethical life is more important than life