The main character of Plato's Crito, Socrates, attempts to identify obligations a citizen has before the state in which he lives. Socrates clearly states that one cannot break a law because it will hurt the state. It will show that the law is weak and that the government has no real power behind it. Socrates gives two separate arguments of why violating the law destroys the state and its citizens. One of the arguments is a moral obligation while the other one can be described as a contract between the citizen and the state. Socrates' first reason states that a citizen has no other duties except obeying the laws; whereas his second explanation references a parent-child relationship, and suggests that one must no only obey the laws, but also care for the state.

Socrates believes that without a state, a citizen has no social status. Being born into...