Socrates_Fate. Socrates offers . three arguments. for why he should accept his fate (drinking the poisonous hemlock). 1.. Destroying the State. 2.. Analogy b/n the State and One. '. s Parents. 3.. Social Contract. Socrates believes that people should always obey the law.. Why? . Because if people don. '. t obey a state. '. s laws, the state cannot exist. . Plus. , it. '. s ungrateful for someone to benefit from something, then injure it in return.. Socrates. '. Method of Philosophy. ". [Socrates. ]. relied on . argument. , insisting that . truth. is discovered only through the use of . reason. .... ". ". His legacy is, more than anything else, his unwavering conviction that . even the most abstract questions. are amenable to . rational analysis. .... ". . ". He believed that such [philosophical. ]. questions are . not merely matters of opinion. . They have real answers that we can discover if we . think. hard enough.... ". (p. 4, . ". Problems From Philosophy, by James Rachels). Socrates believes we. '. re obligated to respect and obey the . state. , just like we. '. re obligated to respect and obey our . parents. .. Why? . Because the state makes our lives possib. le, just like our parents made our lives possible.. Why? . Because the benefits of social living can. '. t exist if people don. '. t cooperate to maintain the system that produced them.. Socrates believes we must support the institutions and practices that make society possible.. Created by Karla Pierce (2008) www.Purplebike.com.