Ethical relativism is antithetical to the concept of a universal moral law that provides a secure foundation for ethics in a democracy. The idea of a social contract as the basis of republics favors relativism, because the members of any society constantly change; today’s contract may or may not be honored tomorrow. Plato wrestled with this issue in The Republic, presenting the idea of a social contract in Book 2 through his character Glaucon. In the Crito, the laws and constitution of Athens emerge as a character that espouses a conservative view of law based on the authority of the republic. In this podcast, that position is examined and found to be inconsistent with ideas that were presented in the Apology. Law, as it emerges from that exchange, turns out to be neither absolute nor relative.