To obey or DisobeyFor centuries many philosophers have asked themselves, “What is the right thing to do?”. They do have some guidance but cannot totally rely on most of these references. One of these references is the system of laws that the government has imposed onto the population that lives inside their boundaries. Can this system of laws really be just? Can we base our judgement on what is right and what is wrong according to these set of rules? In the following pages, I will explain whether it is all right to disobey or to obey the government. In Plato: The Trial and Death of Socrates, Socrates discussed with Crito his argument on the topic of “Persuade or Obey.” Socrates states that you must persuade the government that your actions were just or one must obey its laws. Whether it “requires you to fight in a war and die for your die for your country or be wounded, you must still obey (p51b3).” He goes on to say that to obey is “right, and one must not give way or retreat or leave one’s post, but in courts or war, one must obey the commands of one’s city and country (p51b6-b8).” The next part of his argument states that one that disobeys does wrong in three ways, by disobeying his parents and those who brought him up, and by disobeying, he neither obeys us nor he tries to persuade us to do better. Socrates’ point is that we must obey the laws of the city or country where you reside in because you chose to stay and use the resources offered to you. Choosing to stay also tell us that you are satisfied to live there. Therefore, you exclusively choose the government and agree to be one of their citizens. Then Socrates goes on to say that we are permitted to disobey only if you can explain your actions. You must justify your actions or face the consequences. In order to explain your reasons, you simultaneously try to point out the flaw in their laws. By permitting other citizens to disobey, would make it an “oxymoron.” Disobedience alone is breaking the law. Allowing disobedience is like having no law. I agree with Socrates, to an extent, that obeying the laws of the state or country should be followed and must be obeyed by the citizen. I also believe that disobedience should be exercised only when there is danger to you or a close one. I believe that Socrates’ decision on staying in the prison was a costly mistake for him and could have been avoided via Crito. There could be other critics that may argue that Socrates was correct in deciding to stay in prison. They also can say that Socrates is being an ideal citizen and that his reason for staying there is because of his earlier decision not to go into exile. The reason for that is that he saw himself being viewed as an enemy of the other states. Whether he left or not he would still have been thought of a corruptor of the youth. Another point that the critics would welcome is that he is honoring his father and mother and trying not to be a persuader of bad ideals. Does it matter that the state has equal seniority with the parents? I believe that the state should be placed way after the parents in this hierarchy that Socrates has used. Socrates should have left the prison while he had the chance. He should have tried to preserve his life and keep preaching his philosophy. In order to understand my point of view better, imagine that someone is trying to attack you with a very sharp knife and you and your son is dodging the knife at any cost to preserve your lives. What if the only option you have is you and your son is going to get killed on the spot or would it be your attacker. Of course you are going to try to kill the offender and save your own life.
That certainly breaks at least two laws. You were being attacked and your life is being threatened. To recap, a law was broken in order to try to murder two innocent citizens, you and your son, and in order to preserve your lives you seriously hurt and kill the attacker. Another law was broken on your part. In other words, it is all right to disobey the system of laws if your life or anybody else’s life that means a lot to you is in danger. Socrates has had some rough times and some bad times too. In this case his thinking was not that thorough. Socrates should have considered of escaping out of prison and can prove his innocence outside. He could have conversed a lot longer with the people of Ancient Greece and could have done lots of marvelous things. We could have read more of his philosophy and enjoyed dissecting his mind by analyzing line by line from his works. Nevertheless, poor old Socrates’ loyalty to the state had killed him.
Другие работы по теме:
Drugs Essay Research Paper DrugsDrugs What do
Drugs Essay, Research Paper Drugs Drugs. What do we know about drugs? What do we imagine when we say this word? White powder or a young person, wiping out any possibility for his future to grow, killing him slowly. Drugs came in our life and destroyed any relations between parents and children. I say “any” because this is the word, defining exactly what happens when a child starts taking drugs.
Koran Essay Research Paper The Koran or
Koran Essay, Research Paper The Koran or Qur’an is the sacred scripture of Islam. A scripture so sacred it urges a total commitment to him alone who is god. (Grolier Interactive 98). I found that
Tolernce Essay Research Paper Tolrance is the
Tolernce Essay, Research Paper Tolrance is the symapthy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with ones oown beliefs. Intolerance has been going on, all throughout time. Beliefs, religions, races, and even physical appearance all have intolerance twards them.
God Suffering Essay Research Paper The MidWives
God Suffering Essay, Research Paper The Mid-Wives “feared God” and so the saved the baby boys. The story shows that if we voice our concerns and obey God then all of our hopelessness and anger will in time be relieved. As we discussed in class, they used civil disobedience. They resisted actively but not violently.
Roald Dahl Essay Research Paper Everything in
Roald Dahl Essay, Research Paper Everything in Dahl’s books includes either scary fiction or adventure. In 1973 Dahl was awarded for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The book in its time was
Antigone Essay Research Paper Often in plays
Antigone Essay, Research Paper Often in plays, there are conflicting issues. This is what creates the storyline, or plot. Usually, each play has an antagonist and a protagonist. A protagonist is the main driving force in the play, whereas the antagonist the force that goes against the protagonist. Deciding who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist are really matters of opinion.
Socrates And Thoreau Essay Research Paper The
Socrates And Thoreau Essay, Research Paper The main difference between Socrates and Thoreau was the their views on the relationship between people and government. Socrates believed that the people are work for the government. They are supposed to obey the orders of the government and serve the government to the best of their abilities.
Agreeing To Disobey Essay Research Paper Blindly
Agreeing To Disobey Essay, Research Paper Blindly obeying authority often results in disobedience to one’s personal morality. Since rules were established and exist for the common interests of the general population, some would say adhering to the rules is obedient. However, when rules conflict with people’s morals, one has the right, and furthermore the responsibility to disobey.
Obedience Essay Research Paper Comparison Contrast EssayIn
Obedience Essay, Research Paper Comparison/ Contrast Essay In “The Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram, Milgram explains that obedience is a natural occurring behavior, which acts on instinct ignoring a persons ethics, sympathy, and moral conduct (Milgram 343). In this experiment two people come into the laboratory where they are told they will be taking part in a study of memory and learning.
Caesar 4 Essay Research Paper English10B6299
Caesar 4 Essay, Research Paper English10B 6-2-99 2* Who is Brutus? In Shakespeare s play of “Julius Caesar” Brutus was a conspirator that favors Rome and it s high status. He is a very honorable man. Brutus is a character that has a lot of pride for Rome and would not let anyone change the way everyone looks at it s royalty.
Qualities OfGandhi Essay Research Paper What Qualities
Qualities OfGandhi Essay, Research Paper What Qualities of Gandhi make him a hero of faith? Ganghi was a great man, the quintessance of a hero of faith. In all religions nowadays Gandhi has attained an almost mythical status for being one of the most loving and good man that most can remember, but there are three certain qualities which allow him to be presented with this mythical “hero of faith” stature, these qualities of Gandhi, which make him a hero of faith are, his courage because he was willing to die in order to bring his country together.
Ella Enchanted Essay Research Paper A young
Ella Enchanted Essay, Research Paper A young girl named Ella received a spell at birth from the fairy Lucinda. Lucinda gives the gift of always being obedient. The spell causes Ella to obey commands of others. Ella was happy with her life otherwise. Ella and her mother would do everything together, until her mother became sick and died.
Prison Overpopulation Essay Research Paper The rising
Prison Overpopulation Essay, Research Paper The rising prison population in America is becoming a very serious problem. Too many American citizens are being locked up for crimes that just should not be against the law. The majority of people being convicted and sent to prison is due to the excessively strict drug laws, or the so-called, War on Drugs .
Are We Ever Morally Justified In Disobeying
Laws We Consider To Be Immoral? Essay, Research Paper Are we ever morally justified in disobeying laws we consider to be immoral? The answer to this question depends very much on our understanding and opinion on the status of the law. On this issue it is likely that everyone falls into one of two broad categories.
Dangers Of Obedience Essay Research Paper Most
Dangers Of Obedience Essay, Research Paper Most of us obey every day without a thought. In fact, since we live in a democratic society, we mechanically obey to the social norms that cause us to feel, think, and act in ways that are consistent with our group’s social standards, which describe what behaviors should and should not be performed in any social setting.
Socrates
’S Argument With Crito Essay, Research Paper Socrates has presented a period of questions and answers through dialogue with Crito to examine if he going into exile will damage his reputation. Socrates questions and answers with Crito establishes that a person must decide whether the society he or she lives has a just reasoning behind it’s own standards of right and wrong and that a person must have pride in the life that he or she leads.
Crito 2 Essay Research Paper Socrates has
Crito 2 Essay, Research Paper Socrates has been accused of corrupting the youth by Meletus and has been sentenced to death. He has thoroughly justified his own decision to obey the opinions of the majority and serve out the sentence that his own city has deemed appropriate for his crimes. At the beginning of this piece, Socrates has presented a period of questions and answers through dialogue with Crito.
Perils Of Obedience Essay Research Paper The
Perils Of Obedience Essay, Research Paper The Perils of Obedience This experiment is a test to see if people are naturally aggressive. Milgram does not believe that people are naturally aggressive. Although some people think people are naturally aggressive. Ordinary people can be part of a bad course of actions without having any anger toward then victim.
Moral Or Immoral Essay Research Paper In
Moral Or Immoral Essay, Research Paper In Martin Luther King Jr.’s essay, A Letter from Birmingham Jail he compares the issues of Moral acts verses Immoral acts. This essay was written in response to a letter some clergymen had written after a direct action march Dr. King had participated in. In their letter the clergymen had praised the local police officers and media for the nonviolent and calm manner in which the situation was handled.
God 2
God – My Beliefs Essay, Research Paper I believe that I am agnostic because I don?t know what to think about religion. When it comes to saying whether I believe in God or not, I feel that I have not yet come to a complete
The Milgram Experiment Essay Research Paper The
The Milgram Experiment Essay, Research Paper The Milgram Experiment The Milgram experiment is one of Psychology?s most controversial experiments. The study examines to what extend individuals obey an authority figure, and how far they will go, even if they believe their actions are harming another individual.
Ignorance Essay Research Paper IgnoranceIn Sophocle
Ignorance Essay, Research Paper Ignorance In Sophocle’s ancient Greek tragedy, Antigone, there is a woman who chooses to go with the feeling inside her heart and obey law of the Gods, rather than to obey civil law. Antigone’s bother Eteoles was given a proper burial after a war in their homeland of Thebes. She wants her brother, Polyneices, who was the enemy, also to be given a proper burial, but the king prohibits the burial.
Civil Disobeiance Essay Research Paper Civil
Civil Disobeiance Essay, Research Paper Civil Disobedience Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey civil laws. This refusal is in the form of nonviolence. People who use civil disobedience are usually protesting a
And They Obey Essay Research Paper I
And They Obey Essay, Research Paper I chose the poem “And They Obey” by Carl Sandburg. The poem is addressing the human dualities that we have. Since thousands of years ago
Thoreau Essay From Walden Pond Essay Research
Paper Answer Thoreau’s question: “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?” Thoreau reminds us that the law has been created by the majority and to disobey would put him in the minority-a “wise minority.” Why should the wise minority have the right to disobey laws created by the majority? As we approach the end of the millennium, we must all ask ourselves, what lies in the future? Some people believe that the year 2000 will mark the beginning of world chaos.
Antigone Essay Research Paper Analysis on the
Antigone Essay, Research Paper Analysis on the conflict men v. women found in Antigone Many conflicts can be found within various plays. In Sophocles’ Antigone one of the many conflicts found is men versus women. The king of Thebes, Creon, has a problem with women. But not only the king, Ismene, Antigone’s sister as well refers to herself and her sister as being inferior to men.
Analysis On Antigone Essay Research Paper In
Analysis On Antigone Essay, Research Paper In the play “Antigone” by Sophocles, Creon and Antigone have distinct conflicting values. Creon’s regard for the laws of the city causes him to abandon all other beliefs. He feels that all should obey the laws set forth by him, even if other beliefs, moral or religious, state otherwise.
Respect Essay Research Paper We have always
Respect Essay, Research Paper We have always been told that we need to act correctly in class and in whatever we do, but as humans we like to communicate and impress others with our wit or lack
Should You Obey An Unjust Law Essay
, Research Paper Should you obey an unjust law? According to the theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 18th century French political philosopher, ?in a democratic society the state represents the general will of the citizens, and that in obeying its laws each citizen is pursuing his own real interests.? Thus, in an ideal state, laws express the general will.
Women Pioneers Essay Research Paper A Journey
Women Pioneers Essay, Research Paper A Journey Through Hardship The pioneer women didn?t have many rights at all. They were pretty much always controlled by the men, and weren?t ?allowed? to do anything on their own. They had to obey all men and if they were married, that made it even harder for them. The women were mainly responsible for caring for the kids, taking care of the crops and keeping the house neat; health, food, and family.