Intro to Ethics | |
|social contract Theory |
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Social contract argues that we need institutions in place in order to check each other because we are all inherently selfish. Thomas Hobbes who was the author of social contract believed that people will often times pursue their own self interest and will not care how their actions affect others in state of nature. If not these laws Hobbes thought “the state of nature” would be dreadful. Hobbes reason for thinking “the state of nature would be dreadful was because of the four basic facts about human life: equality of need, scarcity, the essential equality of human power, and limited altruism. These are basic needs we all require, and there aren’t enough of them to go around. . Hobbes also believed if left unchecked, human beings would act on these impulses and live violent, brutish, inhumane, and solitary lives. As for Hobbes he believed a single ruler would control the violent and selfish impulses of individual members in a society through brute force; individuals would lose their liberty, but they would gain security and community. Social contract is a great idea, away from anarchy but again if everyone’s voice isn’t included it will fail. This is where civil disobedience plays a role. Civil disobedience is sometimes necessary in order for one’s humanity to be acknowledged. Activists like Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Henry David Thoreau performed civil disobedience were carefully non-violent, and were willingly to accept legal penalties. In this paper, I am going to argue that Civil Disobedience is morally justified. Social contract although it has good intentions it can never truly be accomplished until everyone has a say so in that contract.
The Essay on Civil disobedience 3
Civil Disobedience: An Essay Civil disobedience helps democracy because it provides a means to insure that which is just and that which is right will prevail. Democracy, founded on the principle of rule of the majority, cannot always insure that justice and rightness are maintained in the laws which guide it. As Thoreau (1849) assessed law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of the ...
Henry David Thoreau, a norm guy who was against war and slavery. Thoreau was sent to jail for refusing to pay his taxes in protest against the Mexican War and the extension of slavery. Thoreau said “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The quiet desperation is the regret that most people feel after they have “sold out” and sacrificed their dreams in order to be what society calls successful. Thoreau felt that individual rights must sometimes take precedence over state authority. In his essay Civil Disobedience, Thoreau evaluates the federal government vitally, contending that it is a non-natural institution created by the powerful while acknowledging that is believed to serve a purpose and is likely to remain a feature of American life. When the government supports unjust or immoral laws, Thoreau’s notion was to resistant against it. Resistance is the highest form of patriotism because it demonstrates a desire not to threaten government but to build an improved one in the long term. “If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.” (On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, 1849).
The Essay on Henry David Thoreau and Resistance to Civil Government
Henry David Thoreau was the most active participant in the Transcendentalist movement. He was a student and mentee of Ralph Waldo Emerson. While Emerson had transcendental ideas, Thoreau would act on them and fully practice them. Hence, he felt that he and others should resist America’s Civil Government. I heartily accept the motto, “That government is best which governs least”; and I ...
Thoreau’s point was not to reject government, but to resistance to those particular features deemed to be unjust or immoral. To sum up Thoreau’s point, if we are not able to tell the different between right and wrong, we will become morally numb. Civil Disobedience paved the way for other activists, as a justifiable response to unfair government policies.
Gandhi, (Mohandas Karamchand) a lawyer, whom attempted to claim his rights as a British subject, but was abused, and discovered as an Indian man, he had no rights. He concluded his true passion, moral reformer and spiritual leader which at the end lead to Indian independence. He protested that government’s treatment of immigrant workers from India. Gandhi joined the Indian National Congress, which is India’s largest political party and embraced David Thoreau’s techniques for Indian independence. He persuaded the Congress to adopt his plan of non-cooperation, a total boycott of all things British. He was arrested numerous times by the British for his activities, but he felt to was honorable to go to jail for a just cause. Gandhi developed Satyagraha which was the force contained in truth and love, or nonviolent resistance. Satyagraha promoted civil disobedience and nonviolence as the most appropriate methods for obtaining social goals. Gandhi knew if he and his followers were going to break a law that is considered unjust they must accept the consequences. “Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.” (Gandhi) He figured the only way to get the British to forsaken their evil ways was to actively resist their rules through civil disobedience. Gandhi felt British had no right to govern India; so they sought out for their independence. Gandhi long struggle and act of non violent protests eventually gave India their independence. He was honored by his people as the father of the Indian Nation. The Indian people called Gandhi Mahatma, meaning Great Soul. Mohandas K. Gandhi, was assassinated, but will forever be known as one of the greatest proponents of nonviolence and an influence on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an American civil rights leader. King promoted non-violent means to achieve civil-rights reform and was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. He was influenced by Mohandas K. Gandhi. King, and adopted Gandhi theory on how to utilize nonviolent resistance to accomplish social change. King realized nonviolent resistance was the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle to for freedom. In Alabama, King led a Black bus boycott. He and others were jailed for conspiring to obstruct the operation of a business. King’s protest was to unfold the existence of social injustice. He argues in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail that civil disobedience is necessary not only to deal with an unjust law, but that human rights must take precedence over unjust laws. King said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Justice must be fair and unprejudiced. Anytime an injustice occurs, it violates one or both of these principles. If we permit this injustice, we are not adhering to the principles, and the integrity of the justice system is compromised. King’s cycle to justice was basically to disobey unjust laws, go to jail because he broke the law, prick our consciences, propose a correction on legislative, get the laws change, and at last the transformation of society. As a great moral leader, King believed that blacks had no choice but to defy the unjust laws and to accept the consequences by going to jail. After being imprisoned for the Montgomery bus boycott, King said upon his release from jail, “I was proud of my crime. It was the crime of joining my people in a nonviolent protest against injustice. “Although King was charged for the protest, the boycott came out a winner. The boycott resulted in the U.S. civil right movement, which gave King, the national attention that made him of the prime leaders of the cause.
The Essay on Socrates And Martin Luther King: Civil Disobedience
Joan Sheier Essay # 4 Both Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. do believe in civil disobedience. They do not, however, have the exact same view on it. Socrates only believes in civil disobedience if you are given no other option. He believes if you live in a government where you are given a forum to argue your case, one should not practice civil disobedience. Socrates believes that if you are ...
In conclusion, if someone fires a conventional weapon, such as a gun, they can be imprisoned. But if hundreds of thousands of people involve themselves in peaceful civil disobedience, they can’t all be put in prison- and the sheer mass of numbers means those in positions of authority have to pay attention. As for Gandhi and King they were both believers in Civil Disobedience. They led peaceful protests. Each leader saw a justified cause for rebellion, based on their morals and beliefs. Each fought for justice among their people. Each wanted to stop the prejudices and the unfair treatment of government. When the social contract does not work for all then people feel as though their liberty has been threatened, and therefore they act out in civil disobedience. In notion, civil disobedience can at times be a necessary outbreak if it means standing up for one’s liberty. “But government in which the majority rules in all cases can not be based on justice, even as far as men understand it.” (Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau) Civil disobedience is absolutely necessary to maintain a public voice against the corruption of power. Democracy equals majority rules. If the majority that rule is a racist and unjustified group of people, then the social contract will fail for those who are in the minority.
The Essay on Civil Disobedience Gandhi People King
... law is just for all people but only make it just for the majority. King view on civil disobedience is more suitable for this ... to over rule the laws that Great Britain passed. Gandhi also said that Satyagrahis was a peaceful form of civil disobedience and violence ... that under Satyagrahis believes all of them should obey the rules that where set by the jail as long as they ...
CITINGS
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy PLATO.STANFORD.EDU
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy WWW.IEP.UTM.EDU
American Transcendentalism Web WWW.VCU.EDU/ENGWEB/TRANSCENDENTALISM/AUTHORS/THOREAU
Transcendentalists WWW.TRANSCENDENTALISTS.COM/1THOREA.HTML
Kamat’s Potpourri www.kmat.com/mmgandhi/gandhi.htm
www.wfu.edu/~matthetl/perspectives/twentysix.html
www.earlham.edu/~peters/writing/ci-dis.htm
