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Civil Disobedience Are We Morally Obliged to Obey Unjust...

Are we morally obliged to obey even unjust laws? This question raises the discussion of what we call civil disobedience. Elliot Zashin, author of Civil Disobedience and Democracy, defines civil disobedience as, â€Å"a knowing violation of public norm (considered binding by local authorities but which may ultimately be invalidated by the courts) as a form of protest: it is non-revolutionary, public, and nonviolent (i.e. there is no use of physical violence except self-defensively when participants are physically attacked, and no resistance to arrest if made properly and without undue force).† (Zashin, 118) One point that Carl Cohen, associate professor of philosophy at University of Michigan, thinks is essential to the definition is that†¦show more content†¦Carl Cohen offers, â€Å"if respect for the law and obedience to it are basic social goods, under what circumstances can deliberate disobedience of that law be a greater good? The search for such circumstance s—whether or not they are actually found—goes straight to the heart of political philosophy: How sacred is the law of the state?† (Cohen, 3) The social contract theory says that laws were created out of necessity to prevent chaos and therefore it is essential for citizens who benefit from the laws of a society to obey all laws. â€Å"†¦Breaking laws is wrong. It isn’t merely culpable in some technical or legal sense, [though] it is that too; more deeply it is wrong because (excluding for the present the possibility of a cruel and tyrannical government) every citizen has more than a legal obligation to obey the laws. His obligation is a general and moral duty arising out of his role as citizen. And that duty is specially compelling in a democracy, where citizens participate, or have a right to participate, in making the laws of their community. †¦ Every citizen of a lawful government, then, has a most important duty to obey its laws. That i s true whatever the form of government, providing the authorities have been duly constituted and their laws and administration of them are reasonably just. Where each citizen has a proportionate voice in the making and the framing of laws (either directly or through representatives), his acceptance of this role as partialShow MoreRelated Civil Disobedience: Are We Morally Obliged to Obey Unjust Laws? 1913 Words   |  8 PagesAre we morally obliged to obey even unjust laws? This moral question addresses what we commonly know as civil disobedience. In order to properly discuss civil disobedience and whether or not it is moral to disobey laws, we must first characterize civil disobedience. In Peter Singers book, Practical Ethics he begins to characterize civil disobedience as arising from ethical disagreement and raising the question of whether to uphold the law, even if the law protects and sanctions things we holdRead MoreUnjust Laws1747 Words   |  7 PagesAre we morally obl iged to obey even unjust laws? Think about what this means. This means that laws, regardless of how unfair, unjust, or immoral they may be, must be followed with no better reason that they are the law. To the thesis that we are obliged to obey even unjust laws, I will argue that the standard objections to Civil Disobedience, given by Singer, are incorrect To begin, however, I believe it is necessary to define an unjust law. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, Any law that upliftsRead MoreBeing Morally Justified in Disobeying Laws We Consider to be Immoral644 Words   |  3 PagesBeing 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. People falling into the first of these categories would be those who consider that through social contract we are obliged to obey the law, whatever the law states and regardless of our opinion on the moral status of that law and that we are morallyRead MoreEssay about A Free Society Must Expect Civil Disobedience1758 Words   |  8 PagesA Free Society Must Expect Civil Disobedience   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Are we morally obliged to obey even unjust laws? Think about what this means. This means that laws, regardless of how unfair, unjust, or immoral they may be, must be followed with no better reason that they are the law. To the thesis that we are obliged to obey even unjust laws, I will argue that the standard objections to Civil Disobedience, given by Singer, are incorrect      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To begin, however, I believe it is necessaryRead MoreParameters for Civil Disobedience Essays804 Words   |  4 Pagesthe majority of the laws that we live by today whether they agree with them or if they dont. Im not saying it wrong to agree with the laws that are set out for us by the majority of the population, but I also don’t disagree with disobeying the laws if they go against your moral standards. Every individual has a choice either agree with the laws that the majority of the population has established or think for yourself, will you be the minority and choose to disobey the unjust laws and do what you thinkRead MoreMoral Responsibility1256 Words   |  6 Pagesbe where it is without the laws that have been placed and the citizens who follow the laws. In order for this to happen the knowledge and acceptance of the laws are needed to establish order. African Americans had been secluded in the past through harsh laws of se gregation. Although many believe disobeying the law is morally wrong and if disobeyed a punishment should follow, Martin Luther King’s profound statement, â€Å"One has the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws† (King 420) leads to greaterRead MoreThe Necessary Qualities Of A Good Democratic Citizen Essay2147 Words   |  9 Pages The necessary qualities of a good democratic citizen require an individual to recognize an injustice within the law, actively oppose that law, and to do so regardless if that unjust law affects the citizen personally. Rousseau, Emerson, and Douglass all agree that freedom and equality are natural rights endowed to all humans. However the three authors diverge in consensus when envisioning the necessary qualities of a good democratic citizen, such as the position from which each author is theorizingRead MoreDeveloping Management Skills404131 Words   |  1617 PagesWorksheet 661 APPENDIX I GLOSSARY 673 683 APPENDIX II REFERENCES NAME INDEX 705 709 713 SUBJECT INDEX COMBINED INDEX xvi CONTENTS P R E FA C E What’s New in This Edition? Based on suggestions from reviewers, instructors, and students we have made a number of changes in the eighth edition of Developing Management Skills. †¢ Added new skill assessments in Chapter 1 and a new case in Chapter 3. †¢ Revised parts of the book to reflect suggestions and feedback from instructors and students

The Abolition of Slavery free essay sample

The Slave Trade in America was huge part of the economic relations with Britain known as the Triangular Trade. The British ships sailed south towards Africa where they traded African men, woman, and children in exchange for various items like liquor and cotton cloths. Then, the Africans were shipped west in large slave ships, which is known as the Middle Passage.Robert Walsh, a British abolitionist, described the conditions of the slave ships the slaves were enclosed in hatch ways where the space was so low that they were packed between each others legs and there was no possibility of lying own or at all changing their position. When they reached America the African men, woman, and children were sold at southern ports. There was not a single black American that came to America outside the slave trade. In the American plantations there were up to a million African slaves working in America. We will write a custom essay sample on The Abolition of Slavery or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thus slavery becomes a large part of the agricultural unit with hundreds of slaves tending to the cotton fields. The conditions on the southern plantations for slaves were horrible because the African men, woman, and children were suffocated into one grass hut with no bedsteads r furniture of any kind. The slave owners rather than giving enough food, clothing, and shelter treated the Africans as animals.This resulted in revolts across the country because of the harsh treatment of the slaves by the slave owners in the plantations. In the late 1 asss, there were about two thousand groups and activists who were speaking out against slavery. They wanted immediate emancipation from slavery because they wanted Africans to be recognized as part of the American society. In the sasss many slaves were escaping from their slave owners and seeking freedom in the north. A purport system was built for them to escape to Canada this was known as the underground Railroad.Although, Britain helped the American to bring slaves to America by using their ships to exchange items for African slaves they took the first initiative in trying to abolish slavery completely from Britain and also America. Thus, the British ceased involvement first through the Slave trade act, which made involvement in the trade illegal, but not the owning of slaves, which was dealt with the Slavery Abolition Act. William Willpower, a Christian abolitionist, did a lot of campaigning by writing letters and holding abolitionist meetings in order to abolish slavery because he believed the treatment and equality of the slaves.The British used their Navy in order to monitor the routes of slave trading by preventing the spreading of slaves to other countries. During this period of time, the gov ernment of America and its citizens should be active in taking the initiative to abolish slavery in America and throughout the world. One way this can be done is through public attention of the issue of slavery and that through speaking about it in schools, churches, and communities we can inform people about the inequality and treatment of slaves.Even though abolishing slavery require a large amount of money and resources it can be done through creating more abolitionist groups, which strive to help people escape from slavery and create a new life in equality and freedom. Another way this can be done is through citizens volunteering their time and money to helping the slaves receive the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, and shelter. Lastly, we as citizens must be willing to take the time to educate and men, woman, and children about slavery in order to prevent spreading of slaves.

The Right To Die Essay Thesis Example For Students

The Right To Die Essay Thesis By: Bobby E-mail: emailprotected The subject of Euthanasia is a heated battle, in which lines have been drawn between warring social, religious and political groups. Many people want this controversial institution erased from the volumes of lawful medicine, but others say that we should be able to choose our fates in extreme cases. Neither the lawmakers of the country nor the people have been able to find a solution to this debate without causing an intense opposition, and the possibility for an end to this war of ethics seems very far in the distance. A definition of euthanasia is, a painless killing, especially to end a painful and incurable disease; mercy killing. (World Book, p. 733). This intentional termination of life by another is at the request of the person who dies, but like so many other religious, social and political terms, euthanasia has many meanings. Passive euthanasia is defined as, the hastening of death of a person by withdrawing some type of support and letting n ature take its course, examples of this are, removing life support systems, stopping medical procedures, stopping food and water, not delivering CPR and letting the patients heart stop. The most common form of passive euthanasia is to give a person large doses of morphine to control pain, despite the likely hood that the pain killer would suppress respiration, thus causing death earlier than normal, passive euthanasia is usually used on patients who are terminally ill, suffering greatly, or in a persistent vegetative state (Robinson, p. 1). There are three types of euthanasia that are illegal or very close to illegal even in places where euthanasia is permitted. The first is Physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor supplies information and/or means of committing suicide to a person, so that they can terminate their life easily. This type of assistance has come to the publics eye as the media has covered the actions of Dr. Jack Kavorkian. Dr. Kavorkian has assisted in the deaths of hundreds of patients. 2 Another form of euthanasia used by Kavorkian is active euthanasia, this involves causing death through direct action, in response to a patients request; basically a mercy killing. A well documented case of this is the death of a patient with Lou Gherigs disease by Dr. Kavorkian. Kavorkian injected the patient with controlled substances that resulted in his death, Kavorkian was found guilty of 2nd degree murder in March of 1999. The last form of euthanasia is involuntary euthanasia, nothing but a euphemism for murder (Robinson, p.2). There are two major beliefs concerning euthanasia, the traditional religious and social beliefs, and the more liberal. Traditional religion condemns all suicide, assisted or not, because it violates the natural desire to live, it harms other people, and life is the gift of God and thus can only be taken by God. The other major viewpoint argues that suicide is a matter of personal choice and that it is rational under some circumstances. These two positions remain virtually the same today. Euthanasia is only one of the many hotly debated topics of our time which revolve around personal choice. The other two prominent topics are whether gays and lesbians should be given a choice of whether to marry and should women be allowed a choice to abort their unborn children. All three of these questions are emotional laden and have entered the political and judicial systems. The issues become muddied when they are no longer the individuals and become societys decision. Many believe that euthanasia targets the most vulnerable of human beings when they are no longer in a position of making proper decisions. Ultimately, I believe, that euthanasia is a question of choice. Each of us should be empowered to have choice over our own bodies and that choice includes the right to not live if life is not going to maintain the dignity that we feel is necessary for life. Due to legislation, you do not h ave a right to choose unless you live in Columbia, 3 Japan, the Netherlands, or the state of Oregon (Robinson, p.2).. It does not matter what your life is like or how much pain you may be in. The opposition to euthanasia comes from many places: conserve religious groups, often the same who oppose access to abortion; medical organizations whose members are dedicated to saving and extending life; and groups concerned with disabilities who fear that euthanasia is the first step towards a society that will kill disabled people against their will. Groups that promote access to assisted suicide seem to publicize cases where people have terminal illness or are in intractable pain, and want to end their life. Although such cases do exist, they are in a small minority. The majority of persons that are dying are probably individuals whose quality of life has shrunk to zero or those who find the indignities of being cared for difficult to bear. They would like to choose to die with dignity bef ore they become sicker and become a greater burden on their loved ones. Unfortunately. groups on all sides have scare tactics. They do not attack the issues directly, but feed the media to alarm the public. These methods may work on the short term to bring the issue to the forefront but I do not believe the will work in the long run. Eventually, each person will need to decide on their own and disregard the media hype. Some groups in the pro-choice faction have described horrendous cases of terminally ill individuals, suffering terribly in intractable pain, even though such cases are not the norm. Some of the pro life groups have been implying that physicians have become murderers. That doctors will get out of hand and begin to exterminate those that they believe are not worthy of life. There are many issues concerning euthanasia. One of the most prevalent arguments is whether the state has the right to deny a person the right to take their own life. Another argument is whether the sick have as much right to choose as the 4 healthy. The most prevalent argument is centered around religion. Many people feel that it is against their religious beliefs for a person to take their own lives, but should they be allowed to impose that belief on someone who does not feel this way? I do not believe that it is fair for decisions to be made about their life based on beliefs that they do not hold. Religion is one of the most prevalent factors in the debate of euthanasia. On the anti-euthanasia side of the battle is the more conservative religious groups including; The Christian reformed church, Islam, the Lutheran church, the Mennonites, Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Judaism and The Roman Catholic church. These groups and many others have two main statements concerning euthanasia; the first is, that life is a gift from God, and that each individual is its steward, thus, only God can start a life, and only God can end one; An individual who commits suicide is therefore com mitting a sin. The second statement is that God does not send us any experience that we cannot handle; God supports people in suffering; to actively seek an end to ones life would be a lack of trust in Gods promise (Euthanasia, p.2). The opposition to this side comes from groups including liberal Christians, humanists, secularists, agnostics, atheists, non-christians, and others who do not accept the theologically based arguments. Their arguments can be summed up in two statements; The first is that each person has autonomy over their own life, persons whose quality of life is nonexistent should have the right to decide to commit suicide, and to seek assistance if necessary. The second statement is sometimes terminal illness causes life to be an unbearable burden; death can represent a relief of intolerable pain. The main political question is whether individuals should be allowed to choose suicide, or whether they should be forced to follow the theological beliefs of the dominant r eligion. This point is similar to that raised in discussions on 5 choice in abortion and prayer in public schools. At what point does the church and state overlap? Many polls have been taken to research the public opinion on euthanasia. However, the the results vary according to the precise question asked. A poll taken by CNN/USA Today in 1997 shows that the support of euthanasia choice is, 57% in favor, and 35% opposed. Given this statistic, one would assume euthanasia to be a legal choice, but still it is legal only in the state of Oregon. Only time will tell whether euthanasia will become a legal choice nationally, but for now, the battle still rages on. Bibliography Works Sited Egan, Timothy. Oregons Assisted-Suicide Law Threatened by a Technicality. The New York Times . USA: November 19, 1997. Euthanasia, Synod of the Great Lakes, Reformed Church in America at: http://www.euthanasia.com/lakes.html Horgan, John. The Right to Die. Scientific American. USA : 1996. Mullens, Anne. T imely Death. USA: Knopf, 1996. Reed, Christopher. Oregon Tackles Mercy Killing. Globe and Mail Newspaper. Toronto: November 6, 1997. Religion and The Right to Die. at: http://euthanasia.org/religion.html Robinson, Bruce. Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide. All Sides of the Issues. at http.//religioustolerance.org World Book Dictionary. Chicago: Childcraft International, 1982. 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