Bachir Ghandour
Essay
Obedience and disobedience
ENG 204
AUB Spring 2014
Humanity is a list of struggles and revolutions that led to our current evolution. Till now, revolutions are constantly taking place. Revolutions can differ in nature, ranging from intellectual, to technological and even political which we are witnessing currently especially in the Arab world. Yet along with this diversity in nature, we find out that disobedience is driving motor behind them. So it appears that disobedience is a must in order to evolve as a species and that obedience is what’s holding us back from attaining our highest possible level of “intelligence”. Humans are after all social animals and need to be part of a group to survive. However, obedience is also a must for any society to persist and exist in a healthy atmosphere, for without it chaos would appear and thus there would be no chance for innovation and evolution. As we will see being part of a group can be accompanied by what’s known as a group mind, so finding the right combination between being obedient and disobedient is essential to be understood if Humans are to continue in their forward evolution. In fact as writer Fromm states: “If a man can only obey and not disobey, he is a slave; if he can only disobey and not obey, he is a rebel (not a revolutionary)”. From this statement and as it will be later on explained, being Human means having the freedom to both obey and disobey.
Disobedience is often associated with a bad behavior. Children are taught from early age not to disobey their parents at home or any other elderly person whether at school or somewhere else. At the same time, disobedience has resulted in many successful innovations and discoveries that propelle...
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...olutions to convince the others.
In the end we see that evolution is a very delicate process. In order for Humanity to evolve humans must find the perfect balance between obedience of the laws keeping us together away from chaos and disobedience against what’s wrong and malicious. This can explain why revolutions take time to happen, because disobedience is like a row of dominos. People are first under the spell of obeying the group mind, but then if a single courageous person has the guts to stand up and resist then this will encourage others as well and a chain is formed. Yet after this disobedience if no one obeys the general rules agreed upon then there is no room for society to exist. And here is the difference between being human free to obey and disobey and between being either a slave capable of only obeying or a rebel controlled by his passion to disobey.
A Few Good Men, “The Stanford Prison Experiment”, and “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” acknowledge the fact that most individuals will continue to obey orders in the future. “Why Power Corrupts” and “Human Obedience: The Myth of Blind Conformity” express that people become passive, which in turn causes individuals to always obey. People bow down to authority allowing individuals to take advantage of others. This causes humans to forget their morals and only listen to commands given by higher authority. Can people disobey orders they are morally against? Will people continue to allow others to alter their decisions? Authority will continue to be a problem in civilization; how we react and utilize the power is what will change
1. Write a thematic statement for the essay “Self-Reliance”. Explain how Emerson's idea of Self-Reliance is different from and similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don't depend on others outside yourself). Emerson’s idea of self- reliance is different from similar to the common use of the term (take care of your own needs and don’t depend on others outside yourself) Emerson’s idea is similar because the words “self- reliant” is saying take care of your own.
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
The citizens of a society must both develop and obey...
Through my research and findings of obedience to authority this ancient dilemma is somewhat confusing but needs understanding. Problem with obedience to authority has raised a question to why people obey or disobey and if there are any right time to obey or not to obey. Through observation of many standpoints on obedience and disobedience to authority, and determined through detailed examination conducted by Milgram “The Perils Of Obedience,” Doris Lessing “Group Minds” and Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”. We have to examine this information in hopes of understanding or at least be able to draw our own theories that can be supported and proven on this subject.
Fromm, Erich. "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem." Writing and Reading for ACP Composition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Custom, 2009. 258-63. Print.
More specifically, the movie A Few Good Men depicts the results of blindly obeying orders. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, also explores obedience to authority in his essay “ The Perils of Obedience”. On the other hand, Erich Fromm, a psychoanalyst and philosopher, focused on disobedience to authority in his essay “ Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem.” Milgram wrote about how people were shockingly obedient to authority when they thought they were harming someone else while Fromm dissected both: why people are so prone to obey and how disobedience from authoritative figures can bring beneficial changes for society. Obeying commands, even when they go against our morals, is human nature; Disobeying commands, however, is challenging to do no matter what the situation is.
One of the greatest feelings in the world is going against the grain of society and the universal fear to be different than the rest. Whether you are sparked by your own fire, or someone else’s, breaking the status quo to be diverse enhances progress. Oscar Wilde once said, “Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.” This quote sparks interest due to disobedience often containing a negative connotation. However, in this quote disobedience is honorable, and to be called disobedient is a compliment. According to Wilde, disobedience is beneficial and without it, social progress could not be made. Without
Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience reflecting how this can be destructive in experiences of real life. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid hence useless.
These central tenets of Hume’s view of revolution are delineated within this paper. Introductory Remarks In "Of Passive Obedience," Hume chastises those who endorse at length the maxims of resistance. Disloyal acts are considered to be immoral because they strike us as contrary to preserving order in society. The desire to preserve peace and order in society, for self-interest, motivates people to obey authority.
In "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem," Erich Fromm (1963) argues that society will self-destruct without achieving freedom through disobedience. Fromm begins with analogies of Hebrew and Greek mythology showing how disobedience to a god freed humans. Using this correlation, Fromm shows freedom as a condition for disobedience, and vice- versa. Therefore, Fromm proclaims that without disobedience the human race could destroy itself within a generation.
Necessary Rebellion Erich Fromm is a psychoanalyst and sociologist who has written many books and journals over the years. Fromm closely studied other psychologists such as Freud and Marx, and he published analytical works on both many other theories. In his essay, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” Fromm explains that as humans we start out with disobedience, and make it into something horrible—something for which we must repent, feel sorry for, and act as if we won’t do it again (621). Obedience is thought to be a high moral standard which we are to follow. On the other hand, disobedience is considered a moral flaw, a wrongness, or something you just should not do.
So many are seen giving into the group in which they have decided to follow and often find themselves in regret at some point. So many give in to the obedience of a group, conforming to all ideas big and small, just to fit in. That can all be prevented if people decide to become aware and actually use this information, the knowledge of the human race’s mechanisms, to end blind obedience and make independence a truthful claim. But we can’t just plainly state the natural attraction to obedience to our children and peers, no, we have to teach it through example and word (Lessing 613). No one wants their children to grow up thinking only about how they could please others and agreeing with every majority opinion just to prevent isolation. No one ever tells their kids, “You can only be what someone else wants you to be, not whatever you want, but whatever the group wants,” says no parent
Thomas Chandler Haliburton states, “Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience.” There are tons of reason why people go against authority and disobey what is set in forth, one major reason is independence. When someone wants attention they disobey authority so everyone can have their full attention. Also, as humans we try to find a place within a social group and this is natural as we our sociable creatures. However, disobeying authority is sometimes the right thing to do as there is discrimination or the inclination of superiority of one's race. As illustrated in The Crucible and Montgomery Boycott people such as John Proctor, Reverend Hale, and Rosa Park, often rebel for just and appropriate reasons in order to improve society.
In reality, the complete civilization is compelled by some inside dynamism that has no commander. All actions are under full observation, others make all judgements, but no one is in control. In this society, the law entails seamless conformism. Everyone are retold that, “Routine flawless is flawless routine” (Ripp, 2001). The people are programmed with the belief in electrical resistance, and this resistance is a persistent cue that independence is incorrect and all people are made for the multitudes. A society no longer compelled by the aspiration to create happiness for its people, but the want to be