Civil Disobedience In James Rachels The Elements Of Moral Philosophy

Assignment #8

Civil disobedience is a main focus of discussion in chapter six of James Rachels’ The Elements of Moral Philosophy; this can be defined as a usually peaceful, but powerful act of protest against a law or demand from the government. Normally when one would non-violently refuse to obey a certain law, they would see that the law was unjust to them.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a prime example of this act of disobedience, and said, “The end justifies the means, even though the means are regrettable.” He however did not question the legitimacy of the American government but rather the particular laws that he and others felt were unjust. The civil rights movement was started by Dr. King, in which he found that it would be against

his morals to not stand up for himself and other people of color. If one man found a law immoral, like the fact that black citizens were denied basic human rights, and he was able to gather many followers who shared the same beliefs, then it coincides with the social contract theory’s definition of morality. Rachels explains that for the social contract theory, “Morality consists in the set of rules, governing behavior, that rational people accept, on the condition that others accept them as well.” This definition corresponds to Dr. King and his views of morality and human rights.