Disobedience In Erich Fromm's Just Do What The Pilot Tells You

Though quite often unspoken and unknown, the authority given to those such as an airline pilot to fly a plane, or captain while on a boat, is that of the utmost respect and trust. In Theodore Dalrymple, a British physician’s, article “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You”, he discusses the fear of obedience and the constant struggle between the nature of the orders given and the behavior that is demanded by them. Contrarily, in the psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm article, “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem”, he ties in the ancient history of the Greeks and Hebrews in order to demonstrate the evolution of mankind through disobedience. Fromm argues that disobedience has led to the progression of modern reality, while

The woman proceeds to state that she “is against all authority”, to which Dalrymple responds with an almost sarcastic response (120 Dalrymple). He is well aware she does not truly feel this way, but rather has had an experience or encounter that has generated her thought process to alter. He responds by asking if the pilot of the plane that the two of them are on should have the authority to not allow Dalrymple himself to fly it, to which she readily agrees to. What she is unaware of, is that by questioning the authority of the pilot, she questioned the authority of the licensing boards and medical examiners that gave the pilot himself the authority to fly. Many are quick to say that, if they were given the opportunity, would disobey authority immediately. Yet, as he mentions in the Milgram experiment, the authority of the test subjects was overruled by the instructor’s “authority” of a lab coat and simple instructions. The lack of authority in such a setting led to the horror that ensued, and the constant discussion of rule that is still going on to this day. Fromm takes a different spin on things. He argues that “If the capacity for disobedience constituted the beginning of human history, obedience might very well...cause the end of human history”, emphasizing that the demise of the human race will be the obedience of kill orders, and the greedy, hateful, and

The use of the word “always” is one that is quite often overlooked and understated when used, when in reality the word speaks for all circumstances, and in reality is quite difficult to use unless sure the argument that is being discussed is the correct one. Fromm focuses more during the second half of his article on the authoritative conscience, or Super-Ego. The Super-Ego, though it is in oneself, is not the conscience of the person, but rather is the ideas and beliefs that have been imbedded in the brains of all people. Fromm believes that obedience to this authoritative conscience tends to break down one’s ability to judge his or her self through humanistic consciousness (126 Fromm). He goes one step further than Dalrymple in terms of authority, breaking it down into rational and irrational. Rational is seen that both individuals involved have similar goals in mind, and fail and succeed together. On the other hand, irrational authority has to do with the person in authority exploiting the lower other, and taking advantage of them. In comparison to Dalrymple who believes all authority is on an equal playing field. He implies that though an authoritative job may be small, the little authority that person has must be respected. The views of each individual are antagonistic due to the fact that in any given situation, one side