Comparative Critique of “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You” and "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem"
Obedience is viewed as being the righteous choice, but that isn’t necessarily true. Both “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You” and “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” showcase how there are certain situations that individuals must be able to choose to either obey or disobey. Theodore Dalrymple, a British physician, wrote “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You” to show that both blind obedience and disobedience are dangerous and people should never stick to one or the other. Eric Fromm took this into more depth in his article “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” by using his scholarly knowledge from being a psychoanalyst, philosopher, historian, and a sociologist. While too much disobedience can be destructive, disobedience in the correct setting has allowed mankind to evolve by questioning authority. Because of Fromm’s extensive background in different fields, his article was rich with information. “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” can be summarized with, “If the capacity for disobedience constituted the beginning of human history, obedience might very well, as I have said, cause the end of human history” (Fromm 124). Fromm
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Rational authority, “acts in the name of a reason…irrational authority has to use force or suggestion” (Fromm 126). In order to stop oneself from being exploited, they must have the courage to defend themselves. Freedom will be gained, “only if he has emerged as a fully developed individual and thus has acquired the capacity to think and feel for himself”(Fromm 127). Individuals who have the courage to question their authority will allow the human race to move forward as a whole by pointing out the restricting orders of their
Fromm, Erich. "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem." Writing and Reading for ACP Composition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Custom, 2009. 258-63. Print.
In "The Perils of Obedience," Stanley Milgram conducted a study that tests the conflict between obedience to authority and one's own conscience. Through the experiments, Milgram discovered that the majority of people would go against their own decisions of right and wrong to appease the requests of an authority figure.
Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience are the focus of Theodore Dalrymple and Ian Parker. Theodore Dalrymple is a British physician that composed his views of the Milgram experiment with “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You” in the New Statesman in July 1999 (254). He distinguishes between blind obedience and blind disobedience stating that an extreme of either is not good, and that a healthy balance between the two is needed. On the other hand, Ian Parker is a British writer who wrote “Obedience” for an issue of Granta in the fall of 2000. He discusses the location of the experiment as a major factor and how the experiment progresses to prevent more outcomes. Dalrymple uses real-life events to convey his argument while Parker exemplifies logic from professors to state his point.
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.
Disobedience is concretely defined as “The failure or refusal to obey someone in authority”, so it is no surprise - considering the beliefs of the contemporary societies - that it is a prevalent theme in Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’ and Webster’s ‘The Duchess of Malfi’. Both texts revolve around the disobedience of a central character, Eve in ‘Paradise Lost’ and The Duchess in ‘The Duchess of Malfi’, both authors intelligently explore the inevitable consequences of disobeying those higher than yourself.
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
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.
Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,
In Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he cites conscience as a guide to obeying just laws and disobeying unjust laws. In the same way, Henry David Thoreau wrote in his famous essay, “Civil Disobedience,” that people should do what their conscience tells them and refuse to follow unjust laws. The positions of the two writers are very close; they both use a common theme of conscience, and they use a similar rhetorical appeal to ethos.
Stanley Milgram’s experiment shows that people many times conform to do what an authority figure says or orders. Despite moral apprehensions, a person might continue to do what they know is wrong. Milgram used ordinary people of all different types of life in his experiment and showed that many of them will continue until they are told to stop. It is not a “lunatic fringe” that will go against what is morally right, but it is a majority that will. Milgram says that it is easier going against one’s own principles then disobeying an authoritative figure.
In A Few Good Men, marines Dawson and Downey choose to obey their superiors and carry out the Code Red. In the article, “The My Lai Massacre,” Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton described a situation during the Vietnam War where a platoon ransacked an entire village while under orders by their superiors. “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” explains that in order to go further in one’s life, he or she must be disobedient; however, the article recognizes the power of a situation and its effect on a decision to obey or to disobey. Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private First Class Louden Downey decide to obey their superiors because they have extensive training in following orders, they are required to obey all lawful orders,
Theodore Dalrymple’s “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You,” emphasizes the relationship between human tendency to anarchy and authority to Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment. Dalrymple’s interpretations surrounding behavior rested mainly on obedience and how clever manipulations could influence behavioral outcome. Within the text, Dalrymple links four main roles of authority, including a pilot, a doctor, a teacher, and a security guard. These roles are then utilized by Dalrymple to explain how blind obedience, and blind disobedience to authority are not to be encouraged unproportionally. While both obedience and disobedience have their separate dangers, it is the rate at which either one is adopted that distinguishes and defines oneself.
Introduction 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 real life experiences. 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.
Obedience is the structural backbone that maintains social order however, if in the wrong hands it can result in catastrophic breakdowns expanding to concepts along the lines of the Holocaust. This is the line that man walks every day, working to balance out obedience and disobedience to find the perfect harmony. This is where a British physician, Theodore Dalrymple, the author of “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You”, and psychoanalyst and philosopher, Erich Fromm, author of “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem”, come into the conversation. Both of these men, while renowned psychologist, have different viewpoints on obedience, nonetheless share some common ground. Obedience is a force that happens to people
As a kid growing up we were always taught to no he disobedient to our parents and to others around us. We learned by rural and error. We found out what we can and chat do. But is disobedience really such a bad thing?