In the American government, and many others alike, there are taxes you must pay. In Thoreau's time he was arrested for choosing to not pay his general taxes. He paid school and medical taxes, but refused to pay general taxes because he did not support slavery and the Mexican war, which was undoubtedly where the general taxes was going. The problem that Thoreau is addressing is the ability of the government to do such things. In his eyes the people should support only what they want to support, nothing more or less.
Their basic altitudes towards the democracy and nonviolence conflict with each other. King’s own account of his philosophy of nonviolence indicated the extent to which he was influenced by Thoreau’s theoretical framework for thinking about civil disobedience and political obligation. Thoreau has confidence in democracy and the belief of unifying individuals of the society to realize it. However, Nietzsche overtly objected to democratic politics, with thinking that love, freedom and democracy are all the results of recognizing the right. Although democratic practices were on the way in the capitalist countries, he asserted that democratic politics possessed no advancement.
He composed his pamphlet utilizing vernacular and simple ideas, targeting the common man. This was an unusual, yet appropriate, technique for the Enlightenment era. His pamphlet outlined the flaws and disadvantages of a monarchial government such as the government imposed on America by England. He also portrayed the advantages of severing all governmental ties with England. Paine discusses generic topics of an ideal and properly functioning government.
Thoreau wrote an essay in 1849 entitled “Civil Disobedience”. The basis of this writing was that he didn’t pay his taxes that went towards the Mexican-American War because he felt we shouldn’t be in a war with people that we don’t know. To summarize his essay, Thoreau states that we should follow the law only if we have by our own judgment a good reason to do so, we shouldn’t just follow the law simply because it is the law. “The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do any time what I think is right. It is truly enough said that a corporation has no conscience; but a corporation of conscientious men is a corporation with a conscience.” (Thoreau, pg.
The Unjust of Just law Ethics 110 22 Jun 2010 In a democratic state it is in never within our rights to break the law. Breaking the law leads to lawlessness and disobedience from the democracy that we have worked, or have been born into. If the law is unjust, then it might be fair to break that law as long as you are willing to suffer the consequences of punishment set aside for that particular unjust law. Failure to adhere to the punishment is unjust as well, for failure to adhere to the punishment of the law is a statement that you do not respect the laws of your society. Martin Luther King Jr. states “Oppressed People cannot remain oppressed forever.” (Cahn, 2009 p. 387) As we have seen throughout history, this is a true statement.
Hume vs. The Social Contract Theory Hume’s main claims in “Of the Original Contract”: i) The idea that one’s duty of allegiance to one’s government stems from one’s having consented to it is false, because its consequences are absurd. If it were correct, then few would have any such duty, because few ever give genuine and voluntary consent to their governments. ii) The duty of allegiance to one’s government derives from utility, not agreement, consent, or promise. The reason why one has a duty to obey the government (when one does) is that such obedience maximizes society’s total utility.
He cites the existence of unjust laws and declares that we as citizens should not be obligated to follow them. The basis for this argument is that the government is run by a majority with the most power, not the most valid perspective. This is the reason why Thoreau advises citizens to follow what they believe to be right and not embrace what the government says. Thoreau states that is not a man’s duty to pledge to eradicate all wrongs from his country but that it is one’s duty to “wash his hands” of it and to not support the wrong in anyway (page 183 para13). He continues to tell a story of how he used this method to protest the Mexican American War which was being waged at the time the essay was written.
The first is that justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger. Second, that justice is obedience to laws and lastly, justice is nothing but the advantage of another, returning no benefit to the one who is just. It should be noted that all three of these claims are dealing with a ruler of a state, whether democratic or tyrannical. Since these claims were made on a large scale, I will discuss how Thrasymachus’ opinion that justice is nothing but the advantage of the stronger is flawed when it is applied to a ruler of a government such as ours. To do so, we will first look at Thrasymachus’ definition on the nature of justice, and examine what exactly is in the interest of the ruler.
“Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it.” (2) This quote was by Henry David Thoreau. It has been said Thoreau was possibly the first American to defend his beliefs in a civilly disobedient way. In 1846, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax because of his disbelief in the Mexican War and slavery. In doing so, he spent the night in jail. Against his wishes, he was released the next day when a relative paid the taxes.
Prof. S Hist 17a – MW 11:10a 11 Nov 2013 At Home Essay B In 1846, Henry David Thoreau published a piece on civil disobedience. He influentially stated that, “[i]t is not a man’s duty as a matter of course to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage in; but it is his duty at least to wash his hands of it.” Thoreau believed that slavery and the acts of it were wrong and that as the people of this country we should do what we could to end it. He believed that by simply ceasing to pay taxes, we would begin creating a revolution that could eventually end in the abolition of slavery. I believe that being a good citizen doesn’t necessarily mean following all the rules. In the constitution we are told to keep the government and its power at a minimum.