In Obedience to Authority, Milgram introduces an intriguing idea about obedience and its limitation through an experiment. His skepticism of the devastating incidents like the Holocaust, triggered the experiment to measure the willingness of people to obey the authority. Throughout the experiment, Milgram could conclude that although people do not favor obeying the authority, they still obey. The historical figures, such as Martin Luther King and Plato, have distinct idea about authority and obedience. So this result influences the different set of social relations introduced by both King and Plato: Milgram’s result support Plato’s ideas of ideal society while it King’s idea opposes Milgram’s Result.
To remain receptive to the intuitive process, an individual must trust in himself. Emerson and Kant warn that conformity and consistency in one’s thinking and acting permits society to dictate an individual’s being; therefore undermining the notion of taking responsibility for one’s own mind. This in turn creates barriers the individual must overcome in order to reach enlightenment. In “Self-Reliance”, Emerson believes that the individual loses a part of himself by not being self sufficient enough to trust ones opinions. “A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within…In every work of genius we recognize our own rejected thoughts; they come back to us with a certain alienated majesty…They teach us to abide by our spontaneous impression with good humored inflexibility…” (Emerson, 164) Emerson stresses not the substance of the ‘‘rejected thoughts’’, but their quality of ‘‘majesty’’ or greatness.
What I am trying to say is that Prometheus old society and our society is the same because people tend to judge people. The difference is that our society will soon accept difference and change. It’s a step up from Prometheus old society but still sad to know that man do have a tendency to discourage individuals today. Perhaps the sins in Prometheus society are considered a sin in our society also but in our society people do adopt to change. The key thing is to not let anyone take away your individuality.
He eventually finds his own morals and tells himself what is right and what is wrong. Part of this realization came from him helping Jim, which troubled his mind because of what society said about helping him. But he then based his decision to help on his own experiences and logic. That is kind of what Fahrenheit 451 puts forth. But instead of trying to gain knowledge it is being destroyed, all because society is trying to promote ignorance which causes sameness in all.
Dr. King recognizes that this is a potential flaw in collective action, but the justice pursued by his movement prevents his collective from such ill effects. Dr. King’s affinity for collective action is largely due to the nature of his problem. Just as Gandhi in India did, when faced with ridiculous oppression, King moves people to nonviolently protest such oppression. When the oppressors violently crack down, the lunacy of the oppression is made apparent and realized by the masses. Dr. King uses group action to reveal to the larger group to poor state of
This shows his acceptance because he doesn’t see Jim as a person and he sees his children as someone else’s property, which he feels would be wrong to steal. Although he accepts society’s view on slavery, Huck’s respect toward Jim is shown when Huck goes to him for his help, to find out what Pap was doing in town. Huck’s respect towards Jim is displayed because there were many other people Huck could have asked, but he chose Jim
“Conformity ensures an individual’s relationship with the institution… rebellion inevitably complicates it”. The enigmatic and elusive nature of the institution is designed to suppress individuality and encourage conformity, due to the inherent tension present between the inflexible institution and the individual. The harmonious or orderly functioning of society is dependent upon the cooperation of all the parts that seek to have certain needs and requirements met. This social contract entails the reduction in individual freedom in return for the provision of individual needs, such as security. Through an exploration of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest, Ken Kesey’s authorial intention give the responder an insight into the individual’s
Although this may be true, facing emotional roadblocks such as being offended, builds character as a leader to show you can face hardships. If a leader is never personally offended, how is one to know if they are able to lead a country? I think the real reason Machiavelli says this is not the fear of being offended, but instead the fear of failing. He thinks that if you somehow can cut out all roadblocks, and end all human feeling; you can somehow succeed and conquer. In fact, this is wrong.
The challenge to belong may be resisted or embraced. How is this explored in your prescribed text and ONE other related text of your own choosing? Belonging to society. Texts: Romulus, My Father & To Kill A Mockingbird Thesis: Despite the need that lies in every human being to find a sense of belonging within the society they live, which can require conforming to the society’s beliefs, attitudes and culture, this challenge can also be resisted for moral reasons. This challenge is faced by the characters in both Raimond Gaita’s memoir Romulus, My Father and Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird.
Social normative theory can help explain why the subjects in the experiment obeyed. According to Brown, 1986 “Obedience may be an ingrained habit that’s difficult to resist” (Gross, 2010, pg 419) Socialisation makes it a norm to follow the hierarchy of society and view obedience as necessary. When someone from a seemingly legitimate source says something contradictory to our beliefs and morals it creates tension and conflict within us as our first reaction is to obey. This is demonstrated in Milgram’s experiment when the subjects “displayed fears similar to those who defied the experimenter; yet they obeyed” (Milgram, 1963, pg 376). The subject followed the expected behaviour despite his reluctance to continue.