Laws are regulations established by authorities, such as the government and are enforced by the police to make sure that the laws are upheld. Laws are enforced to preserve safety, supervise actions of individuals and work for the better good of society. Without the laws, chaos would spread across the world. However, there are times when each and every one of us finds a law to be unjust and would love to see that law change. Throughout the history of mankind, civil disobedience hasn’t been very uncommon. A long-standing debate about civil disobedience ever since the birth of Greek philosophy is: When, if ever, is it justified to break the law?
Greek Philosopher Socrates believes that breaking the law is never justified, but you can try to persuade the court to do better. Socrates argues that one must never in any way do harm to another willingly as doing harm is never moral nor admirable. Injustice and wrongdoing are harmful and shameful to those who do wrong. Not only one must not do wrong, but also when harmed, one must not inflict harm in return. One should not harm anyone, even if he has been harmed as it equally harmful and immoral. Socrates would claim that by breaking the law one would do harm as not only the laws would cease to have power, but they are also being
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However, just the fact that the majority agreed on a law doesn’t mean that it’s just. Sometimes, refusing to obey specific laws aids democracy as it ensures that just laws are being made. Through out history, there have been many cases of people breaking the law for the better good of society. In the 1850’s, American abolitionists overlooked the Fugitive Slave Law, letting slaves run away from their Masters. Also, in 1872, Susan B. Anthony had voted before women were allowed to vote, which ignited the Women’s Rights Movement protests for voting and changed the law for the