Review Of Stanley Milgram's The Perils Of Obedience

Stanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist, shares his results from an experiment he conducted in 1963 regarding the obedience to authority in “The Perils of Obedience.” His experiment illustrates that when placed under peculiar circumstances, ordinary citizens are capable of performing terrible and unexpected actions (Milgram 85). Milgram rationalizes these proceedings by concluding that the average individual will decide to please the experimenter rather than resist his authority to protect the well-being of the learner (Milgram 86). Herbert C. Kelman, a Harvard University Social Ethics professor, and V. Lee Hamilton, a former University of Maryland Sociology chair, share of a U.S. military massacre in “The My Lai Massacre: A Military

Markinson later regrets caving to Jessup’s demands and admits to Lt. Daniel Kaffee that Santiago’s transfer papers were fake and signed days after Santiago’s death. Milgram effectively explains Markinson’s compliance to Jessup’s dishonesty was a result of Markinson attempting to please and prove himself worthy to Jessup (Milgram 86). Jessup, who trained with Markinson, achieved one rank higher than him which Kelman and Hamilton would logically reason resulted in Markinson not questioning Jessup’s authority (Kelman and Hamilton 136). Milgram, supporting Kelman and Hamilton, would impart how extremely few individuals are able to resist authority due to their desire to please their superior (Milgram 86). If Markinson confided in Jessup because he was a former comrade, then it probably was more difficult to disobey him. Robert Prentice, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, coincides with Milgram, Kelman and Hamilton as he portrays in “Obedience to Authority,” that Markinson’s obedience to Jessup likely occurred strictly because Markinson was more concerned with Jessup accepting his decision rather than the content of the decision itself (Prentice). If this is true, than it is probable all humans are capable of following similar unethical commands that are a result the desire to please a higher authority. In addition, Kelman and Hamilton would effectively reason Markinson followed Jessup’s mandate due to routinization. They would explain since Markinson followed countless orders from Jessup before, he encountered the pressures to obey Jessup again. Once Markinson became captive to the routine of following Jessup’s demand, Kelman and Hamilton would claim he probably failed to consider the implications of the action or even the decision to execute it (Kelman and Hamilton 140). Donald D.