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Thoreau's Arguments Against Civil Disobedience

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Peaceful resistance is a necessity and an integral part of a society because without the ability to peacefully resist the society is not truly free. The use of peaceful resistance has been a common way of expressing a person or group of peoples ideals since Henry David Thoreau wrote his essay called Civil Disobedience in 1849. Thoreau was a famous American writer and philosopher, and the essay talks of how he believes people need to put one’s morals and ideas over laws they may find unjust (Saxby). This is the basis and definition of what peaceful resistance is. The United States Constitution puts emphasis on the individual and if an individual believes in an ideal that goes against a law, they should be able to peacefully resist, especially …show more content…

An article written on fee.org argues that ¨No society whether free or tyrannical can give its citizens the “right” to break the law. There can be no law to which obedience is optional, no command to which the state attaches an “if you please.”” (Leibman). The article continues on about respectful citizenship and how civil disobedience can be dangerous and destructive and will lead to disrespect. However, the definition of civil disobedience states that it is done peacefully and not destructively, and that they will accept the punishment. King once said in a speech about civil disobedience and unjust laws that people have moral obligations to disobey unjust laws but that they must do it civilly and be willing to accept the punishment (King). If disobedience is done differently, such as dangerously and destructively, then the disobedience is no longer civil. But if disobedience is done peacefully and civilly, and can still get the job done and not be destructive to society. Also, if people are peacefully resisting, they are surely aware they do not have the “right” to break the law, but do just morally believe that breaking the law should be done for the better of the society they live in and for the people around them, no matter the punishment. No matter how you put it, if believe in and crave a free society where every individual is important, you can not have that kind of society without civil

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Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey governmental laws in order to do or change something (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Sophocles’ Antigone and Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” both described civil disobedience within situations which they were the oppressed. However, Antigone and King engaged in civil disobedience in different ways. Antigone chose to disobey the law solely because of her religious views, she knew that her disobedience could lead to others’ suffering, but she was unwilling to abandon her plan, and her attitude toward the people against her was crude and stubborn. King, in contrast, based his disobedience more on logical reasoning and allusions, then he proposed a nonviolent action so his disobedience would not hurt others, and he respected those who were against him with his collected tone throughout the letter.

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Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837.

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Thoreau And Martin Luther King Comparison

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Civil Disobedience In the dictionary civil disobedience is the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest, but Thoreau and Martin Luther King have their own beliefs to civil disobedience. In Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” he writes about the need to prioritize one’s conscience over the dictates of laws. Martin Luther King uses civil disobedience as something that effectuates change in the government. Both Thoreau and Martin Luther King has similar yet different perspectives on civil disobedience.

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Civil Disobedience In Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

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Martin Luther King Jr once stated, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” in his Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963. He was invoking the principle of civil disobedience. He wasn't justifying breaking laws just because, but instead, meant that you break the law and accept your punishment, in hopes that people will come to see that the law is unethical. Civil disobedience plays an important role in how our society has been shaped up until this point.

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It can be claimed that it is true that we have a moral responsibility to disobey unjust law, however, in doing so is unjust in itself. Taking into account the argument against harm and that one accepts that doing good is just, we must never intentionally do wrong. It is also true in this case when we are harmed, we must not return a harm for a harm. If these statements are true, in that they are good and just, then civil disobedience must be an unjust act. If doing harm to the law we deem unjust through an act of civil disobedience is considered an evil act, and to do good is to be just, then harming the law is an unjust action.

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From these texts, Marx’s response to the statement “civil obedience is never acceptable” would be that sometimes, civil disobedience is acceptable because civil disobedience is a form of uprising that brings change. This essay uses The Stanford Encyclopedia’s definition of civil disobedience, defined as a “conscientious breach of law undertaken with the aim of bringing about a change in laws or government policies” (Candice and Brownlee, 2024). Someone practices civil disobedience when they intentionally breach a law they oppose, doing so in a non-violent manner; though non-violent does not mean the act may not cause harm to others (Candice and Brownlee, 2024). Additionally, an act of civil disobedience is deliberately law-breaking to communicate an idea, typically to some form of government, through a symbolic action (Candice and Brownlee, 2024). An act of civil disobedience is public, in the sense that the act is pre-planned, the perpetrator’s identity is known, responsibility for the act is claimed by the perpetrator, or the act is openly committed (Candice and Brownlee, 2024).

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Herbert J. Storing, an Associate Professor of Political Science, in “The Case Against Civil Disobedience,” writes, “One of the practical consequences of this institution [civil disobedience] is to divert disobedience and even revolution into the channel of law” (97). What Storing is saying is that civil disobedience will encourage people to break the laws and they will hide under civil disobedience to avoid the law. Also, civil disobedience might split society by creating disagreements with the people, and it could create a political instability. However, Storing fails to see that those who break an unjust law, as discussed above, do not avoid the law, in fact they show respect to the law as they willingly accept the consequences. By accepting the consequences, they show that they are not acting for their own interests but for society’s.

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Equally, civil disobedience is not desirable if it is used to fight every little issue in a country. Civil disobedience is not meant to be used to encourage an attitude of repeated acts of civil disobedience. If one group uses the game of civil disobedience to fight the moral evil they are against other groups may also use this method to support their case. Before long it becomes out of hand as every group is using it to fight their battle. According to Robin Celikates (2016), civil disobedience should be restricted to easily detectable violations of clear and basic demands of justice that can also be formulated in terms of individual basic rights (39).

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Civil disobedience is defined as obeying a law that is believed to be morally wrong. As a case in point, the women’s suffrage. I believe the woman who chained herself to a fence outside the White House because she could not vote for the President was not immorally wrong. Does this mean that it is actually okay to intentionally disobey and go against the law? We need to become aware that sometimes the laws are made both right and unjust.

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If in civil disobedience the person doing accepts the punishment, it will encourage people to start breaking laws just make a point when there are various and better ways to make a point. Breaking laws will do nothing for what people want because it will just get the government mad and they will make different laws and make worse punishments for the people, therefore not helping a free society. The act of civil disobedience demonstrates selfishness by a person or group of people. By breaking a law it shows that people will do anything to get what they want even if it doesn’t benefit anyone but themselves. Also for thing a person is fighting for or trying to prove there are opposite views on that idea.

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Civil disobedience is a peaceful way to protest against unjust laws. There’s always going to be someone who does not agree with the government in some aspects. However they choose to express their opinion is their choice. Some act upon it by posting bitter comments on social media, or even just arguing about it with others, but it takes the bravest and the boldest to go about it publicly. The ones who do whatever it takes to stand up for what they believe in, are truly brave.

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Civil disobedience is nonviolent resistance to a government’s law in seek of change. Civil disobedience is an effective way to bring about change because it is a harmless way of fighting an unjust law or idea, it can educate people about the cause, and it has been successful many times in history. First and foremost, civil disobedience is

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The government in many countries rarely proves itself useful and that obtains most of its power from the majority because they are the strongest group, and will always obey the government and its laws, not because they hold the most legitimate viewpoint. People's first obligation is to do what they believe is right and not to follow the law ordered by the greater mass. When a government is one that is unjust meaning, it does not have the best interests of the people, provides instability in the aid of the people, and would sacrifice its own people for economic or political gain some examples would be Nazi Germany, people should refuse to follow the law and distance themselves from that kind of government (Thoreau, 1849). Civil disobedience is the refusal to obey certain laws of governmental systems solely since you want a change in legislation or government policy, this is all done through nonviolent techniques such as boycotting. Martin Luther King says, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

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“You must be the change you wish to see in the world” These astonishing words that Mahatma Gandhi said made me suppose that Civil Disobedience is a Moral Responsibility of a citizen because when breaking certain laws, a citizen perhaps incorporate a good intention or a bad intention for breaking it. Citizens break the law occasionally to have their beliefs be heard so change can be assemble. Some ways that Civil Disobedience can be a Moral Responsibility would be breaking the law for the right intentions. An example of breaking the law for the right intentions could be The Salt March that Gandhi Created or, Rosa Parks standing up for her beliefs about her actions, MLK wanting equal rights with caucasian. Illegal Immigrants coming into the

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