Essay about A Free Society Must Expect Civil Disobedience

A Free Society Must Expect Civil Disobedience Are we morally obliged to obey even unjust laws? Think about what this means. This means that laws, regardless of how unfair, unjust, or immoral they may be, must be followed with no better reason that they are the law. To the thesis that we are obliged to obey even unjust laws, I will argue that the standard objections to Civil Disobedience, given by Singer, are incorrect To begin, however, I believe it is necessary to define an unjust law. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. (King, 3) According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., An unjust law is a code†¦show more content†¦It is true that people may join in disobedience, but if the law is unjust and is disobeyed within the guidelines I put forth later, people joining the disobedience would be a good thing. It would show the support of a strong minority, and may even help the minority to become a majority. The second standard objection says, If the law is to be effective - outside the anarchists utopia - there must be some machinery for detecting and penalizing lawbreakers. This machinery will cost something to maintain and operate, and the cost will have to be met by the community. If I break the law, the community will be put to the expense of enforcement. (Singer, 297) I will concede this point. There is no argument against it. I would, however, pose that the moral cost of obeying a law that one thinks is deplorable is higher than the cost of enforcing the law. I would remind you that mass genocide of non-Aryan races under Hitler was legal. Would we chastise someone for disobeying that law? Also, realistically, the cost is not very high per taxpayer. It is especially small when compared to the cost of morally compromising the entire society. This argument can be put down by a simple Utilitarian argument. The cost of maintaining and using an active police force is less than the cost of maintaining a morally compromised society. We are morally obliged to fix the problem. To continue along this train of thought, maybe puttingShow MoreRelatedEssay about Henry David Thoreaus Enlightenment and Ideas 1355 Words   |  6 Pages Civil Disobedience is one of Henry David Thoreaus most famous essays. One of the major problems most c ritics see with this essay deals with Thoreaus seemingly contradictory statements about society from the beginning to the end. Barry Wood, a well-known critical writer, attributes this change in beliefs to the enlightenment of Thoreau in jail. 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