Authority has always been and always will be. It controls and imposes humans in wishes and actions. The Grand Inquisitor says, “Man was created a rebel”(Dostoevsky, 1971, p.13), so freedom is the most desired thing. That’s why people consider that freedom is on a light side and authority is on a dark side. And step by step humanity is going to take the stereotypes about the dangerous and dreadful authority. But human being always return to authority after they have had a freedom, because the answer is in comparison. Societies’ common sense becomes more prioritized than human nature, because the freedom is very quick and unstable to be controlled by a weak human beings. Certainly, at first sight the concept of freedom is very tempting, since …show more content…
On the one hand is Jesus that wants humanity to be free and tries to forgive and justify human beings. On the other hand is The Grand Inquisitor that wants to help humanity by forcing people to obey the rules and limiting their freedom, because he thinks that human beings are too weak to manage their freedom by their own, so they need someone ruling them, and describes it, “No science will give them bread so long as they remain free. In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet, and say to us, “Make us your slaves, but feed us.” ” (Dostoevsky, 1971, p.17). In other words, this quote means that The Grand Inquisitor understands that society with authority is the only way to keep the peace and …show more content…
Everyone wants to be a self-sufficient person. No one wants to be a clerk, janitor, but everyone wants to be a head or a freelancer or finally not to work. Somewhere I heard one interesting phrase “Do what you love and love what you do”. Of course, in the case of a self-employed designer, who had a parents who could pay for art school, he could use it as his motto. But it is a big luck and privilege of a little percent of people to be able to choose your career. In Dostoevsky’s “The Brothers Karamazov” The Grand Inquisitor said the same thing about it “Or dost Thou care only for the tens of thousands of the great and strong, while the millions, numerous as the sands of the sea, who are weak but love Thee, must exist only for the sake of the great and
A Few Good Men, “The Stanford Prison Experiment”, and “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” acknowledge the fact that most individuals will continue to obey orders in the future. “Why Power Corrupts” and “Human Obedience: The Myth of Blind Conformity” express that people become passive, which in turn causes individuals to always obey. People bow down to authority allowing individuals to take advantage of others. This causes humans to forget their morals and only listen to commands given by higher authority. Can people disobey orders they are morally against? Will people continue to allow others to alter their decisions? Authority will continue to be a problem in civilization; how we react and utilize the power is what will change
Authority can only become an issue once the rights of the individual are being impinged, a concept represented in both V for Vendetta and the Stanford Prison Experiment. These two texts, along with the study of the concept of authority and the individual, have expanded my understanding of myself, individuals and the world. It has especially broadened my knowledge on the crossover of the concept, the ability for the individual to have authority and the ability for both sides to be perceived as good or bad and the power of a person’s individuality. “The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces.”
In The Grand Inquisitor, the conflict between freedom and security is one of the main reasons for Ivan’s dissent from Christianity. The difference between Jesus Christ’s point of view and the Grand Inquisitor’s is the value that each places on freedom and security. The way that Christ responds to the three temptations is assumed to display the importance and beauty of our ability to make decisions for ourselves. The rejection of comfort in our lives is represented by the bread. Jesus should have eaten the bread and given us freedom from hunger instead of choice. The need for faithfulness is represented b...
Intolerance of Authority Versus Individual Freedom and Integrity. “The Crucible” by Arthur Miller is a play, about the Salem Witch. Trials. The.
Through my research and findings of obedience to authority this ancient dilemma is somewhat confusing but needs understanding. Problem with obedience to authority has raised a question to why people obey or disobey and if there are any right time to obey or not to obey. Through observation of many standpoints on obedience and disobedience to authority, and determined through detailed examination conducted by Milgram “The Perils Of Obedience,” Doris Lessing “Group Minds” and Shirley Jackson “The Lottery”. We have to examine this information in hopes of understanding or at least be able to draw our own theories that can be supported and proven on this subject.
Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority for example; the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience reflecting how this can be destructive in experiences of real life. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid hence useless.
There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen. ~Wayne Dyer
Thomas Carlyle, a preeminent figure of the Victorian era, said, “The real desire to get work done will itself lead one to more and more to truth” (Carlyle). Many teenagers all over the world rely on jobs to earn money to do fun activities with their friends. There are also many adults who have jobs to get by in life. Along with this, there are people who have a career. The difference between the two is that people who have a job work just to earn money, but do not enjoy it. People who have have a career enjoy their jobs and are very passionate.
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
C. Wright Mills in his article “ The Structure of Power in American Society” writes that when considering the types of power that exist in modern society there are three main types which are authority, manipulation and coercion. Coercion can be seen as the “last resort” of enforcing power. On the other hand, authority is power that is derived from voluntary action and manipulation is power that is derived unbeknownst to the people who are under that power.
As previously stated, everyone has been pressured to conform at some point during their life. The majority of people naturally will conform to society and obey an authority figure. However, Miss Emily strays from being part of the majority and lives her life resisting conformity and denying authority. I have already discussed why someone might resist conformity and the possible consequences, now I will discuses why people obey authority figures and ultimately conform to society.
In recent class discussions of authority, a controversial issue has been whether it is wrong to obey authority. Some argue that it is always wrong to disobey authority. From this perspective, some believe that because their superior is above them, they know whats better and we need to comply. On the other hand, however, others argue that if you believe you are being told to do something that is morally wrong, you have the choice not to do it and to go against your authority. In the words of Plato, one of this view’s main proponents, “you mustn 't let any fears on these grounds make you slacken your efforts to escape; and you mustn 't feel any misgivings about what you said at your trial, that you wouldn 't know what to do with yourself if you
Though money is a very important commodity in life, the true career is a means of fulfillment, not with riches, but a means of bringing satisfaction to the worker. People should not devote their lives to vocation merely for the gain of money, but more for the fulfillment of the soul. When focused solely on the gain of money, all else is ignored. The thought of what to do with the next paycheck dominates the mind. A few weeks later, the money is gone, and the mind of the worker is now focused on the next payday. Money is a temporary means of fulfillment, unlike emotional satisfaction. Using your career for something that makes you happy for a week or two instead of what gives you fulfillment every day you are working is not logical. For example, it would not be wise for someone who disliked his job to keep it just because he gained a certain amount of money from it. Sayers explains that people commonly believe, falsely, that, "work is not the expression of man's creative energy in the service of society, but only something he does in order to obtain money and leisure" (Creed or Chaos 52). This example points out a major problem in common thought about occupations. The worker's creative energy is lost when he approaches and uses his career in this manner. It is this energy that helps man to express his feelings, and with the loss of creative energy, work is downsized to an outlet that feeds greed and laziness. Because of the lack of fulfillment this outlet causes, not even money or leisure can keep the occupant of this career satiated.
A French philosopher by the name of Bertrand de Jouvenel once said “The phenomenon called authority is at once more ancient and more fundamental than the phenomenon called state; the natural ascendancy of some men over others is the principle of all human organizations and all human advances”. Authority is and always has been present in human civilization in all aspects of life and in different forms. Authority can be classified into three categories: family or parental authority, organizational and bureaucratic authorities, and political authority.
Although they are very closely related, power and authority are two different concepts. Power is needed in order to establish authority, yet it is also completely distinct from authority (Week 9 Study Notes).