Testing the Ability of Man to Resist Authority

1570 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: A few good men comparative analysis

Behavior throughout the military setting is marked by a unique absolutism. Whether it be by the assertion of the supposed “absolute power” held over each individual in lower rank, through dependent mindset pressed on incoming grunts or from the supposed “honor” that is derived from following orders unquestionably, the strict organization found within the military leads to many instances of blind obedience. Critically acclaimed drama, A Few Good Men, directed by Rob Reiner, has been analyzed by many for its numerous homages to absolutism within the militaristic setting. To follow a pair of soldiers, Dawson and Downey, who unquestioningly, followed an order known to be unethical, offers a blank slate by which to scrutinize and analyze. When taken in light next to the findings of author, professor and Ph.D. of psychology, Philip Zimbardo, the almost stereotypical behavior of the two soldiers can be elaborated upon. Through his “Prison experiment” Zimbardo set out to test the ability of man to resist authority. His findings, however, would prove that the situation each man faces lends itself to role-play; therefore, each man develops a different persona (Zimbardo 240-252). Next in line to Zimbardo’s experiment is the real-life account of the My Lai massacre, as recounted by Herbert Kelman and V. Hamilton. In order to explain the actions of Lieutenant Calley, the soldier responsible for the brutal murders of over one hundred Vietnamese civilians, the authors alluded to the mindset of authorization, routinization and dehumanization; furthermore, such tactics can be seen scattered throughout the military in routine training and mindset (Kelman Hamilton 266-278). Within the film, no situation better defines why it is that unethicality can...

... middle of paper ...

...own, and Andrew Scheinman. By Aaron Sorkin. Perf. Aaron Sorkin, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, and Kevin Bacon. Columbia Pictures, 1992. DVD.

Hamilton, V. and Kelman, Herbert. “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience.” Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Eds. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009.266-278. Print.

Wenker, Kenneth H. "Morality and Military Obedience." Air and Space Power Journal. Air and Space Power Journal. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

Zimbardo, Philip. “The Stanford Prison Experiment.” Writing & Reading for ACP Composition. Eds. Thomas E. Leahey and Christine R. Farris. New York: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009.240-252. Print.

Zwygart, Ulrich F. "How Much Obedience Does an Officer Need?" CGSC - Command and General Staff College. U.S. Army Combined Arms Center. Web. 06 Nov. 2011.

Show More
Related

  • The Power Struggle in The Clerk’s Tale

    2551 Words  | 6 Pages

    Through layers of narrators, The Canterbury Tales frequently critique meaningless conventions and abusive uses of authority. The Clerk’s Tale struggles with the subversive power inherent to passive submission, showing how it enables an inferior to exert control over those who cannot be dominated through direct means because of their complete and unquestioned authority. In the context of The Clerk’s Tale, Griselda and Walter have a very strange relationship in which a confusing power struggle develops

    Read More

  • Morality And Happiness Essay

    1520 Words  | 4 Pages

    pleasures and pains of Utilitarianism, fulfilling the duties in Deontology, and following the ideals set forth in virtues ethics by great philosophers including Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and Confucius, morality forms the foundation of a persons ability to reach happiness, therefore relating morality to happiness. Utilitarianism believes in the greatest happiness principle. It states that “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse

    Read More

  • Imagination and the Holocaust

    2742 Words  | 6 Pages

    Imagination and the Holocaust The great secret of morals is love; or a going out of our own nature, and an identification of ourselves with the beautiful which exists in thought, action, or person, not our own. A man, to be greatly good, must imagine intensely and comprehensively; he must put himself in the place of another and of many others; the pains and pleasures of his species must become his own. -- Percy Bysshe Shelley, "A Defense of Poetry" I believe that truly humane learning

    Read More

  • The Arguement for God's Existance in Hume’s essay, Why Does God Let People Suffer

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    issues. In the following essay, I will demonstrate how David Hume feels that there is a God despite all the suffering and pain that exists in our world. “Is the World, considered in general, and as it appears to us in this life, different from what a Man or such a limited being would, beforehand, expect from a very powerful, wise, and benevolent Deity?” Additionally, Hume argues for the existence of an omnipotent God. According to the author, a world with this much evil in it, one can’t logically assume

    Read More

  • The Case Against Science

    3158 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Case Against Science Science has become an unreliable epistemological resource for several reasons. First, the assumptions of science are suspect. Second, the scientific method exhibits narrow limits to the acquisition of universal knowledge. Third, the conclusions of the scientific community at large are questionable and inadequate. Fourth, the practice of science has developed a particular perspective about its place in the world of knowing that diminishes all other avenues of knowledge

    Read More

  • Servant Leadership

    2972 Words  | 6 Pages

    Servant Leadership Vocation is our call to be the best that we can be, each of us in our own way, so that we may better ourselves and society. Servant leadership is the truest fulfillment of our responsibility to charity and social concern. Servant leadership provides a charismatic self-identification, and thus we can better define our lives and commit ourselves to a fruitful vocation. Christ came into the world as the King of all humanity. He came as the redeemer of our world. However

    Read More

  • Psychedelic Drugs (aka Psychedelics)

    6133 Words  | 13 Pages

    Psychedelic Drugs (aka Psychedelics) Introduction: Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled

    Read More

  • Theology 1 summary

    8319 Words  | 17 Pages

    can appear to have a very broad definition. Let’s look at the different forms of theology discussed in class: Systematic Theology – This is a methodical study of God and who He is, the proofs of His existence, and His relationship to the world and man. Systematic Theology gathers materials from the Bible, the facts of science, psychology, history, and philosophy. It examines, evaluates, and organizes all in the light of the Bible. It utilizes di-chronic and synchronic methods to organize the works

    Read More

  • The Role of Labor in American History

    9017 Words  | 19 Pages

    This brief history of more than 100 years of the modern trade union movement in the United States can only touch the high spots of activity and identify the principal trends of a "century of achievement." In such a condensation of history, episodes of importance and of great human drama must necessarily be discussed far too briefly, or in some cases relegated to a mere mention. What is clearly evident, however, is that the working people of America have had to unite in struggle to achieve the

    Read More

  • The Effect of Electronic Journals on Scholarly Communication

    10795 Words  | 22 Pages

    The Effect of Electronic Journals on Scholarly Communication In recent years, scholarly communication has virtually exploded into the on-line electronic world. This has brought a number of demonstrable benefits to the scholarly communication process as well as highlighting a number of inefficiencies and obstacles to the full deployment of information technology. However, the explosion has also brought a spate of credulous accounts concerning the transformative potential of information technology

    Read More

More about Testing the Ability of Man to Resist Authority

Open Document