The Right To Obeying Authority: Wrong To Disobey Authority

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

32). According to this view, Crito is explaining to Socrates that even though he has been sentenced to death, to disobey authority because he can’t be afraid to escape in order to be successful and do it. I believe Crito is trying to shame him into escaping so that he can clear his conscious about getting I 'm in prison in the first place and having the opportunity to get him out and not take it. In sum, then, the issue is whether it is wrong to disobey authority or whether it is okay to disobey authority. My personal view is that it is wrong to disobey authority, unless I am in a situation where I believe it would be completely wrong to continue, and I question how far I will go before I reach a point where there is shame for what I have done. Though I recognize that authority might be more knowledgable about a subject than their inferior, I still support that different people are going to have different types of moral wrongs and rights, and should be

The experimenter’s employee, known as Prozi, is asked to press the button to shock the actor, believing that there was an actual shock going into his body. Through this process, the shocks get worse and worse and end up making the Learner go unconscious. It is at this point where the Prozi asks the experimenter if he must continue and without thinking, the experimenter said yes and to carry on. The Prozi begins to get upset that he is causing a man so much pain and tells the experimenter that he will not be liable or take responsibility for any of the damage caused by the shocks. Without any arguing the experimenter complies and carry on with the experiment. However, what the Prozi did not ask about or take into consideration was “the experimenter did not threaten the subjects with punishment — such as loss of income, community ostracism, or jail — for failure to obey” (Milgram par. 54). No threat at all was expressed by the authority to the Learner. The learner took it upon themselves to assume there was consequences for not obeying their superior. It is a natural thought to believe that punishment and consequences would be certain for not obeying authority, but they never asked