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The nature of authority
Religion and politics around the world
Religion and politics around the world
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Many political philosophers attempt to answer the problem of authority in society, many within the context of religion, as Maimonides and Spinoza did when offering solutions to this problem. The problem of authority is a paradox, that there can be no authority without determination and no determination without authority. Meaning that there cannot be an authority without a determination (a prior decision or ruling) and a prior decision or a determination cannot be made without an ultimate authority. The problem of authority has been reviewed and addressed by many philosophers hoping to offer a suitable answer to this paradox. This is a predicament that both Maimonides and Spinoza discuss and attempt to answer in their work. Maimonides and Spinoza …show more content…
He believes the sovereign ruler is an individual in power and has the power to determine the religion practiced. The relationship between the ruler and its subjects is based on the ruler considering their wants and needs. “To protect their position and retain power, they are very much obliged to work for the common good and direct all things by the dictate of reason,” (Spinoza 200) meaning that Spinoza views the sovereign ruler as an individual whose job is to direct and guide the public. Spinoza believes these rulers to be rational and that the rulers consider the best interest of their subjects. Therefore, the relationship, according to Spinoza, between the ruler, delegates, and subjects is essentially a revocable contract. The ruler according to Spinoza also has the power to determine on religious matters while not being a religious ruler. “...it is the subjects’ duty, as we have said, to carry out its command, and acknowledge no law other than what the highest power proclaims as law.” (Spinoza 201). The ruler is expected to follow the common best interest therefore the ruler’s subjects should be obedient and follow the ruler’s laws. Spinoza is clearly describing a more secular society. Spinoza also discusses the concept of a free state and how a subject and the authority interact within a free state, “…the individual may say and teach what he thinks without infringing the right and authority of the sovereign power that is, without disturbing the stability of the state.” (Spinoza 253). Spinoza supports a free state even if he does see the drawbacks; he claims that too much legal control over individuals can have more drawbacks than a free state. A free state is what allows individuals to be loyal to their state and remain in peace with their authority, versus being oppressed by laws and losing their faith in their leader. Spinoza believes a ruler, to be efficient, has to keep in mind his subjects’ best
Religion can be a powerful form of indoctrination. Religion in the case of Orgon and Voltaire’s situations were used to bypass all critical thought and vetting of their respective influencers. Malice and ignorance often lead to the same conclusions, but intention is key. By aligning with their subjects’ belief systems and establishing themselves, Tartuffe and Pangloss respectively, as powers of authority could sway their subordinates. Though Tartuffe and Pangloss both have authority and hidden motives; the overall means and intentions vary in their approaches.
He institution (the authorities) keeps correct doctrines and teach them to people when they are young, and nonconformists are silenced. When the doctrines change, the individuals don’t recognize it because it happens very slowly. Peirce argues that “this is the main and the best method to govern the masses, and especially theological and political doctrines are uphold by this method (i.e. we have a totalitarian system). It leads to peace, although slowly, and in the cost of individual freedom. It is also incomplete method, because everything cannot be regulated, but only the main opinions, and there will always exist dissident
To hold authority is to possess power, and when one has power over a person or people he or she is generally feared. In t...
The primary purpose of this essay is stated in the title. It is to consider whether certain principles presented in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence and commonly referred to as human rights are supported by the authority of God 's word. A secondary goal is to consider how society might be influenced to establish and maintain laws which agree with God 's moral authority. Yet a third goal is to consider how free exercise of human rights might be impacted by obedience and disobedience to God 's moral authority.
There is a significant difference between government and religious morals even though both are ethical authorities. These two moral authorities conflict with one another while both are to help people make sou...
Each day, billions of people throughout the world affirm their commitment to a specific idea; to be part of a society. While this social contract is often overlooked by most citizens, their agreement to it nevertheless has far-reaching consequences. Being a member of society entails relinquishing self-autonomy to a higher authority, whose aim should be to promote the overall good of the populace. While making this decision to become part of a commonwealth is usually performed without explicit deliberation, there is a common consensus amongst philosophers that something unique to the human experience is the driving force behind this decision. Contained within this something are highly contested points of debate amongst both past and contemporary political philosophers. Two such philosophers are Thomas Hobbes and Thomas Aquinas. Each of these political writers provide detailed arguments regarding the concept of natural law, the role that reason plays in this law, whether some laws are considered truly rational, and why some people choose not to follow certain principles even when they recognize them to be rational. By analyzing each of these arguments, we will arrive at the conclusion that even though the rational principles that reason provides us can easily be disregarded by the populace, that we can still find a common good within promulgating rational doctrine.
There are several arguments against philosophical anarchism. Most of the arguments are in line with either the theory that consent is not required or of the theory we have already consented. For the sake of being brief, this essay will attempt to refute only the latter of the two. Along with the idea of individual consent is the longstanding, traditional theory of the authority of God. Other arguments follow a less anarchist view and are that of tacit consent and more specifically that of majority consent.
...rinciples of law that were founded outside of his or her own opinion. They are not the source of what is just or unjust, but rather they merely apply the rules already established from years of social progression and political influence. Thus, when Divine Command theorists argue that they have successfully conquered the Euthyphro Argument, they must be reminded that the opposite is true, and the age-old dilemma has actually reduced their deities to magistrates of morality.
Ordinary people are willing to go against their own decision of right and wrong to fulfill the request of an authoritative figure, even at the expense of their own moral judgment and sense of what is right and wrong. Using a variety of online resources including The Perils of Obedience by Stanley Milgram this paper attempts to prove this claim.
Introduction 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 real life experiences. 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.
According to philosophers, there are four types of law that guide morality and behavior for humans. Eternal, divine, natural and civil laws all contribute to the quality of life for mankind, but these laws often get confused with each other. This paper will examine two instances of a clash between the civil laws of government and divine laws of religious conviction.
This essay hopes to define Spinoza’s reasoning behind his ‘Deus sive Natura’, arguing that God and Nature, or the universe, are but one substance. This separation is distinct to Spinoza’s substance monism, and argued through a geometric essay structure that allows reasoning to be accessible, as well as logical should the reasoning at each step have validity.
In “The Conflict of Autonomy and Authority” Robert Paul Wolff argues that the state’s authority is in conflict with having genuine autonomy. He reasons as follows. If there were a supreme political authority, which have a right to rule, there would be an obligation for a man to obey its laws. However, a man has an obligation to be autonomous, which means taking responsibility for making one’s own decisions about what one should do. Autonomous man has primary obligation to refuse to be ruled. Therefore, a supreme political authority does not have a right to claim authority over a man who has a moral obligation to be autonomous. He concludes by denying the concept of de jure legitimate state.
Authority cannot exist without obedience. Society is built on this small, but important concept. Without authority and its required obedience, there would only be anarchy and chaos. But how much is too much, or too little? There is a fine line between following blindly and irrational refusal to obey those in a meaningful position of authority. Obedience to authority is a real and powerful force that should be understood and respected in order to handle each situation in the best possible manner.
However, only a few in a life time choose not to be satisfied with only just survival rather they assume the yoke of redefining life for themselves and for others. In philosophy of religion, pantheism is usually in conflict with traditional religious authority, which claims that the pantheistic belief is nothing more than a blasphemous form of idolatrous worship. A man by the name Benedictus (Baruch) Spinoza took it upon his shoulders to construct an explainable theory of this deistic belief and as a result earned the name of the father of Pantheism. I, George Meza, had the privilege of investigating the life of this rational genius as he struggled along the path of enlightenment in a society that was as different to him as his theory of ethics was to the Synagogue and the Church. Spinoza’s works ranged from the political to the theistic, from the mathematical, to even the intellectual. I ask the question what trials and troubles in the life of Baruch Spinoza could birth such a passion for what was known at the time as heretical theology. What was the impact of Spinoza’s work on our technologically advanced society that has put aside terms such as G-d and ethic and has attempted to redefine the term free will?