Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem

He provides the relationship between student and teacher as an example of rational authority. Fromm states, “The interests of the teacher and the student, in the ideal case, lie in the same direction. The teacher is satisfied if he succeeds in furthering the student; if he has failed to do so, the failure is his and the student’s” (624). This example illustrates the definition of rational authority clearly and concisely. Fromm continues to clearly explain his definitions with the example for irrational authority, using the example of a master and slave to show the irrational authority people may obey. He describes irrational authority by using the slave and master

In "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem," Erich Fromm (1963) argues that society will self-destruct without achieving freedom through disobedience. Fromm begins with analogies of Hebrew and Greek mythology showing how disobedience to a god freed humans. Using this correlation, Fromm shows freedom as a condition for disobedience, and vice- versa. Therefore, Fromm proclaims that without disobedience the human race could destroy itself within a generation.

“Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.” Henry David Thoreau, a well known essayist, wrote: Walden. Thoreau supports Wilde’s claim of disobedience promoting social progress. He mentions that people who live in obedience are not living at all. Progress is defined as a forward or onward movement toward a destination. The only way society can progress is through evolution, as people grow from a simple neanderthal to complex modern humans like us. And in order to evolve, there must be a break in pattern: disobedience-failure or refusal to obey rules in authority. There is no development if everyone is a collective mind. Examples are seen in Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 with the protagonist, Montag,

The author exemplifies the ways that disobedience helps the society and its contribution to furthering the human race but notes on the fact that blind obedience may eventually account for the end of civilization.

Civil disobedience is often not the most effective, safe, or the most viable option, but what happens if it is the only option. Should people be punished for speaking their voice and correcting an injustice against them even though it is illegal? According to harvard professor Johns Rawls most acts of true civil disobedience are morally justified. Although civil disobedience being illegal, it is morally justified in a democracy because it protects the legitimacy of a democracy, gets rid of unregulated unjust rule of majority, and sometimes is the only way for a group to be heard.

The Mpemba Effect is the observation that warm water freezes quicker than cold water in certain circumstances. The warm water seems counterintuitive but ultimately catalyzes the freezing process. The warm water represents disobedience and the freezing process represents social progress. Disobedience has a negative connotation, which contradicts the idea of positive progression but in many cases, can actually accelerate it. Many commonly misinterpret disobedience as violence, when in actuality, some of the most powerful reformers in history have emphasized nonviolence. Rosa Parks, the Greensboro Sit-ins, and the Birmingham Campaign all validate the idea that disobedience generates social progress.

In Eric Fromm’s article “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem”, he is stating how he believes in order to be successful in life, you need to be disobedient rather than obedient. He also is giving many examples of how disobedience has been effective in the past. I believe that he is correct in a sense but also incorrect in other ways. I personally believe that in some cases disobedience is a necessity to succeed. But I also believe that in some cases, it’s more of a burden. There are many examples that support both views. According to Fromm, people who disobey rather than obey the authority are actually helping themselves.

One significant social justice issue in contemporary culture is the negative influence social conformity has on the encouragement of civil disobedience. Since the modern world is a multicultural melting pot, being one’s own person can go against traditional norms throughout the community. This is a problem that matters because social conformity is a surprising phenomenon that forces people surrender to it without resistance. By capitulating to the pressure of conformity and refusing to be a free-standing individual, one is fearing punishment and social ostracism. Contemporary society struggles to define itself and its cultural norms resulting from the extreme fear of authority’s punishment and competing values of conformism and individualism.

Das Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (The Ministry for State Security), commonly known as the Stasi, secretly committed espionage over the citizens of the German Democratic Republic from 1950 to 1990 in order to combat dissenting thought against the Socialist Party of Germany using a vast network of wiretaps, informants, and spies. The 2006 German film Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others in English) follows one Stasi officer, Captain Gerd Wiesler, through his assignment to monitor the actions of Georg Dreyman, a famous playwright that is suspected of west-German sympathies. As the operation progresses, Wiesler finds himself becoming disillusioned with the regime he was once loyal to and more empathetic towards Dreyman, despite the suspicions of Wiesler's higher officers. This raises a key question: How and why does Wiesler disobey the orders of his superiors, some of which are his friends, when faced with great risk and no support? Furthermore, why does his conviction crumble later in the story when he complies with the orders to interrogate the famous actress Christa-Maria Sieland, Dreyman's love interest? In order to gain a better

Laws have been known in the United States since the founding fathers coexisted. Resistance, whether it is peaceful or not, has been around too. Yet, resistance against the laws can impact to the free society we live in today, there are some positive factors for peaceful resistance against the laws.

Everyone disobeys at one point in their life. They either lie to their parents or hide something from a friend or talk back to a teacher. No one in the world is perfect. In 1891,an Irish author by the name of Oscar Wilde once stated,” Disobedience, in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is man’s original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made and through rebellion.”

In the dictionary, civil disobedience is defined as “the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest”. The framers, knowing that someday, someone might attempt to restrict or altogether take away our basic rights as citizens, they provided them with protection through the Bill of Rights. Our honorable founders also created laws intended to safeguard our way of life and protect the people of the United States of America from all those that might try to create upheaval and disrupt the national pride of Americans. But when the citizens of our great country decide to protest and resist the very laws intended to protect us, our society falters, and it is negatively impacted by their decision.

The “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem” was written by Erich Fromm. The author was a writer in the twentieth century. He did various things and had various jobs. The author talks about the effects of obedience and disobedience. He explains that the world we live in today will be destroyed through disobedience. Fromm uses mythological and religious figures to explain how this theory makes sense. Fromm argues that society goes on without accomplishing freedom through disobedience. Some forms of disobedience are acceptable, but others may be too harsh and unnecessary. Fromm strongly believes that humans should be disobedient and if not they will not be successful in life.

"Never in the history of man­kind have so many lived so freely, so rightfully, so humanely. This open democratic republic is man’s highest achievement—not only for what it has already accom­plished, but more importantly be­cause it affords the greatest op­portunity for orderly change and the realization of man’s self-re­newing aspirations." (Civil Disobedience: A Threat to Our Society- Morris Leibman). I can honestly say that I believe full-heartedly in the above statement. Residing in the best country in the world means that we as citizens have the most opportune moments at our hands to let our voices be heard, and to speak our minds and hearts. Peaceful protesting, peaceful resistance to laws that we don't agree with is necessary. We were not meant

In history, man has always been known to disobey. As much as this sounds like a negative thing, it has actually led to much progress.