Government has its origins in the evil of man and is therefore a necessary evil at best.” He goes on to say that “government's sole purpose is to protect life, liberty and property, and that a government should be judged solely on the basis of the extent to which it accomplishes this goal.” Basically, Paine is stating to the common people that they have the opportunity to form their own representation of government and do it in a way that truly represents their wants and needs. He is also knocking the form of government the British have and elaborating on why they need to separate due to their own needs for America. Paine would later go into more depth of the style of government Great Britain rules with. The second and perhaps most important key point Paine was trying to explain was the Monarchy rule
Erich Fromm, however, in his literary article “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” presents a distinguished view of obedience as opposed to disobedience in society. He was an outstanding writer and thinker in the twentieth century. Writing this article in the tension and fear of nuclear annihilation after the missile crisis, Fromm claims that both obedience and disobedience have their negative and positive aspects depending on the circumstances, and at times, disobedience can be justified whereas obedience can be immoral. The argument made by Fromm in this article appears to be persuasive and logical, for he provides several convincible reasons and stories to uphold his idea that most people’s obedience to the wrong authority may cause harm to others and disobedience, on the other hand, is actually beneficial to the furtherance of human race. Fromm’s literary article mainly analyzes the concepts of obedience and disobedience as well as their effects on humanity.
Locke argues that all men are of the same species making them all equal and placed on the same rank. He uses this to justify why all human beings deserve to participate in government and not be ruled blindly by an absolute monarch. During this time kings were viewed as superior to other human beings; Locke argues that since we all are of the same species that their is no “superior” human being. This point then helps Locke explain why all humans deserve to take part in how they are governed. Along with his ideas of human equality and the elimination of social hierarchy, Locke also advocated man's natural right to freedom.
“Analyze Beccaria’s argument against the judicial torture within the framework of Enlightnment values, and explain if you find his position still relevant today.” Cesare Beccaria, an enlightenment era philosopher that argued against the many problems that were wrong with the judicial system. He argued against the judicial torture by using the enlightenment ideas, since torture it was a big concern in his time and that it was lacking fairness and usefulness. Beccaria’s fundamental faith that he truly believed in was that all human beings are rational creatures that can join each other in peace and harmony in order to achieve a mutual benefit. Since the enlightenment ideals consisted of a social contract that all made political authority a legitimate authority because of the individuals within the society who joined together for a mutual benefit. Meaning that the authority that was elected by the society had to be beneficial to the society; as well as the right and wrong actions depended on the effect that these actions had on the unhappiness and happiness of an individual.
However, unlike King and Ghandi, Henry Thoreau believed that civil disobedience could be used violently against an unjust government, once even defending a bloody attack on the federal arsenal in 1859. So while King and Gandhi's ideas did differ from Henry Thoreau's, they also had very similar ideas at the same time. They all resisted things that they felt were wrong and stood by it. While Gandhi was working on a concept of nonviolent resistance, he became impressed with Henry Thoreau's idea of disobeying what he felt was wrong after reading Civil Disobedience, while King eventually went on to adapt Gandhi's idea during the Civil Rights Movement, which meant doing it as peacefully as possible. King always paid tribute to Gandhi as one of the most important sources of his own values, while Gandhi used Thoreau’s thoughts in developing “Satyagraha” which is a term that Gandhi used to describe his policy of nonviolent resistance.
Ingeniously, the journey that the reader experiences begins and ends at the same spot - Miller's acceptance of the world. In the first part Orwell focuses on a curiosity of Miller's book. He tries to uncover whether a publication that refuses to take a political stand in a world moving rapidly towards World War II, can actually be a “good” book. After comparing it with several other authors with similar style (e.g. Whitman, Joyce), Orwell finds its main quality in the way it focuses on an ordinary human being.
Civil Disobedience Henry David Thoreau’s essay, “Civil Disobedience” (1849), argues that citizens of good conscience should actively oppose unjust government policies through nonviolent resistance. Thoreau does this by critically evaluating the federal government, using antithesis for comparisons, and appealing with ethos. Thoreau’s purpose is to show what is wrong in American society in order to show what can be done to fix these wrongs. Given the advanced diction used in this essay, Thoreau was aiming for an educated audience interested in hearing different ideas about what is flawed in America and how it can be resisted. Thoreau’s essay on civil disobedience is a seminal work in the American literary canon, and it is clear that his treatise on concentrated, thoughtful resistance has been influential in subsequent social and political movements which themselves have been recorded by writers.
Through this they convey the idea that if a current government is not function as it should, it should be done away with and replaced. The writers also use contrast. The text states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
I think Paine’s writing was so effective because of the arguments he produced such as how all mankind should be treated equally and that there should be no separation of kings or subjects. He also spoke on the evils of having a hereditary succession in a monarchal system. Paine made several great points one such as why is the king taxing the
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” These are the words are founding Father’s came up with to keep our people at rest and at peace. But they did not account for the thousands of slaves that are denied their rights. A fairly accurate portrayal would be that of Harriot Jacob’s autobiography of her life, Incidents In The Life of a Slave Girl. Under her penn name Linda, Jacobs has written a tragically beautiful novel of her life as slave and her journey to freedom.