How can we justify from a moral point of view an act of civil disobedience. Unjust laws made by a democratic legislature can be changed by a democratic legislature. The intent of this document is to show you a sample of a novice case on the civil disobedience topic that incorporates evidence, a value, criterion, and contention level arguments. University of hagen fernuniversitaet hagen course hero. Civil disobedience is an ad hoc device at best, and ad hoc measures in a law society are dangerous. Three arguments which use the notion of democracy against civil disobedience can be distinguished. The first appeals to some prin ciple such as majority rule. The existence of lawful channels of change makes civil disobedience unnecessary.
Download fulltext pdf carl cohen and tom regan, the animal rights debate. In this article we will focus on the moral arguments for and against its use in a democracy. Pdf carl cohen and tom regan, the animal rights debate. For example, ghandis civil disobedience was instrumental in winning liberty for india, and martin luther kings tactics won basic rights for black people in america. Aug 18, 2016 like any form of protest or uprising against the government, ruling class, oppressors or occupiers, civil disobedience has certain advantages and some shortcomings. Civil disobedience is conduct that obliges us to think about our obligation to obey. Civil disobedience in a democracy is morally justified. Civil disobedience cannot be justified in a democracy. Conscience, tactics, and the law university of michigan faculty reprints carl cohen on. Have you ever heard of civil disobedience, or even have an idea of what it means. Civil marriage is distinct from religious marriage. If the majority of the animal rights movement embraces, as one author notes some activists have, a \general disillusionment, or even hostility towards science itself. Tactics, and the law university of michigan faculty reprints by carl cohen. I have a group debate project and we need help coming up with arguments against civil disobedience.
Historic instances of civil disobedience are briefly noted. Civil disobedience and political obligation can the two coexist. Moral judgment, historical reality, and civil disobedience. During that war cohen, in active protest, defended selective conscientious objection see. The term civil disobedience was coined by henry david thoreau in his. Civil disobedience stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Motto in civil disobedience, thoreau society bulletin, 67. William smith 2016 criminal law and philosophy 10 4. The ultimate conceptual point is summarized by carl cohen in the following terms. The following essay will attempt to evaluate the approach taken by dworkin and habermas on their views of civil disobedience. The war with mexico was not declared until 1846, whereas thoreau had refused to pay his tax as early as 1843. February 23, 2017, giulia squadrin, leave a comment.
Too often civil disobedience involves productive violence directed against innocent members of the public, or against the police, often causing serious injuries. The animal rights debate article pdf available in ethics 13. Cohen, a university of michigan philosopher, posits that every citizen has a prima facie duty to obey the nations laws. According to thoreau, what is the very best kind of government. In a world where violence runs rampant, and lawlessness is second nature, it is easy to see that civil disobedience is not the most effective means of resolving a conflict, and therefore is not justifiable. Kaczinskys acts of violence against various individuals from the 1970s through. Such command no more respect than men of straw, or a lump of dirt. The term civil disobedience refers to the practice of deliberately disrespecting and disobeying laws in order to advance a common cause or a moral principle, or to take drastic actions aimed at changing a particular political setting or a specific legal provision. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience.
On this first argument, disobedience, be it criminal or civil, is wrong and. Civil disobedience may be justifiable, in some cases, when and if an individual disobeys a law in order to bring an issue to court, as a test case. According to current definitions of civil disobedience, drawn from the work of john rawls and carl cohen, ecosaboteurs are not civil disobedients because their disobedience is not a form of. Specific disobedience breeds disrespect and promotes general disobedience. To get back to the founding principles, as articulated in the declaration of independence, zinn argues that we are going to need to go outside the law, to stop obeying the laws that demand killing or that allocate wealth the way it has been done, or.
Civil disobedience and bioethics by carl cohen a morally right act is one that ought to be done. The broadwater farm riots and the miners strike are both instances where groups have injured or killed policemen. Conscience, tactics, and the law university of michigan faculty reprints by carl cohen isbn. A morally good agent is one who generally does what he believes he ought to do. Such an action involves respect for legality and a protest directed only at a particular law which the individual seeks an opportunity to prove to be unjust.
Any arguments you might have are really appreciated. Well according to the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy civil disobedience is a nonviolent act to raise awareness about an issue that you believe should be changed. The concept of civil disobedience was introduced by david henry thoreau in 1849 by what he experienced in the fight against slavery system in usa. Pdf civil disobedience, punishment, and injustice candice. Civil disobedience is a deliberate violation of the law for a personal, moral or political reason. In citing the war, he was simply taking advantage of the fact that the war was a particularly unpopular one in the north. Even though traditional criteria of civil disobedience need to be revisited in the digital age, organisations or disobedience actors might themselves in their actions be welladvised to comply with the principles they fight for. Civil disobedience is conduct that obliges us to think about our obligation to obey the law about the ground of that obligation. But there may be a great difference between the act a person ought to do in a given circumstance, and the act that person earnestly believes he ought to do. Civil disobedience has a history of overcoming oppression and unpopular policies where all other methods have failed. It can nonetheless be justified under certain circumstances, to protest against systematic. A venture in philosophical skepticism whose only practical effect might be to dissuade an isolated individual from civil disobedience on the basis of uncertainty. Critically evaluate dworkins and habermass approach to civil disobedience.
The punishment of civil disobedience its nature and necessity is discussed. Activism, civil disobedience, online civil disobedience, hacktivism, wikileaks, whistle. Justification of civil disobedience by groups and individuals. Civil disobedience by carl cohen, 9780231086462, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Civil disobedience under these circumstances is at best deplorable and at worst destructive. Best arguments against civil disobedience february 23, 2017, giulia squadrin, leave a comment the term civil disobedience refers to the practice of deliberately disrespecting and disobeying laws in order to advance a common cause or a moral principle, or to take drastic actions aimed at changing a particular political setting or a specific legal provision.
Now for arguments presented against civil disobedience. The book grows vaporous again as cohen contends that the nuremberg argument has never been fully or clearly formulated, hence there is no clear answer as to whether it can serve as a civil disobedience defense. Theory, practice, and ideology john rawls is widely credited for having offered the seminal and now standard account of civil disobedience. In his insightful critique of hannah arendts political philosophy, george kateb expresses surprise at her inclination to affirm, even celebrate, the phenomenon of civil disobedience. By putting civil in his title, thoreau may be trying to qualify that any disobedience should be nonviolence.
Carl cohen, law, speech and disobedience in civil disobedience, ed. When university administrators sought to censor the showing of. The case for selective pacifism, the nation, 8 july 1968, and defended some, but not all, civil disobedience. Jul 27, 1971 in its day, perhaps it gave empowerment to people that did not support that war. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed on, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. Do we justify it when the act itself finds a moral justification from the political obligation point of view or when it infringes on the life of the individual. Most commentators see henry david thoreaus political essays as an endorsement of liberal democracy, but this essay holds that thoreaus critique of majoritarianism and his model of civil disobedience may intend something much more radical. Carl cohen fleshes out the necessary connection between civil disobedience. To the best of my knowledge, there is no such thing as civil disobedience in law. Seven arguments against civil disobedience carl read more about arguments, disobedience, cohen and carl cohen. Civil disobedience is defined, and the several necessary elements in its definition are explained. Moreover, civil disobedience is largely unnecessary in a democratic government, due to the multiple legal means in which policy can be changed.