PHILOS 1B03 Lecture Notes - Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau, American Thinker
14 Mar 2014
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
The deliberate breaking of the law for the purpose of addressing an injustice, or what is perceived to be an injustice, in an otherwise reasonably just society. The general idea of civil disobedience has been around since at least the greeks but was terminologically introduced by the american thinker henry david thoreau in 1849 as the title of a short essay. In civil disobedience", thoreau argued that private citizen should consider himself morally responsible for the actions he commits on the behalf of his government. It is morally justifiable for the individual to act in the contravention of the law if the law stands in opposition to one"s moral convictions. Thoreau refused to pay taxes and wrote the essay in jail, one day and one night. To ensure that the action has the best possible change to address the public"s sense of justice.
