Preview

Law Being Unjust: Plato, Thoreau And King

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
149 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Law Being Unjust: Plato, Thoreau And King
As far back as one looks, society has wrestled with the concept of a Law being unjust or just. Numerous influential people from history such as Plato, Thoreau, and King all have different views on what determines a law to be just, or unjust. Plato describes this as, if one was to see a law an unjust and goes again that law or breaks it then they shall face any consequences given. On the other hand, Thoreau sees as though every individual has the right to determine if a law is Just or unjust. Leaving the individual, the right to resist. While King takes this idea and states, that each person does have the right to resist, but no change can be made by a single person. Instead it takes a mass movement and multiple people collectively coming together

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Human law and government are subordinate and antagonists to each other. Thoreau proposes that in an instance when each odd is against one another, an individual must choose their own moral path instead of the government path if necessary. Thoreau explains that people are not put in this world to make it a better place to live in, rather than to simply live it. He then describes that it is not man’s duty to devote himself to the moral wrong. It is man’s duty to avoid the moral wrong. For instance, if the government tells you to either kill your family members or be sent to jail, it is your duty to obey your conscience. Furthermore, Thoreau explains that the majority is not always correct either and thus, do not accurately determine justice. Although government has a place in human existence, man must eventually follow his own moral decisions and disregard human…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    King, however, didn’t advocate citizens transcending the law, but rather, Dr. King believed that in order to remedy injustice in society, people must openly break the unjust law and accept punishment in showing “highest respect for the law”(King p.23). In a rather interesting yet extreme example, King relates civil disobedience to the Holocaust: “It was ‘illegal’ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. But I am sure that, if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws”(King p.23). King cites such an example to bring out the visceral reaction of the audience, given the Holocaust’s widespread negative publicity and condemnation. Thus, King manipulates the reader’s emotions to bring them on board with the idea of civil disobedience. No one would dare question the rectitude of aiding a helpless Jew. King attempts direct the same negative connotation of the Holocaust to segregation in the U.S. to fight injustice in…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    When a government is unjust it represents the people and their actions. How can they give up their rights when the government is not benefiting the people? An unjust government is a disgrace and Thoreau will not stand for it; and to change this the government must be protested. They ignore minorities and do not give them the same advantages as others. How can the United States be free if the government is…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King talks about the difference between unjust and just laws. He tells us that everyone has a moral code to adhere to with accordance the laws that are just. Yet, the laws that are seen as unjust, should be unfollowed by the people. According to King, just law is a moral law or the law of God, whereas unjust law is made up by humans and does not have anything common with eternal and natural law. MLK would advise the people to disobey this act in any way possible, an unjust law is not one that should be followed. MLK was very adamant about this, the laws that are unfair to the people are meant to be disobeyed in order to hopefully change…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience,” was one of King’s focus points which led him to believe in disobeying unjust laws. King felt unjust laws could be described as ones that were…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau states in the text that this exact lack of scrupulous intentions would affect the decision-making and state of mind of any individual citizen. "If... the machine of government... is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law." "It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support." (On Duty of Civil Disobedience.) Thoreau explains that every citizen has the obligation to oppose all unjust occurrences and has his or her own individual responsibility within their own…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “If the law requires you to be the agent of injustice, then, I say, break the law” (Henry Thoreau) This famous quote is taken from the famous essay Civil Disobedience written in 1848, Civil Disobedience still stands as an expression of moral and individual conscience against a un just government. To begin, the quote written by Henry Thoreau, “If the law requires you to be the agent of injustice, then, I say, break the law” is essentially saying If following the law results in a wrong done to another person, then do not follow the law, and that morals from human to human come before government rules or laws resulting in disobedience.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    King portrays what would happen if people followed a corrupt leader and allow power to grow uncontrollably; it would result in a tragedy like the Holocaust. In addition, he also acknowledges that, like the Hungarian Freedom Fighters, if you do what you believe is right then you will accomplish a positive improvement in society. Furthermore, Thoreau accentuates the importance of using your moral sense to determine whether the laws you are FOLLOWING follow your values because the first priority is to be a righteous man and then a subject to authority. Miller also contributes to this argument by disciplining his readers to never fear the cost of rebelling against the dominant opinion because that cost is worth the change their rebellion would achieve. The ability of civil disobedience is important to have because it ensures the protection of being manipulated easily by a higher power. If you do have the strength to question authority than your rights will always be…

    • 1749 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    For instance, King compared the difference between the just laws and the unjust laws to explain for his willingness to break laws: “An unjust law is a code … be considered democratically structured?” Here, King pointed out that the act of segregation was considered unjust because it was not democratically structured. Also, he believed that the laws could only be just when everyone was willing to follow it and it should be considered by all not just by the white society. In other words, by using the facts, King made a strong and convincing argument against the government, which supported the segregation law as a just law. Furthermore, King continued with his logic in saying that such unjust laws should not be preserved by using moral means: “So I have tried to make … right deed for the wrong reason.” Although King agreed that Mr. Connor and the policemen were doing the right thing in ending the protest in a nonviolent way, he pointed out it was ironic that they were in fact protecting an immoral end or injustice. In fact, King asked the clergymen to look outside for the true cause of his protest, which was to end the injustice in Birmingham, rather than commend the police for their good actions in preserving a wrongdoing.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of god (King).” Basically King is saying a just law is one that everyone can agree on to be morally right. Justice Rawls states justice as “The sense of justice is continuous with the love of mankind.” However, the more complicated question that Dr. King dissects is : What makes a law unjust. King suggests that an unjust law does not match up with morality. If a law degrades human personality it is unjust, giving the segregated a false sense of inferiority. (King). He also suggests that if the minority of a given law had no say in the democratic process of making this law, it is in no way…

    • 1822 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” inspired a revolution of men to do what is right. His term: civil disobedience, refers to people protesting unjust laws by refusing to comply with them. This process is not just for any laws and practices but ones that cannot be resolved by the Democratic process. In his time, Thoreau referred to slavery and the Mexican-American War. Thoreau found both of these pieces of history to be hypocritical of the United States moral values. The United States stands for the home of the free when, in fact, they enslaved people. He refused to be a part of the government and He showed his civil disobedience by not paying taxes. He was put in jail for this, saying: “Under a government which imprisons any unjustly,…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the 1954 Supreme court decision outlining segregation in public schools improved because of the “Law’ and not because of “moral” acceptance. Dr. King is specific in describing two types of laws: the just laws, and unjust laws. Dr. King referred to St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all”. He connected just laws to moral law or the law of God. He described an unjust law as a man-made code that does not kinship or is out of harmony with the moral law rooted in eternal or natural law. King makes the difference clear by describing an unjust law as not binding on the majority of people or itself. The majority follows a just law and minority as well, equal and distributed…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    King says an unjust law is “a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself….difference made legal.”…

    • 605 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Unjust Laws

    • 1053 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Firstly, one must define what an unjust law is. According to Martin Luther King, an unjust law is “any law that degrades human personality” (King 179). In other words, it is a law that is directed against a certain group of people or is inflicted on a minority. He continues on by stating that “an unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself” (King 179), meaning that any law that causes a person to suffer simply because they do not agree with this majority is an incorrect and unjust law.…

    • 1053 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Unjust Laws

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages

    To begin, however, I believe it is necessary to define an "unjust" law. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust." (King, 3) According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority compels a minority group to obey, but does not make binding on itself." (King, 4)…

    • 1740 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays