Socrates: Breaking the Law
When are we justified in breaking the law?
In the case of Socrates I believe him breaking the law was justifiable, although I don’t believe what he did was really breaking the law especially today in modern government. Today we are free with our speech, press and free to do what we want within limitations of laws.
According to Mill “The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” I think what he is saying is that as long as what we are doing does not hurt or disrupt the freedom of someone else. In the case of Martin Luther King Jr. He has pushed himself to fight for what he believed in during the civil rights movement to the extent of being jailed. His religious beliefs were to fight for what was morally right, regardless of the law and eventually because of his passion he was able to help abolish segregation in our country. There are many people in this world that has broken laws and rules in order to stand up for what they believe in like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Rosa Parks. Although what they did was breaking the law, they have changed the law today because of their passion and there fight for a better government.
Well in my opinion I also believe that breaking the law would be ok if the law was unjust. For example if someone is about to die so you speed on the freeway to save their life or to kill a person who has just raped you, out of self-defense. Although it is against the law to murder someone there are exceptions in extreme cases, or when you know the law is unfair to many, and breaking the law would not result in inflicting pain to someone else. Although the law does keep peace and helps to punish those who have broken them, I think each case should be handled individually because the law should not take freedom away from those who have morally done something they
In the case of Socrates I believe him breaking the law was justifiable, although I don’t believe what he did was really breaking the law especially today in modern government. Today we are free with our speech, press and free to do what we want within limitations of laws.
According to Mill “The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it.” I think what he is saying is that as long as what we are doing does not hurt or disrupt the freedom of someone else. In the case of Martin Luther King Jr. He has pushed himself to fight for what he believed in during the civil rights movement to the extent of being jailed. His religious beliefs were to fight for what was morally right, regardless of the law and eventually because of his passion he was able to help abolish segregation in our country. There are many people in this world that has broken laws and rules in order to stand up for what they believe in like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, and Rosa Parks. Although what they did was breaking the law, they have changed the law today because of their passion and there fight for a better government.
Well in my opinion I also believe that breaking the law would be ok if the law was unjust. For example if someone is about to die so you speed on the freeway to save their life or to kill a person who has just raped you, out of self-defense. Although it is against the law to murder someone there are exceptions in extreme cases, or when you know the law is unfair to many, and breaking the law would not result in inflicting pain to someone else. Although the law does keep peace and helps to punish those who have broken them, I think each case should be handled individually because the law should not take freedom away from those who have morally done something they