The Blind Obedience And Authority - 1237 Words

Blind Obedience to Authority Millions of people were killed in Nazi Germany in concentration camps however, Hitler wouldn’t have been able to kill them all, nor could just a handful of people. Obedience is when society influences where/ when an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually the authority figure. It is assumed that without such an order the person would not have acted in this way. In order to obey authority, the obeying person has to accept that it is legitimate for the command to be made of them. Obedience involves a hierarchy of status. Therefore, the person giving the order has a higher status than the person receiving the order. Adolf Eichmann was executed in 1962 for his part in organizing the Holocaust, in which six million Jewish people, as well as gypsies, communists and trade unionists were transported to death camps and murdered in Nazi Germany and surrounding countries under Nazi control. Eichmann took part in the planning of the collection, transportation and extermination of those to be killed (Saul McLeod, 2007). At his trial in 1961, Eichmann expressed surprise at being hated by Jewish people, saying that he had merely obeyed orders, and surely obeying orders could only be a good thing (Saul McLeod, 2007). According to McLeod, Eichmann was declared sane by six psychiatrists, he had a normal family life and observers at his trial described him as very average. Given that there appears to be nothingShow MoreRelatedDisobedience Vs Obedience1700 Words   |  7 PagesIn society, obedience to authority is ingrained in humanity from an early age, causing some individuals to blindly obey orders withou t contemplating the credibility of the source. In psychoanalyst Erich Fromm’s article â€Å"Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,† he explains that throughout human history obedience has been associated with virtue and disobedience with sin (Fromm 127). Fromm suggests that our conscience is an internalized voice of authority (126). Fromm claims individuals needRead MoreEssay on Obedience1004 Words   |  5 PagesComparative Critique Obedience and Disobedience has been a part of key moments in history. Many have studied forms of obedience to learn how it affects people and situations. For example, Stanley Milgram conducted a well-known experiment in which the subject, named the â€Å"teacher† must shock the â€Å"learner† every time he doesn’t remember a word pair from a memory test. The focus of this study is on the teacher, and whether they will administer killing shocks when told to by an authority figure. Another well-knownRead MoreA Few Good Men By Erich Fromm1403 Words   |  6 Pages Studying obedience to authority most often reveals human nature repugnantly; however, it teaches society individual capability and, thus, it can prevent unethical actions. In the film, A Few Good Men, Col. Nathan R. Jessup, the commanding officer at Guantanamo Bay Cuba orders a â€Å"code red† – an unsanctioned disciplinary action against Pfc. William T. Santiago. Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson and Pfc. Louden Downey, two U.S. Marines, are the fellow platoon members that implement the code red, and LtRead MoreObedience, By Stanley Milgram853 Words   |  4 Pages Obedience is practiced everyday throughout everyone s life. It has been engraved in everyone growing up. Students are taught at an early age to obey the higher authority’s commands in school, at home, and in public whether it is the teacher, principal, police officer, and even other parents. Additionally, parents too have to practice obedience. They must be follow orders from their bosses, and they must o bey the laws. As a result, obedience becomes second nature, which exposes everyone to problemsRead MoreOutline the Key Issue for the Social Approach1078 Words   |  5 PagesBlind obedience is when a person carries out an order even if it goes against their moral values or codes. Prejudice is an unjust attitude towards an individual solely based on their membership of a social group. Both of these issues were present in Abu Ghraib Prison (Iraq). They occurred when American soldiers commit terrible act upon Iraqi prisoners staying there. The soldiers claimed they were merely following orders, but scepticisms have been made about whether it was blind obedience or prejudiceRead MoreThe Levels Of Obedience1224 Words   |  5 Pagesthere was a division of labor. Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi organizer of these mass murders, never saw the direct effects of the genocide he was orchestrating. After the Holo-caust, Stanley Milgram conducted an experiment to study the levels of obedience to autho rity; he used his experiment to find where evil resided in people and to discover the cause of the Holo-caust. Some people found his findings useful information, while others thought his experiment was morally unacceptable due to his use of deceptionRead MoreObedience Is, As Stanley Milgram Writes, â€Å"As Basic An Element1219 Words   |  5 PagesObedience is, as Stanley Milgram writes, â€Å"as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to† (Milgram 1). The act of obedience holds positive connotations, but the sometimes negative effects of blind obedience are explored in Stanley Milgram’s â€Å"The Perils of Obedience† and Diana Baumrind’s â€Å"Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience.† Though Milgram does analyze how the subjects of the experiment blame their actions on the experimenters, Baumrind argues the bad effectsRead MoreEssay about Obligation to Obey Governing Bodies1427 Words   |  6 Pag esI believe it is safe to say that the subjects of any legitimate state have an obligation to at obey their governing bodies. Underlying my own obedience to my countrys laws are a number of reasons - an understanding of my obligation to take responsibility for my own actions, a recognition of my governments authority over me, a belief that the laws of my country are well-founded, and a fear of the consequences of disobeying said laws. Without laws, a society would quickly crumble into disorderRead MoreEssay on Obedience to Authority574 Words   |  3 PagesObedience to Authority Today our society raises us to believe that obedience is good and disobedience is bad. We are taught that we should all do what we’re told and that the people that are disobedient are almost always bad people. Society tells us this, but it is not true. Most people will even be obedient to the point of causing harm to others, because to be disobedient requires the courage to be alone against authority. In Stanley Milgram’s Perils of Obedience experiment, his studiesRead MoreThe Dangers Of Social Pressure1561 Words   |  7 Pagesinnate senses. In â€Å"Opinions and Social Pressure† by Solomon Asch, and â€Å"Perils of Obedience† by Stanley Milgram, the two psychologists conduct a series of experiments to observe how the influence of social pressure leads to conformity and obedience to authority. Both experiments demonstrate the adverse effects of social pressure, for conformity involves a sacrifice of self-interests, while blind obedience to authority results in the harm of others. According to the results of the experiments, social