Rex Martin
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198292937
- eISBN:
- 9780191599811
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198292937.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter is concerned with political obligation, i.e. with one's obligation to obey the laws of one's own country. Here, it is suggested that such an obligation (or one's ‘allegiance,’ as I ...
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This chapter is concerned with political obligation, i.e. with one's obligation to obey the laws of one's own country. Here, it is suggested that such an obligation (or one's ‘allegiance,’ as I prefer to call it) varies from system to system; it is one thing in Plato's republic but something quite different in a democratic system of rights. We are concerned, then, with the allegiance of a typical citizen, when acting in character, within a given system of political principles and institutions.It is argued that citizens have an obligation, a system‐specific duty, in a democratic system of rights to conform to the civil rights laws there. This institutional duty is then extended to take in one's duties towards some non‐rights laws (e.g. tax laws), but it never embraces literally all laws in that society. In the course of the analysis, the views of both John Simmons and John Rawls are criticized.Democratic institutions provide an example of an inherently imperfect procedure for making civil rights laws; the connection between such institutions and such laws represents at best only a probabilistic tendency. In the end, then, we find that citizens have no duty to conform to all non‐defective rights laws simply in so far as they are enacted laws; The typical citizen can be civilly disobedient with respect to some civil rights laws (subject to certain constraints, e.g. nonviolence) while still satisfying fully the conditions of allegiance in a democratic system of rights.Less
This chapter is concerned with political obligation, i.e. with one's obligation to obey the laws of one's own country. Here, it is suggested that such an obligation (or one's ‘allegiance,’ as I prefer to call it) varies from system to system; it is one thing in Plato's republic but something quite different in a democratic system of rights. We are concerned, then, with the allegiance of a typical citizen, when acting in character, within a given system of political principles and institutions.
It is argued that citizens have an obligation, a system‐specific duty, in a democratic system of rights to conform to the civil rights laws there. This institutional duty is then extended to take in one's duties towards some non‐rights laws (e.g. tax laws), but it never embraces literally all laws in that society. In the course of the analysis, the views of both John Simmons and John Rawls are criticized.
Democratic institutions provide an example of an inherently imperfect procedure for making civil rights laws; the connection between such institutions and such laws represents at best only a probabilistic tendency. In the end, then, we find that citizens have no duty to conform to all non‐defective rights laws simply in so far as they are enacted laws; The typical citizen can be civilly disobedient with respect to some civil rights laws (subject to certain constraints, e.g. nonviolence) while still satisfying fully the conditions of allegiance in a democratic system of rights.
Christopher J. Peters
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195387223
- eISBN:
- 9780199894338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387223.003.0010
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law
This short Epilogue parallels the Prologue by recalling another profound American crisis that raised the issue of official obedience to law: the Civil War, and in particular Lincoln's arguably ...
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This short Epilogue parallels the Prologue by recalling another profound American crisis that raised the issue of official obedience to law: the Civil War, and in particular Lincoln's arguably unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus in the war's early days. The Prologue uses Lincoln's suspension of habeas to illustrate two basic points about the limits of legal authority. First, the law remains subject to morality: Sometimes the morally correct thing will be to disobey the law, and the best the law can do is provide strong reasons to consider and respect its commands in times of crisis. Second, the law is constrained by reality: Its success requires a deep level of consensus about basic substantive and procedural values and about the imperative to peacefully resolve disputes. That consensus will not exist always and everywhere, and it requires attention to social and cultural issues, not merely legal ones.Less
This short Epilogue parallels the Prologue by recalling another profound American crisis that raised the issue of official obedience to law: the Civil War, and in particular Lincoln's arguably unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus in the war's early days. The Prologue uses Lincoln's suspension of habeas to illustrate two basic points about the limits of legal authority. First, the law remains subject to morality: Sometimes the morally correct thing will be to disobey the law, and the best the law can do is provide strong reasons to consider and respect its commands in times of crisis. Second, the law is constrained by reality: Its success requires a deep level of consensus about basic substantive and procedural values and about the imperative to peacefully resolve disputes. That consensus will not exist always and everywhere, and it requires attention to social and cultural issues, not merely legal ones.
Michael H. Kater
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195165531
- eISBN:
- 9780199872237
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195165531.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History
This book explores the underground history of jazz in Adolf Hitler's Germany. It offers a frightening and fascinating look at life and popular culture during the Third Reich, showing that for the ...
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This book explores the underground history of jazz in Adolf Hitler's Germany. It offers a frightening and fascinating look at life and popular culture during the Third Reich, showing that for the Nazis, jazz was an especially threatening form of expression. Not only were its creators at the very bottom of the Nazi racial hierarchy, but the very essence of jazz — spontaneity, improvisation, and, above all, individuality — represented a direct challenge to the repetitive, simple, uniform pulse of German march music and indeed everyday life. The fact that many of the most talented European jazz artists were Jewish only made the music more objectionable. The book looks at groups such as the Weintraub Syncopators, Germany's best indigenous jazz band; the Harlem Club of Frankfurt, whose male members wore their hair long in defiance of Nazi conventions; and the Hamburg Swings — the most daring radicals of all — who openly challenged the Gestapo with a series of mass dance rallies. More than once these demonstrations turned violent, with the Swings and the Hitler Youth fighting it out in the streets. In the end, jazz not only survived persecution, but became a powerful symbol of political disobedience — and even resistance — in wartime Germany. And as we witness the vacillations of the Nazi regime, we see that the myth of Nazi social control was, to a large degree, just that — Hitler's dictatorship never became as pure and effective a form of totalitarianism as we are sometimes led to believe.Less
This book explores the underground history of jazz in Adolf Hitler's Germany. It offers a frightening and fascinating look at life and popular culture during the Third Reich, showing that for the Nazis, jazz was an especially threatening form of expression. Not only were its creators at the very bottom of the Nazi racial hierarchy, but the very essence of jazz — spontaneity, improvisation, and, above all, individuality — represented a direct challenge to the repetitive, simple, uniform pulse of German march music and indeed everyday life. The fact that many of the most talented European jazz artists were Jewish only made the music more objectionable. The book looks at groups such as the Weintraub Syncopators, Germany's best indigenous jazz band; the Harlem Club of Frankfurt, whose male members wore their hair long in defiance of Nazi conventions; and the Hamburg Swings — the most daring radicals of all — who openly challenged the Gestapo with a series of mass dance rallies. More than once these demonstrations turned violent, with the Swings and the Hitler Youth fighting it out in the streets. In the end, jazz not only survived persecution, but became a powerful symbol of political disobedience — and even resistance — in wartime Germany. And as we witness the vacillations of the Nazi regime, we see that the myth of Nazi social control was, to a large degree, just that — Hitler's dictatorship never became as pure and effective a form of totalitarianism as we are sometimes led to believe.
Richard Sorabji
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199256600
- eISBN:
- 9780191712609
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256600.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Zeno of Citium, the Stoic founder, had tried out other definitions of emotion. One, defended by Chrysippus, was that emotion involves oscillating, like Medea, between accepting the right value ...
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Zeno of Citium, the Stoic founder, had tried out other definitions of emotion. One, defended by Chrysippus, was that emotion involves oscillating, like Medea, between accepting the right value judgement and disobeying it. But disobedience to reason is not the same as mistake. How can it be, and is it ever, combined with mistake? The Stoic Seneca (1st century CE) allows this by distinguishing three movements in anger. The first movement is the appearance that revenge is appropriate and the resulting shock to soul or body. The second is the mistaken assent to the appearance that revenge is appropriate. The third movement — the full emotion — moves from mistake to disobedience with the judgement that revenge is to be pursued, appropriate or not.Less
Zeno of Citium, the Stoic founder, had tried out other definitions of emotion. One, defended by Chrysippus, was that emotion involves oscillating, like Medea, between accepting the right value judgement and disobeying it. But disobedience to reason is not the same as mistake. How can it be, and is it ever, combined with mistake? The Stoic Seneca (1st century CE) allows this by distinguishing three movements in anger. The first movement is the appearance that revenge is appropriate and the resulting shock to soul or body. The second is the mistaken assent to the appearance that revenge is appropriate. The third movement — the full emotion — moves from mistake to disobedience with the judgement that revenge is to be pursued, appropriate or not.
Louise Antony
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576739
- eISBN:
- 9780191595165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576739.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
God is often conceived as a loving Father. It's argued in this chapter, however, that he is anything but. The God of the Hebrew Bible is far more concerned with his own glorification than with the ...
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God is often conceived as a loving Father. It's argued in this chapter, however, that he is anything but. The God of the Hebrew Bible is far more concerned with his own glorification than with the well-being of his human ‘children’. Indeed, his actions would constitute child abuse if perpetrated by a human parent. The author supports this indictment primarily through a close reading of the story of the Fall: in his relations with Adam and Eve, Yahweh's attitudes, motives, and methods contrast with those of the genuinely loving parent depicted in a parallel tale of prohibition and disobedience, the contemporary children's story Heckedy Peg. Corroborating evidence is drawn from narratives throughout the Hebrew Bible, including the story of the binding of Isaac and the testing of Job.Less
God is often conceived as a loving Father. It's argued in this chapter, however, that he is anything but. The God of the Hebrew Bible is far more concerned with his own glorification than with the well-being of his human ‘children’. Indeed, his actions would constitute child abuse if perpetrated by a human parent. The author supports this indictment primarily through a close reading of the story of the Fall: in his relations with Adam and Eve, Yahweh's attitudes, motives, and methods contrast with those of the genuinely loving parent depicted in a parallel tale of prohibition and disobedience, the contemporary children's story Heckedy Peg. Corroborating evidence is drawn from narratives throughout the Hebrew Bible, including the story of the binding of Isaac and the testing of Job.
André Béteille
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198080961
- eISBN:
- 9780199082049
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198080961.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Constitutional morality is important for constitutional laws to be effective. Without constitutional morality, the operation of a constitution tends to become arbitrary, erratic, and capricious. This ...
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Constitutional morality is important for constitutional laws to be effective. Without constitutional morality, the operation of a constitution tends to become arbitrary, erratic, and capricious. This chapter discusses constitutional morality in India, makes a distinction between ‘constitutional democracy’ and ‘populist democracy’, and argues that democracy has survived in India by moving away from the ideal of a constitutional democracy towards a more populist form. It looks at the Emergency of 1975–7 to show the connection between anarchy and the abuse of power as two forces that are both antithetical to constitutional morality. It also examines the link between constitutional morality and the principle of civil disobedience, which under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi became the cornerstone of India’s nationalist movement.Less
Constitutional morality is important for constitutional laws to be effective. Without constitutional morality, the operation of a constitution tends to become arbitrary, erratic, and capricious. This chapter discusses constitutional morality in India, makes a distinction between ‘constitutional democracy’ and ‘populist democracy’, and argues that democracy has survived in India by moving away from the ideal of a constitutional democracy towards a more populist form. It looks at the Emergency of 1975–7 to show the connection between anarchy and the abuse of power as two forces that are both antithetical to constitutional morality. It also examines the link between constitutional morality and the principle of civil disobedience, which under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi became the cornerstone of India’s nationalist movement.
Susan Tiefenbrun
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385779
- eISBN:
- 9780199776061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385779.003.005
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter provides a semiotic definition of the term civil disobedience which like the term terrorism has been misapplied in recent years. It reviews the history of civil disobedience in the ...
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This chapter provides a semiotic definition of the term civil disobedience which like the term terrorism has been misapplied in recent years. It reviews the history of civil disobedience in the United States and how it grew out of resistance and revolution.Less
This chapter provides a semiotic definition of the term civil disobedience which like the term terrorism has been misapplied in recent years. It reviews the history of civil disobedience in the United States and how it grew out of resistance and revolution.
Susan Tiefenbrun
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385779
- eISBN:
- 9780199776061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385779.003.006
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter explores Martin Luther King's views on civil disobedience as expressed in the memorable Letter from Birmingham Jail. The message contained in the Letter is that racial difference is ...
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This chapter explores Martin Luther King's views on civil disobedience as expressed in the memorable Letter from Birmingham Jail. The message contained in the Letter is that racial difference is nothing more than similarity disguised. The Letter deconstructs the myth that racial equality exists in America by first confirming the existence of racial differences, then rejecting the notion of ‘difference made legal’, a concept King considered to be the basis of unjust laws. King accomplished this deconstruction by playing a highly sophisticated structural and stylistic game of semiotics.Less
This chapter explores Martin Luther King's views on civil disobedience as expressed in the memorable Letter from Birmingham Jail. The message contained in the Letter is that racial difference is nothing more than similarity disguised. The Letter deconstructs the myth that racial equality exists in America by first confirming the existence of racial differences, then rejecting the notion of ‘difference made legal’, a concept King considered to be the basis of unjust laws. King accomplished this deconstruction by playing a highly sophisticated structural and stylistic game of semiotics.
Susan Tiefenbrun
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195385779
- eISBN:
- 9780199776061
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195385779.003.007
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
This chapter examines the connection between civil disobedience, jurisprudence, and feminism in ancient and modern comparative legal systems as viewed from a postmodernist perspective by comparing ...
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This chapter examines the connection between civil disobedience, jurisprudence, and feminism in ancient and modern comparative legal systems as viewed from a postmodernist perspective by comparing Sophocles' Antigone, written in Athens in 5th century B.C., and Jean Anouilh's Antigone, written and performed in France in 1944 during the tyranny of the German Occupation. In Sophocles' Antigone, civil disobedience is represented by the tension between two different characters, Antigone and Creon. The most dramatic form of tension in the play is Antigone's act of civil disobedience that effectively causes legal reform in Thebes. Despite the obvious similarities between Antigone and Creon, Sophocles stresses the differences between their opposing jurisprudential positions on natural law and legal positivism. Sophocles espouses the argument that illegal protest can accomplish legal reform, but Anouilh does not appear to agree. In Sophocles' Antigone, the mind-set of the ruler and the hegemonic political system that produced an unjust law are ultimately reformed by virtue of the insight that tragedy naturally produces. Creon is eventually enlightened by Antigone's nonviolent protest, and his new understanding has the positive effect of suggesting a move away from a hegemonic to a pluralistic conception of the law. In contrast to the Sophoclean tragedy, Anouilh's melodrama does not propose civil disobedience as an effective force for legal or political reform. The two plays are in fact very different in form and substance. The chapter tries to tease out the underlying causes for Anouilh's radical change from his Sophoclean source.Less
This chapter examines the connection between civil disobedience, jurisprudence, and feminism in ancient and modern comparative legal systems as viewed from a postmodernist perspective by comparing Sophocles' Antigone, written in Athens in 5th century B.C., and Jean Anouilh's Antigone, written and performed in France in 1944 during the tyranny of the German Occupation. In Sophocles' Antigone, civil disobedience is represented by the tension between two different characters, Antigone and Creon. The most dramatic form of tension in the play is Antigone's act of civil disobedience that effectively causes legal reform in Thebes. Despite the obvious similarities between Antigone and Creon, Sophocles stresses the differences between their opposing jurisprudential positions on natural law and legal positivism. Sophocles espouses the argument that illegal protest can accomplish legal reform, but Anouilh does not appear to agree. In Sophocles' Antigone, the mind-set of the ruler and the hegemonic political system that produced an unjust law are ultimately reformed by virtue of the insight that tragedy naturally produces. Creon is eventually enlightened by Antigone's nonviolent protest, and his new understanding has the positive effect of suggesting a move away from a hegemonic to a pluralistic conception of the law. In contrast to the Sophoclean tragedy, Anouilh's melodrama does not propose civil disobedience as an effective force for legal or political reform. The two plays are in fact very different in form and substance. The chapter tries to tease out the underlying causes for Anouilh's radical change from his Sophoclean source.
Candice Delmas
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- August 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190872199
- eISBN:
- 9780190872229
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190872199.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
What are our responsibilities in the face of injustice? Many philosophers argue for what is called political obligation—the duty to obey the law of nearly just, legitimate states. Even proponents of ...
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What are our responsibilities in the face of injustice? Many philosophers argue for what is called political obligation—the duty to obey the law of nearly just, legitimate states. Even proponents of civil disobedience generally hold that, given this moral duty, breaking the law requires justification. By contrast, activists from Henry David Thoreau to the Movement for Black Lives have long recognized a responsibility to resist injustice. Taking seriously this activism, this book wrestles with the problem of political obligation in real world societies that harbor injustice. It argues that the very grounds supporting a duty to obey the law—grounds such as the natural duty of justice, the principle of fairness, the Samaritan duty, and associative duties—also impose obligations of resistance under unjust social conditions. The work therefore expands political obligation to include a duty to resist injustice even in legitimate states, and further shows that under certain real-world conditions, this duty to resist demands principled disobedience. Against the mainstream in public, legal, and philosophical discourse, the book argues that such disobedience need not always be civil. Sometimes, covert, violent, evasive, or offensive acts of lawbreaking can be justified, even required. Illegal assistance to undocumented migrants, leaks of classified information, hacktivism sabotage, armed self-defense, guerrilla art, and other modes of resistance are viable and even necessary forms of resistance. There are limits: principle alone does not justify lawbreaking. But uncivil disobedience can sometimes be required in the effort to resist injustice.Less
What are our responsibilities in the face of injustice? Many philosophers argue for what is called political obligation—the duty to obey the law of nearly just, legitimate states. Even proponents of civil disobedience generally hold that, given this moral duty, breaking the law requires justification. By contrast, activists from Henry David Thoreau to the Movement for Black Lives have long recognized a responsibility to resist injustice. Taking seriously this activism, this book wrestles with the problem of political obligation in real world societies that harbor injustice. It argues that the very grounds supporting a duty to obey the law—grounds such as the natural duty of justice, the principle of fairness, the Samaritan duty, and associative duties—also impose obligations of resistance under unjust social conditions. The work therefore expands political obligation to include a duty to resist injustice even in legitimate states, and further shows that under certain real-world conditions, this duty to resist demands principled disobedience. Against the mainstream in public, legal, and philosophical discourse, the book argues that such disobedience need not always be civil. Sometimes, covert, violent, evasive, or offensive acts of lawbreaking can be justified, even required. Illegal assistance to undocumented migrants, leaks of classified information, hacktivism sabotage, armed self-defense, guerrilla art, and other modes of resistance are viable and even necessary forms of resistance. There are limits: principle alone does not justify lawbreaking. But uncivil disobedience can sometimes be required in the effort to resist injustice.
Alan Ryan
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691148403
- eISBN:
- 9781400841950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691148403.003.0027
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
This chapter examines the impact of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice on the liberal audience that took it up. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls offers a defense of civil disobedience that would make ...
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This chapter examines the impact of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice on the liberal audience that took it up. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls offers a defense of civil disobedience that would make politically motivated disobedience a much more acceptable part of our political life than either the U.S. Supreme Court or the English judiciary seems likely to contemplate. Furthermore, his views about the subservience of economic institutions to “social justice” place him firmly on one side of what is currently the most fiercely contested dividing line in politics in Britain today. The chapter also considers Rawls's use of the theory of the social contract to support his arguments; his principle of “the priority of liberty”; and his “difference principle.” It asserts that Rawls is safe from those critics who maintain that what purports to be a defense of liberalism actually collapses into a wholesale collectivism.Less
This chapter examines the impact of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice on the liberal audience that took it up. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls offers a defense of civil disobedience that would make politically motivated disobedience a much more acceptable part of our political life than either the U.S. Supreme Court or the English judiciary seems likely to contemplate. Furthermore, his views about the subservience of economic institutions to “social justice” place him firmly on one side of what is currently the most fiercely contested dividing line in politics in Britain today. The chapter also considers Rawls's use of the theory of the social contract to support his arguments; his principle of “the priority of liberty”; and his “difference principle.” It asserts that Rawls is safe from those critics who maintain that what purports to be a defense of liberalism actually collapses into a wholesale collectivism.
Fred Dallmayr
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780813165783
- eISBN:
- 9780813165813
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813165783.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This book explores the possibility of a transition from the modern paradigm—presently in a state of decay or disarray—toward new modes of life where freedom and solidarity would be reconciled, thus ...
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This book explores the possibility of a transition from the modern paradigm—presently in a state of decay or disarray—toward new modes of life where freedom and solidarity would be reconciled, thus making possible a new flourishing of humanity on a global scale. However, it also acknowledges that antinomies of the past cannot quickly be exorcised by philosophical writings and that inherent conflicts in the modern paradigm may surface in virulent forms. Chapters 7 through 9 offer individual case studies that illustrate the difficulties involved in overcoming modern antinomies, especially the tension between freedom and solidarity. They look in particular at contemporary Protestant theology in its quest to reconcile human freedom with the Christian community of believers; Russian intellectual history in its difficult journey from traditional holism via totalitarianism to a precarious democratic freedom; and recent Indian philosophy as it tried to situate itself vis-à-vis traditional Hindu cosmology in its search for a viable democratic path in postcolonial India. The end of the book returns to the book’s central theme—the issue of a reconnection of freedom with social engagement—and stresses the need for new beginnings in this reconnection. Freedom and Solidarity ultimately offers that the solution to the possible derailments of freedom and solidarity into selfish narcissism and ethnocentric collectivism consists in the conception of solidarity as an open-ended, differentiated “public” and the conception of freedom as “authentic” guardianship.Less
This book explores the possibility of a transition from the modern paradigm—presently in a state of decay or disarray—toward new modes of life where freedom and solidarity would be reconciled, thus making possible a new flourishing of humanity on a global scale. However, it also acknowledges that antinomies of the past cannot quickly be exorcised by philosophical writings and that inherent conflicts in the modern paradigm may surface in virulent forms. Chapters 7 through 9 offer individual case studies that illustrate the difficulties involved in overcoming modern antinomies, especially the tension between freedom and solidarity. They look in particular at contemporary Protestant theology in its quest to reconcile human freedom with the Christian community of believers; Russian intellectual history in its difficult journey from traditional holism via totalitarianism to a precarious democratic freedom; and recent Indian philosophy as it tried to situate itself vis-à-vis traditional Hindu cosmology in its search for a viable democratic path in postcolonial India. The end of the book returns to the book’s central theme—the issue of a reconnection of freedom with social engagement—and stresses the need for new beginnings in this reconnection. Freedom and Solidarity ultimately offers that the solution to the possible derailments of freedom and solidarity into selfish narcissism and ethnocentric collectivism consists in the conception of solidarity as an open-ended, differentiated “public” and the conception of freedom as “authentic” guardianship.
Jerome Murphy‐O'Connor
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564156
- eISBN:
- 9780191721281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564156.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies
Opinion is divided as to the situation with which Paul deals in 1 Cor 8–10. For some it is question of the legitimacy of eating meat which had been sacrified to idols (the ‘marketplace food’ ...
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Opinion is divided as to the situation with which Paul deals in 1 Cor 8–10. For some it is question of the legitimacy of eating meat which had been sacrified to idols (the ‘marketplace food’ hypothesis), whereas others believe that the issue was participation in meals eaten in a temple in the presence of the god (the ‘cultic meal’ hypothesis). The original article took the ‘marketplace food’ hypothesis for granted. The ‘cultic meal’ hypothesis was put forward only subsequently, and the Postscript mounts a strong argument that it cannot be correct, particularly since cultic meals were not treated as seriously as the hypothesis demands. The Postscript further develops the theme of Paul's example in 8:13 by discussing the implications of his refusal to obey the command of Jesus in 9:14. Emphasis is laid on the fact that Jesus himself disobeyed the Law in Mt 8: 22 and 11: 19.Less
Opinion is divided as to the situation with which Paul deals in 1 Cor 8–10. For some it is question of the legitimacy of eating meat which had been sacrified to idols (the ‘marketplace food’ hypothesis), whereas others believe that the issue was participation in meals eaten in a temple in the presence of the god (the ‘cultic meal’ hypothesis). The original article took the ‘marketplace food’ hypothesis for granted. The ‘cultic meal’ hypothesis was put forward only subsequently, and the Postscript mounts a strong argument that it cannot be correct, particularly since cultic meals were not treated as seriously as the hypothesis demands. The Postscript further develops the theme of Paul's example in 8:13 by discussing the implications of his refusal to obey the command of Jesus in 9:14. Emphasis is laid on the fact that Jesus himself disobeyed the Law in Mt 8: 22 and 11: 19.
Ching Kwan Lee and Ming Sing (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781501740916
- eISBN:
- 9781501740930
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501740916.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This book unveils the causes, processes, and implications of the 2014 seventy-nine-day occupation movement in Hong Kong known as the Umbrella Movement. The chapters ask, how and why had a world ...
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This book unveils the causes, processes, and implications of the 2014 seventy-nine-day occupation movement in Hong Kong known as the Umbrella Movement. The chapters ask, how and why had a world financial center known for its free-wheeling capitalism transformed into a hotbed of mass defiance and civic disobedience? The book argues that the Umbrella Movement was a response to China's internal colonization strategies—political disenfranchisement, economic subsumption, and identity reengineering—in post-handover Hong Kong. The chapters outline how this historic and transformative movement formulated new cultural categories and narratives, fueled the formation and expansion of civil society organizations and networks both for and against the regime, and spurred the regime's turn to repression and structural closure of dissent. Although the Umbrella Movement was fraught with internal tensions, the book demonstrates that the movement politicized a whole generation of people who had no prior experience in politics, fashioned new subjects and identities, and awakened popular consciousness.Less
This book unveils the causes, processes, and implications of the 2014 seventy-nine-day occupation movement in Hong Kong known as the Umbrella Movement. The chapters ask, how and why had a world financial center known for its free-wheeling capitalism transformed into a hotbed of mass defiance and civic disobedience? The book argues that the Umbrella Movement was a response to China's internal colonization strategies—political disenfranchisement, economic subsumption, and identity reengineering—in post-handover Hong Kong. The chapters outline how this historic and transformative movement formulated new cultural categories and narratives, fueled the formation and expansion of civil society organizations and networks both for and against the regime, and spurred the regime's turn to repression and structural closure of dissent. Although the Umbrella Movement was fraught with internal tensions, the book demonstrates that the movement politicized a whole generation of people who had no prior experience in politics, fashioned new subjects and identities, and awakened popular consciousness.
Luc Bodiguel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199542482
- eISBN:
- 9780191594342
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542482.003.0016
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
This concluding chapter broadens the debate, extending beyond legal analysis of individual regulations in order to question the role and concept of law in the arena of GMOs. At a general level, it ...
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This concluding chapter broadens the debate, extending beyond legal analysis of individual regulations in order to question the role and concept of law in the arena of GMOs. At a general level, it raises two questions: first, whether it is possible, or indeed desirable, to move away from the binary view that GM crops are either ‘a good’ or ‘a bad’; and secondly, how ethics and morality can be built into regimes that are primarily based upon science. The destruction of GM crops is observed to be an excellent forum for investigation of the vexed issue of civil disobedience, and there is inquiry whether such acts of destruction may be characterized as a legitimate source of law and, more widely, into the utility of civil disobedience to democracy.Less
This concluding chapter broadens the debate, extending beyond legal analysis of individual regulations in order to question the role and concept of law in the arena of GMOs. At a general level, it raises two questions: first, whether it is possible, or indeed desirable, to move away from the binary view that GM crops are either ‘a good’ or ‘a bad’; and secondly, how ethics and morality can be built into regimes that are primarily based upon science. The destruction of GM crops is observed to be an excellent forum for investigation of the vexed issue of civil disobedience, and there is inquiry whether such acts of destruction may be characterized as a legitimate source of law and, more widely, into the utility of civil disobedience to democracy.
Jennet Kirkpatrick
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781469635392
- eISBN:
- 9781469635408
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469635392.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Successful democracies rely on an active citizenry. They require citizens to participate by voting, serving on juries, and running for office. But what happens when those citizens purposefully opt ...
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Successful democracies rely on an active citizenry. They require citizens to participate by voting, serving on juries, and running for office. But what happens when those citizens purposefully opt out of politics? Exit—the act of leaving—is often thought of as purely instinctual, a part of the human “fight or flight” response, or, alternatively, motivated by an antiparticipatory, self-centered impulse. However, in this eye-opening book, Jennet Kirkpatrick argues that the concept of exit deserves closer scrutiny. She names and examines several examples of political withdrawal, from Thoreau decamping to Walden to slaves fleeing to the North before the Civil War. In doing so, Kirkpatrick not only explores what happens when people make the decision to remove themselves but also expands our understanding of exit as a political act, illustrating how political systems change in the aftermath of actual or threatened departure. Moreover, she reframes the decision to refuse to play along—whether as a fugitive slave, a dissident who is exiled but whose influence remains, or a government in exile—as one that shapes political discourse, historically and today.Less
Successful democracies rely on an active citizenry. They require citizens to participate by voting, serving on juries, and running for office. But what happens when those citizens purposefully opt out of politics? Exit—the act of leaving—is often thought of as purely instinctual, a part of the human “fight or flight” response, or, alternatively, motivated by an antiparticipatory, self-centered impulse. However, in this eye-opening book, Jennet Kirkpatrick argues that the concept of exit deserves closer scrutiny. She names and examines several examples of political withdrawal, from Thoreau decamping to Walden to slaves fleeing to the North before the Civil War. In doing so, Kirkpatrick not only explores what happens when people make the decision to remove themselves but also expands our understanding of exit as a political act, illustrating how political systems change in the aftermath of actual or threatened departure. Moreover, she reframes the decision to refuse to play along—whether as a fugitive slave, a dissident who is exiled but whose influence remains, or a government in exile—as one that shapes political discourse, historically and today.
Mark Philp and Z. A. Pelczynski
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199645060
- eISBN:
- 9780191741616
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199645060.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
Plamenatz examines Hobbes’ claims that the sovereign can never act unjustly; that unlimited sovereign authority should be concentrated in the hands of one man whose subjects cannot rightfully ...
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Plamenatz examines Hobbes’ claims that the sovereign can never act unjustly; that unlimited sovereign authority should be concentrated in the hands of one man whose subjects cannot rightfully disobey; and that the sovereign’s right is unlimited. The argument for absolute authority ignores the need for security of those who covenant, the distinction between sovereignty by consent and conquest, and the force of the obligations under the law of nature. Each suggests limits on sovereign authority. Hobbes’s account of the sovereign’s authority over religious belief is analysed.Less
Plamenatz examines Hobbes’ claims that the sovereign can never act unjustly; that unlimited sovereign authority should be concentrated in the hands of one man whose subjects cannot rightfully disobey; and that the sovereign’s right is unlimited. The argument for absolute authority ignores the need for security of those who covenant, the distinction between sovereignty by consent and conquest, and the force of the obligations under the law of nature. Each suggests limits on sovereign authority. Hobbes’s account of the sovereign’s authority over religious belief is analysed.
Kimberley Brownlee
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199592944
- eISBN:
- 9780191746109
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592944.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Philosophy of Law, Human Rights and Immigration
This book shows that civil disobedience is more defensible than private conscientious objection. Part I distinguishes conviction from conscience, shedding light on the former as something non-evasive ...
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This book shows that civil disobedience is more defensible than private conscientious objection. Part I distinguishes conviction from conscience, shedding light on the former as something non-evasive and communicative, and on the latter as something much richer, namely, genuine moral responsiveness. Each of these concepts informs a distinct argument for civil disobedience. The conviction argument shows that, as a constrained, communicative practice, civil disobedience has a better claim than private objection does to the protections that liberal societies give to conscientious dissent. This view reverses the standard liberal picture which sees private ‘conscientious’ objection as a modest act of personal belief and civil disobedience as a strategic, undemocratic act whose costs are only sometimes worth bearing. The conscience argument is narrower and shows that genuinely morally responsive civil disobedience honours the best of our moral responsibilities and is protected by a duty-based moral right of conscience. Part II translates the conviction argument and conscience argument into two legal defences. The first is a demands-of-conviction defence. The second is a necessity defence. Both of these defences apply more readily to civil disobedience than to private disobedience. Part II also examines lawful punishment, showing that, even when punishment is justifiable, civil disobedients have a moral right not to be punished.Less
This book shows that civil disobedience is more defensible than private conscientious objection. Part I distinguishes conviction from conscience, shedding light on the former as something non-evasive and communicative, and on the latter as something much richer, namely, genuine moral responsiveness. Each of these concepts informs a distinct argument for civil disobedience. The conviction argument shows that, as a constrained, communicative practice, civil disobedience has a better claim than private objection does to the protections that liberal societies give to conscientious dissent. This view reverses the standard liberal picture which sees private ‘conscientious’ objection as a modest act of personal belief and civil disobedience as a strategic, undemocratic act whose costs are only sometimes worth bearing. The conscience argument is narrower and shows that genuinely morally responsive civil disobedience honours the best of our moral responsibilities and is protected by a duty-based moral right of conscience. Part II translates the conviction argument and conscience argument into two legal defences. The first is a demands-of-conviction defence. The second is a necessity defence. Both of these defences apply more readily to civil disobedience than to private disobedience. Part II also examines lawful punishment, showing that, even when punishment is justifiable, civil disobedients have a moral right not to be punished.
Judith N. Shklar
Samantha Ashenden and Andreas Hess (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300214994
- eISBN:
- 9780300245417
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300214994.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Political Philosophy
The lectures that comprise this book are a reminder of the legacy and a demonstration of the promise of a critical assessment and evaluation of political obligation. Shklar shows that the crucial ...
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The lectures that comprise this book are a reminder of the legacy and a demonstration of the promise of a critical assessment and evaluation of political obligation. Shklar shows that the crucial questions that any political activist, any reflective citizen, and any existing or aspiring polity should raise are as pertinent today as they were in the past, despite their function and nature having changed over time. The book discusses the practical choices, dilemmas, compromises, risks, and dangers that are the result of the tensions that arise whenever the notions of obligation and loyalty are foregrounded, and when what it means to be a citizen and the aims of a given polity are in conflict. What can I/we do in such a situation? How should I/we act? Shklar takes us through several historical constellations and scenarios in which such questions have arisen and been answered—for better or for worse.Less
The lectures that comprise this book are a reminder of the legacy and a demonstration of the promise of a critical assessment and evaluation of political obligation. Shklar shows that the crucial questions that any political activist, any reflective citizen, and any existing or aspiring polity should raise are as pertinent today as they were in the past, despite their function and nature having changed over time. The book discusses the practical choices, dilemmas, compromises, risks, and dangers that are the result of the tensions that arise whenever the notions of obligation and loyalty are foregrounded, and when what it means to be a citizen and the aims of a given polity are in conflict. What can I/we do in such a situation? How should I/we act? Shklar takes us through several historical constellations and scenarios in which such questions have arisen and been answered—for better or for worse.
Stuart Schaar
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231171564
- eISBN:
- 9780231539920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231171564.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Ideas
The Harrisburg trial with the Catholic Left, working the press, the peace offensive, stress on large scale civil disobedience to stop the Indochinese War, becoming a super-star.
The Harrisburg trial with the Catholic Left, working the press, the peace offensive, stress on large scale civil disobedience to stop the Indochinese War, becoming a super-star.
