Individual Rights and Responsibilites: Three Different Perspectives

Thoreau is considered by many to be the father of the anarchistic conception of individualism. This is not exactly an accurate portrayal of his point of view, however. In his most famous political work, the Treatise on Civil Disobedience, Thoreau vehemently defends the individual's right to conscientiously object to unjust laws. While this has been taken by many to be a direct appeal for anarchy, Thoreau was really advocating for a better governmentùnot no governmentùand for the individual's right to objec

. . .
which he called the state of nature. The state of nature was a state of anarchy, in which individuals could do what they wanted. However, this meant that nobody was safe because anybody stronger could come and take away their property or their life. The strong were also not safe, however, because the weak could gang up on them. Out the state of nature, then man created a political society based on the social contract based on an individual's consent to be governed by certain laws in exchange for the saftey of their property and life (Tuckness). In more recent times, liberal scholars such as Ronald Dworkin have pointed out that "We live in and by the law. It makes us what we are: citizens and employees and doctors and spouses and people who own things. It is sword, shield, and menace" (Dworkin, Preface). The law, in Dworkin's conception, is what keeps people in their designated role in society. It is what gives us the security that our wages will be paid, that our landlords will maintain our homes, and that serial killers cannot indiscriminately hunt us down without legal repercussions. I agree with the Liberal perspective up to a certain point. I believe that laws are necessary in order to maintain a stable society. I
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bell Communitarians, Disobedience Thoreau, , Dworkin Preface, Contract Locke, Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Dworkin, Edward Zalta, Forthcoming URL, Philosophy Winter, stanford encyclopedia, url =, edition edward, 2005 edition, social contract, serial killers, 2005 edition edward, stanford encyclopedia philosophy, encyclopedia philosophy, communitarians believe, winter 2005 edition, edward zalta, edition edward zalta, zalta ed, philosophy winter 2005,
Approximate Word count = 1275
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)