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Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem

Throughout history human beings living in societies have been conditioned to perceive obedience as a "virtue" and disobedience as a "vice" (Fromm 1). Whether through threat of punishment or coercion, Nazi Germany shows the degree that people who obey will go to before disobeying a higher power. In Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem, Erich Fromm maintains that this conditioning is a threat to the future of mankind because freedom is required for disobedience and disobedience requires freedom. Far from being the notorious sin it is portrayed as, Fromm argues that Adam disobeying God freed mankind and permitted Adam and Eve to become "fully human" (Fromm 1). Fromm argues that certain perks are provided to those who conform from promotions to increased power, but many of these are not affirming if life. He maintains that despite our conditioning to obey, man most evolves through acts of disobedience. After critiquing this thesis, it is readily apparent that the greatest advances in civilization have come from disobedience rather than obedience.

In this essay Erich Fromm discusses the concept of obedience and how we are often seduced by its comforts and luxuries (peer approval, better paying positions, being "liked"). Fromm argues that some of these seductive comforts are life-affirming, but others are quite destructive. He also points out that despite our unwillingness to disobey authority, human beings have "continued to evolve by acts of disobedience" (Fromm 2). Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi are two examples to support his case, the former's disobedience leading to the Civil Rights Act and the latter's freeing India from decades of oppressive British rule.

Obedience is dangerous because it can lead to events that will not sustain life, from nuclear annihilation to destruction of the planet. This is because conforming typically reinforces and maintains the power and status of t...

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Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 13:43, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/2000318.html