ipl-logo

Analysis Of Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience

1464 Words6 Pages

Thoreau 's “On Civil Disobedience”, published in 1849, promotes the idea that people have an obligation towards their moral values, and thus they must stand up for those values, even if those are opposed to the government. Thoreau emphasizes the significant roles that authenticity and activism play in one’s life, which encourage action and renounce determinism. By presenting the central ideas that arise from this essay, I will argue that Thoreau, supported by Locke’s Treatise of Government, exhibits ideas affiliated with Libertarianism. In contrast to the hypothesis that a priori knowledge is the only kind of knowledge that expresses certainty about ontological truths, independent of external experience, Transcendentalism advances the idea that there is also an internal a priori kind of knowledge which is reliable and expresses each individual’s truth. According to the book, American Transcendentalism: a history, Transcendentalism advocates this internal knowledge as “present in each individual […] which allows one to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad, God and Satan, and it supersedes any outward laws or injunctions” (168). Transcendentalism, therefore, holds that there is a congenital element embedded within people that allows them to discern truth and morality in the world, with a high degree of certainty, similar to that which empirical evidence offers. According to the Oxford Handbook of Transcendentalism, Emerson argues that “humankind was ever

Show More
Related

  • Henry David Thoreau On Civil Disobedience

    801 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout all of time, people have needed to live according to their own agendas. Being forced to live a certain way has only caused trouble. That is why Henry David Thoreau supported civil disobedience to help people live according to their own beliefs. In the essay “On Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau, the author defined and explained the effect of civil disobedience. Thoreau defined it as, civil disobedience is any peaceful action that demonstrates the disagreement of a person or persons with their government.

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Role In Civil Disobedience

    1381 Words  | 6 Pages

    Thoreau trusted that in light of the fact that legislatures are normally more unsafe than supportive, they hence can't be defended. Vote based system is not an answer for this, as greater parts basically by point of preference of being dominant parts don't additionally pick up the upside of astuteness and equity. The judgment of a singular's heart is not so much second rate compared to the choices of a political body or larger part, thus "it is not attractive to develop an admiration for the law, such a great amount with respect to one side. The main commitment which I have a privilege to expect is to do whenever what I think right.... Law never made men a whit all the more only; and, by method for their admiration for it, even the all around arranged are day by day made the operators of foul play."

    Read More

  • Summary Of Henry David Thoreau's Essay Resistance To Civil Government

    239 Words  | 1 Pages

    Henry David Thoreau’s essay “Resistance to Civil Government” was published in the year 1849 succeeding a night spent in jail for not complying to pay his taxes. Thoreau’s purpose for writing the essay was to impel people to not support or accept the government's stance on situations if they disagreed with the government's position. In Thoreau’s case one of these issues was The Mexican-american war. His opposition to the war was one of the main ideas in Thoreau’s essay. He protested the government’s war the by not paying his taxes which landed him a night in jail.

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience: Historical Figures Of Social Reform

    565 Words  | 3 Pages

    Liberty precisely translates to freedom nevertheless in the present day, just as in Thoreau’s time, through regulations and taxes the government hegemonies Americans, purloining their autonomy with dictating laws and delegating individual comportment. Society aspires to dictate their own capital investments and suffer alienation by the power of immense government who more than ever emerges to enforce taxation without representation. Freedom is the national identity predominantly venerated by Americans. Thoreau’s main theme within the ideology of freedom is a reduction of government. Throughout history, acts of civil disobedience have memorably forced a reexamination of society's ethical strictures.

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

    170 Words  | 1 Pages

    The reason why Thoreau wrote this section of the Civil Disobedience is because Thoreau believes that a person must stand on what they think is right. Example is when Thoreau states that the only obligation that he has is to do at any time what he thinks is right also saying that he thinks that a person must be a man first then become a subject. But the most important thing that Thoreau did to support his ideas was to protest the Mexican American war by not paying his taxes. He did what he thought was right he stood by his word. His protest didn't stop the war but it had more of a symbolistic impact.

    Read More

  • Thoreau's Rhetorical Devices In 'Civil Disobedience'

    269 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the passage from "Civil Disobedience," the author, Thoreau, utilizes rhetorical devices to support his theme. Such devices include tone and diction. The theme expressed in the text is that the government is in need of change and acceptance, not a replacement. The author conveys a serious and professional tone throughout the passage. This helps add more to the seriousness of the subject and theme created which is the government needs change and acceptance, not a replacement.

    Read More

  • A Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience By Thoreau

    422 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly. Although tone and mode are not directly stated, you can infer that Thoreau meant for his writing to be taken as serious and powerful. His implementation of words such as, "inexpedient," "execute," " integrity," and "command," makes one think about their lawful rights and reflect on what rights are supported or

    Read More

  • Comparing Henry David Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

    1325 Words  | 6 Pages

    What makes a government and society moral and just has been a reoccurring question and issue throughout time. Henry David Thoreau, an American transcendentalist, stressed civil disobedience and greatly showed his disbeliefs on the Mexican-American War in his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government.” Through comparing the nation's political authority to a machine and not paying his taxes as a method of protest, Thoreau manages to coax the “true citizen” to stand up against unjust government. Martin Luther King, an American Baptist minister and activist, was a leader and an important part of the African-American Civil rights movement. He fought for black rights and stood up against authorities unjust treatment of his fellow black brothers and sisters.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Techniques in Henry David Thoreau's 'Civil Disobedience'

    1273 Words  | 6 Pages

    Near the beginning of his renowned essay, "Civil Disobedience," Henry David Thoreau appeals to his fellow citizens when he says, "...I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. " This request serves as a starting point from which the rest of "Civil Disobedience" emerges. Thoreau 's essay is particularly compelling because of its incorporation of rhetorical strategies, including the use of logos, ethos, pathos, purposive discourse, rhetorical competence and identification. I will demonstrate how each of these rhetorical techniques benefit Thoreau 's persuasive argument. Thoreau uses logos throughout his essay to strengthen his argument with reasoning.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Civil Disobedience

    673 Words  | 3 Pages

    The individual's relationship to the state is a concept often entertained abstractly; at variance with this is Civil Disobedience, which analyzes Thoreau's first direct experience with state power in his brief 1846 imprisonment. Thoreau metaphorically detailed his search for virtue in the quote, "The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly." (Thoreau 8) In Civil Disobedience Thoreau as earnest seeker and flawed captive of the conscience concertedly attempts to correct this shortcoming within the context of slavery and the Mexican-American War.

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience, Mandela, And Henry David Thoreau

    399 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the world there are rules, acts that many people did not like. Thoreau, Gandhi, and Mandela were the ones to find an effective way to make people realize what was going on at the time with the acts. Everyone has had to stand up for what they knew was right. Henry David Thoreau was well known for his quote “give me liberty or give me death.”

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Henry David Thoreau's Resistance To Civil Government

    2124 Words  | 9 Pages

    Mr. Thoreau argues that people should not allow any government to control or atrophy their thoughts or beliefs. Mr. Thoreau was an also remained a devoted abolitionist and has written

    Read More

  • Henry David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience

    1371 Words  | 6 Pages

    Individuals lay the foundation of America. The Founding Fathers of this unique nation broke their allegiance with Great Britain to create an improved governing body. They desired an individual-centered authority as opposed to Britain’s monarchy, which ruled with tyranny. These Founding Fathers experienced a neglectful democratic monarchy that cared little about the ethical treatment of its people. The domineering actions of Britain challenged these historic individuals to form a new cultural identity.

    Read More

  • Comparing Thoreau's The Apology And Civil Disobedience

    337 Words  | 2 Pages

    In both readings of Plato’s “The Apology” and Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” one major principle that comes out of Thoreau’s text that Socrates would agree with is that in the face of laws by the state one should only abide if it is moral. Additionally, Thoreau believes that justice is superior to the laws enacted by the government, and the individual has the right to judge whether a given law reflects or flouts justice. Thoreau and Socrates believe that humans are moral beings and that virtue is very important. In contrast, however, even though both individuals have a lot of similarities there were some areas where Socrates’ views differed with Thoreau.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Transcendentalism In Emerson And Nathaniel Hawthorne

    1098 Words  | 5 Pages

    People consider Emerson the “father of Transcendentalism”. He believed that man would thrive if he trusted himself. Man was inherently good and could do no wrong. In Emerson’s “Nature”, a work about Emerson’s view on nature, he writes: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that whatever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy” (Emerson Par 2). Man did not need to rely on society, or entangle himself in the patterns of the world; man’s intuition would be enough for his success.

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Thoreau's On Civil Disobedience

Open Document