Martin Luther King's Views On Civil Disobedience

In the Crito by Plato, Socrates argues against civil disobedience, seeing it as an unjust act. Contrasting this view, Martin Luther King argues for civil disobedience against unjust laws, and seeing it as a responsibility of citizens. Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain law, commands or requests of the government. I will argue that the view of Socrates is superior to the view of Martin Luther King on the justness of civil disobedience. Using the argument against harm, I will show that even if a law is viewed as unjust, you must not repay an evil with another evil, as evident in the Crito while contrary to ideas presented by MLK.

Peaceful resistance to laws has a positive impact on a free society. This allows the people of the community to have a say so in which the society is ran. Some people say peaceful resistance is to keep the government in check. Civil disobedience can change the society and raise awareness to disparities. Peaceful resistance is very productive to uphold a free society.

Civil disobedience has been discerned in numerous time periods of American history. The definition of disobedience can be interpreted when one or a group prioritizes their conscience of their beliefs over the dictation of laws through rebellion. Notable historical events of slavery and independence has been marked with the disobedience of government laws. Even though the disobedience of societal laws can undermine the corruption of the government, disobedience has undeniably steer societal progress. A form of civil disobedience was the fight for independence of the colonies in the American Revolution.

Civil Disobedience Compare and Contrast Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King both wrote persuasive discussions that oppose many ideals and make a justification of their cause, being both central to their argument. While the similarity is obvious, the two essays, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. do have some similarities. King tries persuading white, southern clergymen that segregation is an evil, unfair law that ought to defeat by use of agitation of direct protesting. Thoreau, on the other hand, writes to a broader, non-addressed audience, and focuses more on the state itself. He further accepts it at its current state, in regard to the battle with Mexico and the institution of slavery.

When it comes to America's History you can clearly see how peaceful protest has brought this world to what it is today. If it wasn't for people such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks who voiced their opinions in a nonviolent manner, it's possible that our world would not have reached this equivalent state. While it is true that peaceful resistance has positively affected our society for centuries, these brave people have faced the consequences. For example, King was arrested after one of his nonviolent protests and sent to Birmingham Jail. While there he wrote the now famous piece "A Letter From Birmingham Jail".

Martin Luther King Jr. spent his days fighting for the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Knowing the dangers of those who oppose him, King travels to Memphis, Tennessee to deliver “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech to the sanitary workers. In his speech, King utilizes words with heavy connotation and paralipsis, as well as several others, in order to unite the people and proclaim nonviolence rebellion. Martin Luther King Jr. begins by alluding to the Bible before the crowd in order to make his message more relatable and clarify his objective; saying, “I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God’s children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promise land.” He continues using repetition to rally the people and affirm his support, saying, “I wouldn’t stop there,” when referring to places and times that he could go to help the cause.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most significant voice of the American Civil Rights Movement. King impacted America during the 1950s-1960s, striving for a cause that many people differed and opposed to, but there was a great deal of support for change. His beliefs sought to empower African-Americans, rallying in a white dominated society in America. As an outspoken campaigner for racial equality, King’s influence on American society led to a determination to overcome injustice and end segregation laws. As a result, campaigns were undertaken with the use of speeches, nonviolent protest marches and boycotts, to give rise to the Civil Rights Movement.

In the statement that King writes, he tries to describe the social injustices that are portrayed in society between the Caucasians and African Americans. By stating that an injustice that affects one directly, affects other indirectly, shows that the the black people are being affected and this injustice will influence the white people, because the black people will take a stand on the grave issue. I believe that he is right because if we look at our society today, we can see that injustices that happen in one country, always has a domino effect to other countries. For example, although many countries are at war, one will try to escape to another country for relief, which will affect the other countries in terms of refugee population. An example

Where do we go from here Undeniably, Martin Luther King is a great fighter in American history. He leaded black Americans to fight for eliminating social injustice and racial discrimination. Although he was assassinated before finishing his exception, he exerts tremendous influence on American society. Nowadays, the social status of black American has been improved colossally.

Martin Luther King Martin Luther King! He was amazing, and important man towards Civil Rights! It’s a shame that he got assassinated! Wait, What?

The greatest revolutionaries of the United States of America, both past and present, answer to values, principles of American culture and widely-accepted beliefs. They do not answer to laws. The belief that obedience to laws is a sign of patriotism is deeply flawed in the fact that the original patriots of the thirteen colonies were everything except obedient to their government. In the ideal democracy, the core values, moral justices, of the people will be reflected in the laws of the nation. When a split in laws and moral justice occurs, it is the right and obligation of the people of said nation to act as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Thomas Jefferson; it is their duty to disobey.

Indira Gandhi, the first and only female prime minister of India, once said, "Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave." While bravery has been seen as positive by society for millennia, our view of forgiveness and gentleness has certainly changed. And just as our values are dynamic, our heroes change as well--from Theseus, who mercilessly tortured villains, to Martin Luther King Jr., who advocated nonviolence despite being in a world filled with the opposite. Society shapes heroes because they adapt to our needs therefore evolving with our culture.

Several philosophers have wrestled with ideas to decide under what conditions that humans are morally permitted to disobey the law. Civil disobedience is a concept that both Socrates and Martin Luther King Jr. strongly believed in, but they did not have the same viewpoints on it. Socrates dismissed any form of civil disobedience that got a person into conflict with the State, and Martin Luther King concluded that there were times when a man needed to partake in a protest that was non violent and take disobedient acts in in order to defend his freedom. Socrates believed that if a person lives in a government where he was given the chance to argue his case, he should not practice civil disobedience. Socrates thought that if a person was given

The philosophy of Martin Luther King was appropriate for the Civil Rights Era. Martin Luther King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. His family had many positive role models and was full of Christian love. He was taught by Gandhi about the nonviolent movement that freed India by British colonial rule, and King was impressed by his rule. King wanted to be a local pastor, but the week following the bus incident with Rosa Parks, he was chosen to lead a boycott that sent shock through America.