For this reason, Emerson and Thoreau argue that solitude and society are the most focused topic in their works because of Solitude's ability to give you more freedom instead of living under the rights of unjust laws and Society exploiting you to opportunities with education and grammar. Thoreau argues that living in solitude gives you more freedom instead of living under rights of unjust laws. ... So why live according to laws set by the government. Thoreau says, "Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have suc...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Socrates believes that any person who would disobey these laws creates a deliberate attempt to weaken the laws, as well as the society that imposed them. ... In his essay "Civil Disobedience", Henry David Thoreau writes, "Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?" ... The purpose of civil disobedience, in other words, is to call attention to an unjust law, and crusade until it could be amended. ... Furthermore, people who participate in acts of civil disobedience who are ...

• Word Count: 1527
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Thoreau encourages disobeying unjust laws in order to change them. ... Acting as an individual by disobeying unjust laws is what will change the laws. When the individual follows its conscious, or what Emerson would call "individual genius," the universal truth would be apparent that unjust laws should not be followed. Thoreau refuses to let the system of government define the individual and supports individual genius through individual action and protest against unjust laws. ...

• Word Count: 861
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Carried by the motto "that government is best which governs least,"[Thoreau] Henry David Thoreau, defines "Civil Disobedience" as "a pacific act of willful resistance, achieved by not obeying laws he considers to be unmoral and unjust [Thoreau].... In this cases, when power is unbalanced, and the society is unstable "civil disobedience" is one of the few strategies left for citizens that brings immediate attention to any unjust or unmoral law. ... To achieve such an arrangement of life, government, with its unjust, arbitrary, repressive measures, must be done away wi...

• Word Count: 1587
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

I believe that some government is needed to legislate laws protection wildlife and laws for the prevention of homicides, but who has the duty to say how right things such as gay marriages, drug use, the age at which one can drink and purchase alcohol is? ... "It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right"(CD 36). ... Thoreau's "Declaration of the Independence for the Conscious," reflects his belief in using nonviolent but complete resistance to an unjust government, influenced many people and inspires many more. One should never recognize any political i...

• Word Count: 399
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Both authors also argue that everyone has an obligation to act based solely on his/her own will, without regard to societal rules and laws, even going so far as to act in opposition to those laws that are felt to be unjust. Emerson claims that "No law can be sacred to me but that of my nature. ... Rosa Parks was arrested and jailed for violating race laws, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and left to die. While Thoreau does offer the caveat that you should oppose only those laws that are deemed by you to be unjust, that judgement could not be consiste...

• Word Count: 1633
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Thoreau also argues that they should even be eager to go to jail rather than allowing immoral or unethical government laws and activities to take place. ... He appeals to emotion and tries to lure sympathy from the audience by talking about his interesting experiences while being there and by how unjust the government is. ...

• Word Count: 530
• Approx Pages: 2
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate