WWSD: What Would Socrates Do?
The modern dilemma of obedience
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36399/GroundingsUG.2.265Keywords:
Socrates, Politics, Political Theory, Freedoms, Self-preservation, Protection, Rights, Citizenship, Legitimacy, ObligationAbstract
“This is for your own good” is often the aphorism of governments and social institutions in their claims upon our freedoms. Our obedience is framed as collective self-preservation, but can it ever be so simple? Yet philosophical debate often seems to overcomplicate the issue. This article argues that the responsible protection of our rights arises, instead, with a constant reappraisal of citizenship. Freedom and obedience are ultimately two sides of an abacus with objective counters with subjective values; each individual’s calculations must be represented for there to be an accurate model of obligation.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Maitiu Corbett
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