On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849. In it, Thoreau argues that individuals should not permit governments to overrule or atrophy their consciences, and that they have a duty to avoid allowing such acquiescence to enable the government to make them the agents of injustice. Thoreau was motivated in part by his disgust with slavery and the Mexican-American War (1846-1848). Thoreau asserts that because governments are typically more harmful than helpful, they therefore cannot be justified. Democracy is no cure for this, as majorities simply by virtue of being majorities do not also gain the virtues of wisdom and justice. The judgment of an individual's conscience is not necessarily inferior to the decisions of a political body or majority, and so "[i]t is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.

Media	Books Paperback Book (Book with soft cover and glued back)
Released	June 25, 2018
ISBN13	9781721878871
Publishers	Createspace Independent Publishing Platf
Pages	26
Dimensions	178 × 254 × 1 mm · 63 g
Language	English

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