When is obedience to another person not submission

What if submission to one means rejecting the authority of another? When and under what circumstances is authority legitimate? Much too big for a complete exploration here.

For our purposes it is important to emphasize that people who abuse others will almost always believe that they have the authority to do so. Or, they will defend their behavior by appealing to some authority. At other times, probably most times, the reliance on authority is obscured by other defensive mechanisms.

During recovery from abuse it is sometimes necessary to sort out very confusing questions about authority. Did this person have the authority to do this to me? And what if it was God who granted the authority?

What then? In a Christian perspective I think it is clear that all authority is limited. If one has the choice to either follow orders or assert their individuality, the decision should be theirs to make.

Definition of 'Nuremberg Defense'. Asch, Solomon E. Tenth Edition. Horton, Scott. Harper's Magazine. Milgram, Stanley. Zimbardo, Philip G. Leveillee, N. Leveillee, Nicholas P. The Role of Obedience in Society. The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog. Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines.

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Forgot password? Reset your password ». Obedience Authority. By Nicholas P. Leveillee , Vol. Cite References Print.

References "Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. Nicholas P. The Japanese Number System. From the Inquiries Journal Blog. Related Reading Psychology » Social Psychology. Literature » World War I. Theology » Old Testament. Political Science » Arms Control. Monthly Newsletter Signup The newsletter highlights recent selections from the journal and useful tips from our blog. These predictions were unequivocally wrong.

Of the forty subjects in the first experiment, twenty-five obeyed the orders of the experimenter to the end, punishing the victim until they reached the most potent shock available on the generator. After volts were administered three times, the experimenter called a halt to the session. Many obedient subjects then heaved sighs of relief, mopped their brows, rubbed their fingers over their eyes, or nervously fumbled cigarettes. Others displayed only minimal signs of tension from beginning to end.

When the very first experiments were carried out, Yale undergraduates were used as subjects, and about 60 percent of them were fully obedient. A colleague of mine immediately dismissed these findings as having no relevance to "ordinary" people, asserting that Yale undergraduates are a highly aggressive, competitive bunch who step on each other's necks on the slightest provocation.

The experimental outcome was the same as we had observed among the students. Moreover, when the experiments were repeated in Princeton, Munich, Rome, South Africa, and Australia, the level of obedience was invariably somewhat higher than found in the investigation reported in this article.

Thus one scientist in Munich found 85 percent of his subjects obedient. Fred Prozi's reactions, if more dramatic than most, illuminate the conflicts experienced by others in less visible form.

About fifty years old and unemployed at the time of the experiment, he has a good-natured, if slightly dissolute, appearance, and he strikes people as a rather ordinary fellow. He begins the session calmly but becomes tense as it proceeds. After delivering the volt shock, he pivots around in the chair and, shaking his head, addresses the experimenter in agitated tones:.

Experimenter his voice is patient, matter-of fact : The experiment requires that you continue, Teacher. Experimenter : Whether the learner likes it or not, we must go on, through all the word pairs.

Prozi indicating the unused questions : There's too many left here, I mean, Jeez, if he gets them wrong, there's too many of them left.

I mean, who's going to take the responsibility if anything happens to that gentleman? Prozi : All right. Consults list of words. The next one's "Slow -- walk, truck, dance, music " Answer please. A buzzing sound indicates the learner has signaled his answer. A hundred and ninety-five volts. Learner yelling : Let me out of here My hearts bothering me Teacher looks at experimenter.

Learner screaming : Let me out of here! You have no right to keep me here! Let me out of here, my hearts bothering me, let me out! Prozi shakes head, pats the table nervously : You see he's hollering. Hear that? Gee, I don't know. Prozi interrupting : I know it does sir, but I mean -- hunh! He doesn't know what he's getting in for.

He's up to volts! Experiment continues, through volts, volts, volts, volts, volts, at which point Prozi, with evident relief, runs out of word-pair questions. Experimenter : You'll have to go back to the beginning of that page and go through them again until be's learned them all correctly.

Prozi : Aw, no. I'm not going to kill that man. You mean I've got to keep going up with the scale? No sir. He's hollering in there. I'm not going to give him volts. Learner : Ohhh. I absolutely refuse to answer anymore. Shouting urgently now.

Let me out of here! You can't hold me here! Get me out. Prozi : "Green -- Grass, hat, ink, apple. No answering buzz. Just gloomy silence. Experimenter : If the learner doesn't answer in a reasonable time, about four or five seconds, consider the answer wrong. And follow the same procedures you have been doing for wrong answers.

Say, "Wrong," tell him the number of volts, give him the punishment, read him the correct answer. Continue, please. Prozi : "Green -- grass, hat, ink, apple. More silence. Subject just sits there.

Prozi : You got to. You get a shock if you don't answer. Experiment continues with learner refusing to answer, and, finally failing even to grunt or groan. At volts, the subject stands up. Prozi : I think something's happened to that fellow in there. I don't get no answer. He was hollering at less voltage. Can't you check in and see if he's all right, please?

Prozi sits down, sighs deeply : "Cool day, shade, water, paint. Are you all right in there? Are you all right,. Prozi swiveling around in his chair : Something's happened to that man in there.

Swiveling back. Next one. Something's happened to that man in there. You better check in on him, sir. He won't answer or nothing. Experimenter : The responsibility is mine. Please go on. Subject returns to his list, starts running through words as rapidly as he can read them, works through to volts. Prozi : What if he's dead in there? Gestures toward the room with the electric chair.

I mean, he told me he can't stand the shock, sir. I don't mean to be rude, but I think you should look In on him. All you have to do is look in on him. All you have to do is look in the door. I don't get no answer, no noise. Something might have happened to the gentleman in there, sir. Prozi now at a furious pace : "White -- cloud, horse, rock, house.

The answer is "horse. Next words, "Bag -- paint, music. Next word is "Short -- sentence, movie. Morris Braverman, another subject, is a thirty-nine-year-old social worker.

He looks older than his years because of his bald head and serious demeanor. His brow is furrowed, as if all the world's burdens were carried on his face. Ho appears intelligent and concerned. When the learner refuses to answer and the experimenter instructs Braverman to treat the absence of an answer as equivalent to a wrong answer, he takes his instruction to heart.

Before administering volts he asserts officiously to the victim, "Mr. Wallace, your silence has to be considered as a wrong answer.