Thoreau says
conscience
should be used to make important decisions in civil disobedience.
What kind of government does Thoreau describe in civil disobedience?
In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau not only calls for resistance to immoral and unjust government actions, he also criticizes the foundations of
representative democracy
— majority rule, voting, and representation.
What does Thoreau think people should decide with?
Thoreau believes that a better government is one in which “majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but
conscience
” (part 1, par. For Thoreau, the individual and his/her conscience are more important in deciding right and wrong than the will of the majority.
What does Thoreau say his obligation is?
The quick answer to this is that Thoreau says the only obligation he has
the right to assume is the obligation to follow his own conscience
. Here is a quote that shows that. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.
What does Thoreau consider the most effective way of expressing his displeasure with the government?
Thoreau considers
civil disobedience
one of the most effective ways of expressing his displeasure with the government. Civil disobedience, as the name suggests, is the active disregard and breaking of a government rule when a private citizen believes it is unnecessary or even against society’s best interests.
Why does Thoreau compare the government to a machine?
Thoreau compares the government, or “state,” to a machine
to highlight how the government can cause individuals to ignore their own conscience and become complicit in immoral acts
. They become part of a machine that “produces” slavery and warfare.
What type of government does Thoreau prefer?
How does Thoreau define the best possible kind of government? Thoreau envisions the best kind of government as on that does not govern. He supports
laissez-faire (free enterprise, free trade, noninterfering)
.
What Thoreau thinks about government?
Thoreau argued that
the government must end its unjust actions to earn the right to collect taxes from its citizens
. As long as the government commits unjust actions, he continued, conscientious individuals must choose whether to pay their taxes or to refuse to pay them and defy the government.
What kind of government is the best according to Thoreau?
In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau wrote that the best kind of government was
the one “which [governed] not at all”
(Thoreau 1)….
What does Thoreau use as a metaphor for government?
Thoreau’s metaphor for the government in “Civil Disobedience” is
a machine
. Just like a machine, the government has problems that can cause it to break, like friction within its structure.
What is Thoreau’s solution?
Thoreau’s solution to
reform the government develops the idea of the relationship between the individual and the state
, by suggesting that people are not bound to obey the government. If a government allows injustice, the individual can and should resist it.
What message does Thoreau convey through this example of the acorn and the chestnut?
What message does Thoreau convey through his example of the acorn and the chestnut?
When Thoreau says he did not enjoy being in prison, but he also felt what freedom felt like in prison
. The idea that this paradox illustrates is that a person’s imagination could make them feel free wherever they are.
Why did Henry Thoreau write Civil Disobedience?
Thoreau wrote Civil Disobedience
to justify not paying his taxes, for which he was put in jail
. He refused to pay his taxes to protest two injustices he believed were perpetrated by the United States government: slavery and the war against Mexico.
Which would be the best way of describing the structure?
The best way of describing the structure of Thoreau’s observations in “Civil Disobedience” is that
he moves from a consideration of his surroundings to an evaluation of the state as a whole.
What does Thoreau suggest is worse than disobeying an unjust law?
He disagreed with other American people who believed
the majority should change the law first
because it is a worse thing to disobey the law than to do what an unjust law says to do. Thoreau wrote that breaking the unjust laws is better: “Break the law. … However, Thoreau did not think people should be criminals.
In what three ways does Thoreau say that a person can serve the government?
Focus: Thoreau describes three ways citizens can serve the state:
with their bodies, with their heads, and with their conscience
.
