The Individual and the State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Individual and the State - Essay Example In toerh ways, citizens give up some freedoms in return for the state guaranteeing much larger freedoms such as the right to live safely and to own personal property without it being stolen. Within this context, it would appear that "civil disobedience" would not be allowed. For civil disobedience would not bow to the general will, it would be an expression of natural right. This is only the case when the government of a country genuinely adheres to the general will, and when the social contract is being honored. Thus if a despotic ruler takes control, or if the citizens start to tyrannize their fellow people, then disobedience would be in order. This seems a sensible point of view. Most of the most advanced countries of the world adhere to the idea of the social contract, and thus civil disobedience is not needed. However, when the laws are demonstrably unjust (such as race laws in the American South in the 1950's) then a degree of "civil disobedience" (such as Rosa Parks) is legitimate. Rousseau would support such actions. In The Death of Socrates David portrays the last seconds in the life of Socrates, who had been condemned to death by the Athenian state for corrupting the morals of young men by his teaching methods. These teaching methods essentially enabled them to think for themselves and to question the logic of authority through the Socratic method of questioning. The main feature of the painting is the contrast between the powerful-looking, animated and yet controlled Socrates who is about to drink the hemlock with those of the young men surrounding him who seem miserable in their inability to accept the situation. Formally, Socrates is placed just to the right of center of the picture, and has a kind of light exuding from him. This makes him the most powerful figure in the painting. In contrast, his disciples are painted in a darker manner, and they are looking away from the figure of Socrates, even as one of the young men is handing him the hemlock. In this situation David is suggesting that the individual must stand up for what he believes in against the forces of the state. The masses are represented by the apparent anger of the old man looking at Socrates on the right. Two young men look at him like timid animals, while an old man sits at the end of the bed, apparently impotent to do anything. It is only Socrates who is facing the reality of the situation, as an individual must if he is to take on the state. c)What areas of shared concern can you identify between Rousseau's argument in The Social Contract and David in The Death of Socrates One major area of shared concern is what the individual should do when he/she is about to take on the state. Thus within The Social Contract the individual should in nearly all cases give up the "natural right" for the good of the whole mass of people. Essentially Socrates has demanded his freedom to assert his natural right through teaching the young men of Athens as he sees fit, rather as the state sees fit. The background to the scene in the painting is that Socrates has in fact refused to escape his death sentence, but rather voluntarily drinks the