Chapter 9 Homework This selection establishes that some degree of obedience is a

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

Chapter 9

Obedience to Authority

UMMARY

As with all previous editions of Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum, the current edition includes a

chapter on obedience to authority, the central feature of which is the Milgram experiment. The chapter

addresses both the dynamics of obedience to individual authority and obedience to collective, or group,

authority.

When individuals refuse to relinquish any of their own autonomy for the welfare of the larger group, anarchy

may result. When the state refuses individuals the right to exercise personal freedoms, totalitarianism follows.

The balance that civilized people try to strike between these extremes is the territory addressed in the selections

in this chapter. The chapter opens with the classic argument for obedience—that, without it, we would live in a

Hobbesian nightmare. The author’s follow with psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm discussing the

relationship between obedience and disobedience, pointing out that while acts of disobedience have spurred

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

In teaching this chapter, you might emphasize one or more of the following: the social psychology

experiments, obedience as it touches students’ lives, or how group pressure pushes the individual to behave in

ways different from how the individual would behave alone.

Why I am Not an Anarchist (p. 245)

Christopher Wellman and John Simmons

UMMARY

Wellman and Simmons present the classic argument for obedience: without it, we’d live in a Hobbesian

nightmare of all in war against all. This selection establishes that some degree of obedience is a requirement of

society. The brief essay answers to its own title: “Why I Am Not an Anarchist.” If one wants to live in an ordered,

safe world, one must surrender some degree of obedience to a larger social unit: the city, state, and nation.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

This selection may be the first students have heard or, or read, anything by Tomas Hobbes. The language of the

Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem (p. 246)

Erich Fromm

UMMARY

Erich Fromm brings a philosophical and psychological perspective to bear on the question of obedience. He

discusses the comforts of obedience and the necessary discomfort one must endure in order to disobey. Through

acts of disobedience, Fromm suggests, one can become free. His ultimate point is that any act ending in the

submission of one person’s will to another’s or to a group’s is cowardly and destructive, and any act affirming

individual will and autonomy (even if this is an act of obedience, though to reason) is an act of freedom.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

This concept may be difficult for students and may be worth class discussion. Working from the information in

Chapter 6, Analysis, students can practice identifying the principles and definitions that Fromm establishes.

You might also devote time to clarifying the distinctions Fromm makes between types of obedience, types of

conscience, and types of authority. You may want to review with your class important element’s of Fromm’s

essay:

Civilization begins, according to both the Greek and Hebrew traditions, with an act of disobedience:

Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit; Prometheus steals the gods’ sacred fire and gives it to humans.

The Power of Situations (p. 249)

Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett

UMMARY

Contrary to the idea that one’s inherent character and personality traits are the deciding factors in forming a

person’s behavior, Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett argue that the social situations surrounding a person are far

more decisive.

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students to tell about a time they did something that was “out of character.” What were the circumstances

surrounding this incident? How might the situation have influenced their behavior? You may want to review

with your class important element’s of this article:

The “hard-won ignorance” to which the authors refer alludes to the conclusions of social psychology

that contradict common sense; an example would be the “good Samaritan” experiment, the description

The main predictor of John’s unwillingness to help the person slumped in the doorway was his belief in

whether or not he was late for an appointment. Common sense would look to some internal state, to

John’s character, as a predictor of behavior. In this case, common sense would be wrong.

The Milgram Experiment (p. 252)

Saul McLeod

UMMARY

Milgram, a Yale researcher, wished to determine to what extent the average person would harm another when

commanded by an authority. Volunteers believed they were “teachers” administering electric shocks to a

“learner” in a memory experiment led by a white-coated “experimenter.” Most teachers could be persuaded

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students whether they believe people are more obedient or less obedient today than they were in the

1960s. What social circumstances may have caused this change?

The Milgram experiment inspired an episode of The Simpsons, which you can show the class before they read

this more sobering study. “The Simpsons Electric Shock Aversion Therapy” is available at hulu.com. You may

want to review with your class important element’s of this article:

Milgram wondered whether Nazis such as Adolf Eichmann were not naturally monstrous but unusually

susceptible to authority (5).

The primary aim of Milgram’s experiments was to determine the degree to which ordinary Americans

are prone to follow immoral orders and, specifically, the degree to which subjects would obey the orders

Participants were less likely to obey when the experimenter and setting seemed lower in status, the

experimenter was out of sight, when others refused to obey, or when the participant had physical contact

Video Link: Opinions and Social Pressure (p. 259)

Solomon Asch

Video Link: The Stanford Prison Experiment (p. 259)

Philip G. Zimbardo

Summary

The Asch and Zimbardo experiments, along with the Milgram experiments, are among the most famous in social

psychology. Behrens and Rosen have included links to both in this chapter. (The Milgram experiments are also

available for viewing online.) In Asch, the student subject is asked to judge a series of line lengths. Confederates of the

experimenter lie and call shorter lines longer than plainly longer ones. The question is: will the subject trust the

evidence of his own eyes and correctly cal the shorter line “shorter,” or will the subject choose, instead, to agree with

the group’s (erroneous) version of the truth?

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Students will find these videos of classic experiments in social psychology fascinating. The challenge will be to move

from fascination to critical inquiry. How, for instance, can students be sure they would have insisted on speaking the

truth about line lengths had they been a subject in the Asch experiment? How can they be sure they would have resisted

The Follower Problem (p. 260)

David Brooks

UMMARY

Brooks observes that Americans have a difficult time accepting and admiring power. Power and authority are

often dirty words in this culture, and Americans are more apt to adulate underdogs and victims than those who

TEACHING S

UGGESTIONS

Ask students what negative phrases and concepts they associate with power (examples: power trip, power

hungry). Why do they think these negative connotations have arisen? Also ask when was the last time they

accomplished something important with a group of people. Was there a clear leader in the group? Did the

leader embrace power or shy away from it?