Eng 1102 - Stanley Milgram - Disobedient Verses Obedient

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English 1102

Taylor Edwards

Disobedient verses Obedient

Rough draft

• Stanley Milgram opened our eyes about obedience as well as questioning how we should judge others. He made us wonder if we really are any different from those that behave with disregard to human life. With this also came he own demise. To be obedient is a virtue, which may not be the case when we really look at history and what being obedient can really mean. Mankind's obedience to authority has taken away his freedom to decide what right and wrong. When being obedient is more important than your own values and you would obey orders even though you know the devastation or the affliction of pain and suffering it will cause, this is what we could call "harmful obedience."

• Stanley Milgram was born Augest 15, 1933, in New York City. Milgram received his Ph.D in 1960, and became an assistant professor at Yale University. He received grant support from the National Science Foundation, and conducted experiments to determine the power of social influence. He then conducted what would be known as the Milgram Experiment.

• In the spring of 1960 Adolf Eichmann was seized in Buenos Aires. Eichmann was on trial for being the one in charge of the transportation of Jews from all over Europe to the killing centers. Eichmann's defense was the he was simply following instructions when he ordered the deaths of millions of Jews. This is what caught Milgrams interest. He organized a series of experiments to test how much pain a normal citizen would cause another person simply because a scientist ordered him too.

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• "The main thing I found was that adults are willing to go to any length to obey a person in authority." According to Stanley Milgram. By implying that the millions who took part in these horrible crimes against Jews where no different than ordinary citizens who where obeying orders, was very unsettling. His point of view was terrifying; Americans could put themselves in the place of Nazis. Because of the Holocaust connection details of Milgram's experiment spread like wildfire. Milgram's work was reported in The New York Times and the story was quickly picked up by Life, esquire, ABC television, UPI, and the British press.

• By the time Milgram had published his book and released a short film of the experiment, his findings had spread into popular culture, and into theological, medical, and legal discussions. References to these experiments were seen in plays, movies, and television shows. Books were written against the experiment, and TV used it in comedies. No matter how celebrated the question still remained; had Stanley Milgram mistreated his subjects? It was