Why Do We Obey?
The social contract that holds us together
This question is overlooked in our everyday lives. And there is no one right answer. One must recognize that each individual obeys its government, religion, and/or other individuals for a multitude of reasons. Obedience comes from different types of legitimacy. For example, it can be through divinity, fear, respect, force, and even one’s own conscience. “…are we obeying some internal voice — our conscience — or, if we are religious, the precepts of our faith?[1] Truly understanding the complexity of this question will conclude in no one specific explanation of why one obeys.
One philosophical point of view to examine is by Max Weber. Weber explains his theory of modern-day obedience coming from ‘legal’ authority. “Our modern ‘associations’ are of the type of ‘legal’ authority…The past has known other bases for authority, bases which, incidentally, extend as survivals into the present… ‘charismatic authority’ [and] ‘traditional authority’.[2] The first part of this quotation explains our modern obedience to law and order. We as democratic citizens, in Weber’s opinion, have given up certain rights to a constitution, which will benefit our lives within the…
