Should you obey an unjust law
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Should you obey an unjust law? According to the theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 18th century French political philosopher, "in a democratic society the state represents the general will of the citizens, and that in obeying its laws each citizen is pursuing his own real interests." Thus, in an ideal state, laws express the general will. An individual who disagrees with a law must be failing to look at things from the moral standpoint. Rousseau is talking about an ideal state where laws express people's general will, a will that aims at the common good. But the question is: are we living in an ideal state and do all the laws of our land express the common will of the people and should we obey all the laws even if they are unjust? The answer to this question can be different for different people, but in my opinion it is 'NO'. I think the state in which we are living in is not an ideal state described by Rousseau. There are times when the laws are unjust and it is reasonable to disobey them and protest against them to get them change if there is a higher moral or purpose behind it. I would agree with St...