“According to liberal political theory, as first formulated by John Locke, any individual citizen, oppressed by the rulers of the state, has a right to disobey their commands, break their laws, even rebel and seek to replace the rulers and change the laws.”

"The Obligation to Disobey," Ethics, Vol. 77, No. 3 (April 1967), p. 163

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "According to liberal political theory, as first formulated by John Locke, any individual citizen, oppressed by the rule…" by Michael Walzer?
Michael Walzer photo
Michael Walzer 3
American philosopher 1935

Related quotes

Benito Mussolini photo

“The citizen in the Fascist State is no longer a selfish individual who has the anti-social right of rebelling against any law of the Collectivity.”

Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) Duce and President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. Leader of the National Fascist Party and subsequen…

My Autobiography by Mussolini, New York: NY, Charles Scribner’s Sons (1928) p. 280.
1920s

Thomas E. Woods Jr. photo

“Since God himself is just and commands justice, the Muslim community (umma) cannot tolerate a tyrannical law or a tyrannical ruler.”

Richard A. Horsley (1939) Biblical scholar

Source: Religion and Empire: People, Power, and the Life of the Spirit (2003), p. 60

Ilana Mercer photo

“Like gun laws, spy laws, courtesy of the Surveillance State, oppress only law-abiding, harmless individuals.”

Ilana Mercer South African writer

"In the West, the Inmates Run the Asylym," http://praag.org/?p=21073 Praag.org, December 4, 2015.
2010s, 2015

James Bovard photo

“As long as rulers are above the law, citizens have the same type of freedom that slaves had on days when their masters chose not to beat them.”

James Bovard (1956) American journalist

From Attention Deficit Democracy (Palgrave, 2006) http://www.jimbovard.com/Epigrams%20Attention%20Deficit%20Democracy.htm

Antisthenes photo

“Antisthenes … used to say that the wise man would regulate his conduct as a citizen, not according to the established laws of the state, but according to the law of virtue.”

Antisthenes (-444–-365 BC) Greek philosopher

§ 5
From Lives and Opinions of the Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laërtius

Adlai Stevenson photo
Giuseppe Mazzini photo

“One sole God;
One sole ruler, — his Law;
One sole interpreter of that law — Humanity.”

Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872) Italian patriot, politician and philosopher

Life and Writings: Young Europe: General Principles. No. 1., reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1923), p. 318

Nisargadatta Maharaj photo

Related topics