King and Machiavelli
Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his belief that nonviolence requires that the methods used to achieve a goal must be just as ethical as the objective being pursued. In other words, if a person wants to achieve a just and moral end, such as ending racial discrimination, they must use peaceful and ethical means to attain it. It is not a matter of the ends justifying the means, or the means justifying the ends. There must be moral agreement between the two. For example, he could not justify ending discrimination by killing everyone in power and overthrowing the government through violent revolution. The end of discrimination would be good, but the meansviolent forcewould be considered immoral. Or, nonviolent means could be moral but if the nonviolence is used to keep people in oppression, that is not good either. The means must be morally good, and the end pursued must be morally good. King wanted to use nonviolent protest to achieve the end of racial discrimination.
In short, King believed that the end he sought was a society that treated all individuals with dignity and respect, regardless of their skin color. The means he approved of were peaceful and nonviolent actions, such as civil disobedience, sit-ins, and protests. He emphasized the importance of peaceful demonstrations, even when met with violence, as a means of creating lasting social change. Thus, he wrote in Letter from Birmingham...
…in cruelty.Therefore, in choosing between King or Machiavelli, in my opinion, King's approach is more reasonable than Machiavelli's. While Machiavelli's approach may work in the short term for a ruler who does not care about ethics or ultimate consequences, it is not sustainable in the long run nor morally right. The use of immoral and unethical means to achieve a goal is what egoists try to justify, and it will eventually undermine the legitimacy of the objective itself. In contrast, King's nonviolent approach is not only more ethical but also more effective in creating lasting change in terms of focusing on swaying the hearts and minds of good people in positions of power. (Whether it would have the same effect if the…
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
King evokes many of the philosophical premises that justified Gandhi in his actions, and explicitly mentions another famous social agitator -- Socrates -- in the hopes of solidifying the logical foundations of the notion of social protest. When it comes to commitment and communication, the two can easily be displayed in the case of King through his famous letter from the Birmingham jail, where King demonstrated both his ability to
This dramatically altered American life and our prejudices, in today's world, racial superiority is seen as ignorant and untolerable. Another area that Dr. King has changed our prejudices is in redefining our understanding of democracy and liberty. Dr. King's poetic speeches and his magnetic presence left a mark on how we interpret democracy within the United States. Previous to the Civil Rights movement, Americans believed that voting, democratic participation and
Martin Luther King, Jr. There are people in this world who are self-interested and live with a single purpose: to promote themselves and better their living situation. Then there are other people who work and sacrifice in order to make the lives of other people better. Martin Luther King, Jr. is most assuredly one of the latter types of people. He is revered as a person who made the ultimate sacrifice
Martin Luther King Jr. Influences of Heredity and Family Influence of Environment Role of Social Support Systems Theoretical Approach Explaining Individual's Behaviors and Achievements Life Span Development and Personality The history of world is full of examples of personalities who belonged to humble surroundings but emerged to change the fate of nation. There have been uncountable instances when a person breaks centuries' old accepted customs and makes a new way to follow for all the ones
Martin Luther King Speech Critical Analysis of "I've Been to the Mountaintop" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The last speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered has been popularly referred to as the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech (). Dr. King delivered this speech on April 3, 1968 at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee. Following this speech on April 4, 1968, Dr. King
He clarifies his status i.e. A spiritual leader and a learned person by using well chosen ethos of St. Aquinas, Jesus and Paul therefore puts him forth as a trustworthy person. Also being an African-American makes him the right person to participate in this event because he understands the situation properly. By use of logos he explains the reason behind the actions of the black persons of which the
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