watched first episode of the HBO mini series John Adams with Sam and Jake last night and it provoked some thoughts
First episode begins with John Adams defending a British Captain in court who was in charge of the soldiers involved in killing 5 civilians and injuring another 11 in the Boston massacre. This was a great place to begin the narrative of John Adams life because it shows his devotion to upholding the virtues of law and order in the tumultuous time the colonies were facing.
while I certainly agree with John Adams in the virtue of upholding the law I wonder what the appropriate response would be to an unjust law?
Is it ever right to commit an injustice? I would say no, it is never the right thing for someone to willfully commit an injustice.
however as noted first by Socrates and by later philosophers we have a duty of respecting and upholding the law with just reciprocity. The state and the community I live in have provided me with among other things security, peace of mind, an education, clean air and water, and to a degree representation and due process as a citizen. These things have afforded me certain luxuries that I would not have had other wise had.
But on the other hand I recognize that the state is not inherently virtuous and does not always act with the intent of justice in mind. written into our founding documents are the explicit recognition of slavery as an institution. Slavery and racial inequality are obviously unjust acts, yet they were permitted and allowed as acts of law.
What is the just response to injustice? Is reacting to injustice with injustice the ethical thing to do? Is it unjust to break the law even if it is an unjust law?
With this in mind I am led to agree with Jake: the individual must act with justice and virtue even in the face of breaking an unjust law.
