Perhaps The Challenge Is To Invent The

Perhaps The Challenge Is To Invent The Political Structure That Will Give Conscience A Better Chance Against Authority.

For A Person To Feel Responsible For His Actions, He Must Sense That The Behavior Has Flowed From The Self.

Although A Person Acting Under Authority Performs Actions That Seem To Violate Standards Of Conscience, It Would Not Be True To Say That He Loses His Moral Sense. Instead, It Acquires A Radically Different Focus. He Does Not Respond With A Moral Sentiment To The Actions He Performs. Rather, His Moral Concern Now Shifts To A Consideration Of How Well He Is Living Up To The Expectations That The Authority Has Of Him.

I Started With The Belief That Every Person Who Came To The Laboratory Was Free To Accept Or To Reject The Dictates Of Authority. This View Sustains A Conception Of Human Dignity Insofar As It Sees In Each Man A Capacity For Choosing His Own Behavior. And As It Turned Out, Many Subjects Did, Indeed, Choose To Reject The Experimenter's Commands, Providing A Powerful Affirmation Of Human Ideals.

But The Culture Has Failed, Almost Entirely, In Inculcating Internal Controls On Actions That Have Their Origin In Authority. For This Reason, The Latter Constitutes A Far Greater Danger To Human Survival.