17 .There are two types of laws: just and unjust .Every individual in a society has a responsibility to obey just laws and, even more importantly, to disobey and resist unjust laws.
I strongly agree with the arguer's conclusion. Obey just laws is the responsibility to every individual. Disobey and resist unjust laws is also the responsibility to every individual.
Law is a social institution, which has been defined as a "system of rules", as an "interpretive concept" to achieve justice, as an "authority" to mediate people's interests, and even as "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction". "The rule of law," wrote the philosopher Aristotle in 350 BCE, "is better than the rule of any individual.”Living under a state we accept the benefits it brings us (for example protection, health care, education, etc),and by accepting these benefits we consent to its laws. In order to guarantee the social security ,to assure the social harmony, every individual have responsibility to obey the laws.
But, what a pity! Not every just cause can be pursued through the courts (e.g. the campaign for Indian independent). Not every democracy has a written constitution or charter of rights, appeal to which allows the courts to override the will of the legislature (for example, the UK does not). Even in cases where a case could theoretically be taken through legal channels, the courts are often controlled by the same political elite as the government, and there is no guarantee of justice. And in any case, challenging an unjust law in court requires civil disobedience. Someone has to break that law deliberately, in order to be arrested and prosecuted for it, so that the case arrives in court in the first place.
Civil disobedience is the deliberate disobeying of a law to advance a moral principle or change government policy. It may be confined to breaking only particular laws which are considered unjust, as in the civil rights movement in the USA in the 1960s. Alternatively civil disobedience can include breaking other laws as a way of drawing attention to the perceived injustice, for example by damage to property, non-payment of fines or taxes, obstruction of building work, and trespassing. Those who practice either kind of civil disobedience are willing to accept the consequences of their actions as a means of furthering their cause. Henry David Thoreau first articulated the tenets of civil disobedience in an 1849 essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”. He argued that when conscience and law do not coincide, individuals have the obligation to promote justice by disobeying the law. Civil disobedience was a major tactic in the women’s suffrage movement, Mohandas Gandhi’s campaign for independence in India, the civil rights movement in the USA, and the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. More recent examples of civil disobedience campaigns include the refusal to pay the Poll Tax and the Poll Tax riots in the UK in 1990, and the activities of some animal rights and anti-abortion activists.
In sum, our responsibility is to obey just laws; our duty is to disobey unjust laws.
Issue：119（第3类科研、学术、学科：频次27），80（第2类教育：频次26），195（第1类政治、政府：频次25），241（第5类社会现象：频次20）
119."When research priorities are being set for science, education, or any other area, the most important question to consider is: How many people's lives will be improved if the results are successful?" 119． 当考察一些领域的优势时，比如科学、教育等，最需要考虑的问题是：现在的人们有多少会从中获益？
1 人们应该从实际出发去考察某些领域的优势和效益
2 不能够做无用功，同意观点
80"All students should be required to take courses in the sciences, even if they have no interest in science." 80． 所有的学生都应该被要求学习理科课程，尽管有些人对理科不感兴趣。
1 为什么所有学生都要学理科
2 不是只有理科才能训练人们的思维和思想的，其他的照样可以
3 行行出状元
195-"The goal of politics should not be the pursuit of an ideal, but rather the search for common ground and reasonable consensus." ?? 195． 政治的目标不应该是追求一个想法，而是寻找普遍合理的大多数人的意见
1 大多数人的意见才能代表群众意愿
2 政治目标的想法固然可以很完美，但是服众才是关键
241"An individual's greatness cannot be judged objectively by his or her contemporaries; the most objective evaluators of a person's greatness are people who belong to a later time."241． 个人的伟大不能由与他同时代的人来客观地评价，而让将来的人评价更有意义
1个人伟大不仅仅应该同时代评价，也应该又后代来评价
2 年代不同看待事物的本质也不同作者: xiongnashiong 时间: 2007-7-31 19:37:44
I strongly agree with the arguer's conclusion. Obey just laws is the responsibility to every individual. Disobey and resist unjust laws is also the responsibility to every individual.
Law is a social institution, which has been defined as a "system of rules", as an "interpretive concept" to achieve justice, as an "authority" to mediate people's interests, and even as "the command of a sovereign, backed by the threat of a sanction". "The rule of law," wrote the philosopher Aristotle in 350 BCE, "is better than the rule of any individual.”Living under a state we accept the benefits it brings us (for example protection, health care, education, etc)(这些也算law的一部分吗?),and by accepting these benefits we consent to its laws. In order to guarantee the social security ,to assure the social harmony, every individual have responsibility to obey the laws.(这段应该是要写一个让步,但首段观点太绝对,而该段又没有任何的转折,有些唐突.)
But, what a pity! (口语化的东西是不是最好不用于书面语啊?)Not every just cause can be pursued through the courts (e.g. the campaign for Indian independent(这个例子看不懂啊,觉得最好要解释一下,而且也可以不打括号)). Not every democracy has a written constitution or charter of rights, appeal to which allows the courts to override the will of the legislature (for example, the UK does not). Even in cases where a case could theoretically be taken through legal channels, the courts are often controlled by the same political elite as the government, and there is no guarantee of justice. And in any case, challenging an unjust law in court requires civil disobedience. Someone has to break that law deliberately, in order to be arrested and prosecuted for it, so that the case arrives in court in the first place.
Civil disobedience is the deliberate disobeying of a law to advance a moral principle or change government policy. It may be confined to breaking only particular laws which are considered unjust, as in the civil rights movement in the USA in the 1960s. Alternatively civil disobedience can include breaking other laws as a way of drawing attention to the perceived injustice, for example by damage to property, non-payment of fines or taxes, obstruction of building work, and trespassing. Those who practice either kind of civil disobedience are willing to accept the consequences of their actions as a means of furthering their cause. Henry David Thoreau first articulated the tenets of civil disobedience in an 1849 essay, “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience”. He argued that when conscience and law do not coincide, individuals have the obligation to promote justice by disobeying the law. Civil disobedience was a major tactic in the women’s suffrage movement, Mohandas Gandhi’s campaign for independence in India, the civil rights movement in the USA, and the abolition of apartheid in South Africa. More recent examples of civil disobedience campaigns include the refusal to pay the Poll Tax and the Poll Tax riots in the UK in 1990, and the activities of some animal rights and anti-abortion activists.
In sum, our responsibility is to obey just laws; our duty is to disobey unjust laws.