Virtue vs Vice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virtue vs Vice - Essay Example ’s freedom itself originated from an act of disobedience and that the ability to be disobedient is the function of courage and true freedom of thought. Therefore, he disputes the belief that obedience is always a virtue and that disobedience is always a vice. Obedience has been favored as a virtue in man. Erich Fromm however sets out to prove that obedience is not actually a virtue, rather it prevents man from being an independent, free human being. Man is obedient because he is too cowardly to go against the established order of things and the norms of society, to be disobedient. While disobedience has always been looked upon as a vice, Fromm questions whether it is in fact so. It was only after Adam and Eve disobeyed that their eyes were opened and they were able to see the world and their role within it. Therefore, while this act of disobedience has been condemned as the original sin and a vice, it was in fact the symbol of man’s liberation. Fromm applauds the prophets and the philosophers who have advocated that man should always doubt and question everything, because it is only by keeping his eyes open that man can see and learn the truth. It is only a strong and self confident person who can have the courage to be disobedien t, because to be so means to go against the established hierarchies that exist in society and to demonstrate his own power of free will thought and action that is against the set and established rules. Through the act of disobedience, man is subservient to his own conscience rather than being subservient to those who want to exploit him and those who want to muzzle the majority in order to enjoy the benefits and resources of the world for themselves. However, Fromm clarifies that he does not advocate disobedience all the time, on the grounds that it is a virtue. Rather, the act of obedience or disobedience will depend upon what or who a person wishes to submit himself to. Fromm states that if a man obeys all the time and never