The Disappearance Of A Sense Of Responsibility

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.

It Is Easy To Ignore Responsibility When One Is Only An Intermediate Link In A Chain Of Action.

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

When An Individual Wishes To Stand In Opposition To Authority, He Does Best To Find Support For His Position From Others In His Group. The Mutual Support Provided By Men For Each Other Is The Strongest Bulwark We Have Against The Excesses Of Authority.

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.