Political Protest under the Totalitarian System Essay example -- Total

The paper concerns the principles presupposed in political protest against the totalitarian government. In contrast to the utilitarian view of participating in political protest (K.D.Opp, M. Taylor) the author tries to suggest the moral vex of political protest. According to this model, the main reason and motif for challenging the regime is the transgression of the limits of concession, which jeopardizes the spiritual identity and essential qualities of the individuals and all groups (i.e., Church, family, nation). The participants of the protest do not calculate in terms of egoistic or mystical interests and utilities but in terms of moral values. They consider what action is morally good and bad or morally better or worse in this situation, disregarding their personal profits and happiness. The overthrow of the communist dodging is an in scheming and contingent result of combating the extreme manifestations and worst excesses of the system. 1. Protest in demurral of Ident ityThere are three essential piddles of opposing the totalitarian system covert passive resistance, overt non-violent protest, and armed struggle. The first form of activity results, in a way, from a combination of utilitarian calculating and axiological considerations. The oppositionists may cooperate with the rgime and publicly countenance it, speckle at the same time they venture to take action in order to liberalize the system and take the edge off the dictatorship, whenever this is possible, i.e., not noticed by the authorities, legitimate, or profitable in view of the mercifulness of the punishment faced by the offenders. Both individuals and institutions may follow this pattern. beneath the Communist rule in Eastern Europe, even persons holding publ... ...pp, Repression and new Action East Germany in 1989, Rationality and Society, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1994, pp. 101138 M. Taylor, lawlessness and Cooperation, London, 1976 M. Taylor ed., Rationality and Revolution, Cambridge, 19 88.(7) M. Weber, Gesammelte Aufstze zur Wissenschaftslehre, Tbingen, 1973, especially Chapters II & X.(8) Cf. A. Michnik, Z dziejw honoru w Polsce From the History of Honor in Poland, Warszawa, 1993.(9) Cf. V. Havel, Sila bezsilnych The Power of the Powerless, Berlin, 1995.(10) Arystoteles Aristotle, Etyka Nikomachejska Nichomachean Ethics, Warszawa, 1956, Books common chord & V.(11) T. Buksinski, Kategoria etycznosci a rzeczywistosc krajw postkomunistycznych The Category of the Ethical vs. the Reality of the Post-Communist Countries, Edukacja Filozoficzna, 1995, No. 19, pp. 123132.(12) J. Kuron, op. cit.