Follow the link found in the Readings or Activities folder to learn about the St
ID: 3491384 • Letter: F
Question
Follow the link found in the Readings or Activities folder to learn about the Stanley Milgram Obedience Experiment. Then search online for 2 more good sources of information about this experiment. Good sources could include websites, YouTube videos, scholarly journal articles, etc. Sites such as Wikipedia, AskJeeves, About.com, or similar sites are NOT good sources.
https://explorable.com/stanley-milgram-experiment
-Briefly summarize the Stanley Milgram Obedience experiment.
-Do you think the results of the experiment show that an individual should always be held accountable for his or her actions?
Explanation / Answer
In the Milgrams experiment the basic finding is that people may be influenced by signs of authority to such an extent they may enagge in acts which otherwise thye would neither approve off nor engage in. This particular experiment ha simplicaiton that people under the influence of an external auhtority are not really acting (deciding) according their own will and knowldge, and instead stopped using their own judgement. Therefore I donot think that such people should be held responsible for their acts. Though it would be desirable to learn to assert your own judgements and act accordingly for a more responsible people. Their innoccence is also supported by theory of consequentialism called motive theory.
Motive Consequentialism – It gives primary importance to motive of the actions and the central tenet is an action should be judged according to the motive behind an action. As long as the motive of an action is good in terms of consequences that action has to be considered as good even if the results are otherwise.
If we look from this perspective of motive theory of consequentialism the actions of participants in Milgram’s experiment would sound moral because the basic motive for providing punishment (through supposed administration of electric shock) was improved learning of the (supposed) learner in the experiment.