Michael Walzer Quotes

3 Sourced Quotes

According to liberal political theory, as first formulated by John Locke, any individual citizen, oppressed by the rulers of the state, has a right to disobey their commands, break their laws, even rebel and seek to replace the rulers and change the laws.

Michael Walzer

Disobedience, when it is not criminally but morally, religiously, or politically motivated, is almost always a collective act, and it is justified by the values of the collectivity and the mutual engagements of its members.

Michael Walzer

We don't call war hell because it is fought without restraint. It is more nearly right to say that, when certain restraints are passed, the hellishness of war drives us to break with every remaining restraint in order to win. Here is the ultimate tyranny: those who resist aggression are forced to imitate, and perhaps even to exceed, the brutality of the aggressor.

Michael Walzer

Michael Walzer

Michael Walzer

Creative Commons

Born: March 3, 1935 (age 91)

Bio: Michael Walzer is a prominent American political theorist and public intellectual.

Known for:

Just and Unjust Wars (1977)
Spheres of Justice (1983)
Exodus and revolution (1985)
Arguing About War (2004)
On Toleration (1997)

Michael Walzer on Wikipedia

Suggest an edit or a new quote

American Philosopher Quotes

Philosopher Quotes

20th-century Philosopher Quotes