On Wed, 29 Sep 2004, joanna bujes wrote:
> I think Milgram abstracted unduly from that situation to talk about
> "authority." I take it to be an explicit and very clear example of the
> justification that "science" can provide for sadism.
>
> Joanna
Social psychologists have followed up M's work with other scenarios, where people are ordered to do things by other types of authority figures (e.g., supervisors in bureaucratic settings). The results are about the same: people will tend to obey a legitimate authority figure, even if the order contradicts their own moral standards.
The crucial factor is whether or not the authority figure is legitimate (scientific authority is one form of legitimate authority in our society, but not the only kind).
Miles