Abstract
But neither does everyone openly advocate disobedience (Smith) Disobedience, that is defined by convention as an illegal non-violent action undertaken on grounds of moral principles (Singer), seems to be only justified when there is no independent moral reason to obey or when the weight of independent moral reason favour disobedience. Few philosophers, however, think that conditions could be achieved in a reasonably just society, such as in a democracy. But as M.L.King stressed it "we should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal"". Civil responsible citizens, under some conditions and some circumstances, may be obliged to act in conformity with their conscience and overridden the prima facie duty to obey the law. Sometimes, civil disobedience may be a necessary evil to protect the democracy and its values.
