Milgram Experiment

Many years ago a team of social scientists conducted an experiment named The Milgram Experiment to study how human behavior would be effected in certain situations. The reason for this study was to try and figure out how ordinary human beings could be so cruel, such as the Germans during the Holocaust. One of his experiments used in 1962 was designed to test blind obedience which will be briefly summarized below. Then I will discuss what this experiment tells us about human nature and how this is relevant to an ethics class. Let's start with a brief summary of the experiment.

Dr. Milgram, a leading doctor in the field of social psychology designed many controversial experiments to try and determine why individuals could be so cruel to others. The Milgram Experiment was one test used to study the action of blind obedience. His belief was that average, ordinary, good people could be easily persuaded to inflict pain to others at the simple direction of an authority figure. This was proven using test subjects in a simulated environment where they believed they were applying electricity to another test subject for getting answers wrong to simple questions. They could be easily persuaded to apply further jolts of electricity even after you could see them begin to question their morals or ethics.

It is amazing to see how ones morals or ethics concerning another human beings suffering can be lowered when they feel they are not at fault for the suffering. This sort of blind obedience can be tracked back for centuries, as leaders could easily persuade their people to fight and kill with simple persuasive techniques. This experiment essentially tells us that we are good in nature but turn to sheep when we believe there are no consequences for our actions.

As a person that is new to an Ethics course, it is good to get a quick glimpse or have a good example to explain ethics and morals. Dr. Milram essentially summed it all up with one simple...