Why Voltaire Said That It Is Dangerous To Be Right?
For as long as an authority has existed, there have been those who have challenged it, rebelled against it, and even refused to acknowledge it. Institutions that hold great power have composed what is right and wrong to those under their control. However, when an individual’s personal convictions come into conflict with authorities established morality, punishments often follow. Voltaire was correct in his assertion that “it is dangerous to be right” because there are many consequences, especially when authorities can become easily corruptible. People in power want to keep their position. They will often stop at nothing to destroy those who are a threat to this power. Someone who can prove their ideas wrong is clearly a threat to that power and they will react strongly. The astronomer Galileo is a good example of the self-serving desires of those in power. Now known as the father of modern science, he expressed his support of heliocentrism. This belief challenged the doctrine of
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History has enough examples of authorities taking the extreme action of taking the life of a person with valid and forceful new ideas. Socrates, the father of Greek philosophy, was put on trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. He challenged anyone's thinking through his endless and circular Socratic dialogues, and he publicly questioned the gods Athenians worshiped at the time. Socrates chose to stay on principle after he was found guilty by an Athenian jury. The death sentence of Socrates was the legal consequence of asking politico-philosophic questions of his students, from which resulted in the two accusations of moral corruption and of impiety. At trial, the majority voted to convict him of the two charges and agreed to a sentence of death to be executed by Socrates drinking a poisonous beverage of
History has enough examples of authorities taking the extreme action of taking the life of a person with valid and forceful new ideas. Socrates, the father of Greek philosophy, was put on trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. He challenged anyone's thinking through his endless and circular Socratic dialogues, and he publicly questioned the gods Athenians worshiped at the time. Socrates chose to stay on principle after he was found guilty by an Athenian jury. The death sentence of Socrates was the legal consequence of asking politico-philosophic questions of his students, from which resulted in the two accusations of moral corruption and of impiety. At trial, the majority voted to convict him of the two charges and agreed to a sentence of death to be executed by Socrates drinking a poisonous beverage of