Ethical Society Term Paper

Martin Luther King & George Orwell

Martin Luther King and George Orwell's representations of an ethical society

Civil rights movement leader Martin Luther King and novelist George Orwell had been known for their political discourses regarding the extent of the government's responsibility to civil society. In the essay "My Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" by King and "Shooting an Elephant" by Orwell, each author's discourse contemplated the kind of ethical society that humanity should have. Their discussion centered on their experiences as members of a society where civil strife and inequality were the norm, devoid of each author's standards in an ethical (i.e., 'ideal') society.In King's "My Pilgrimage," he shared with readers the path he took and underwent in order to achieve his "intellectual odyssey to nonviolence." Citing famous works on the Enlightenment and Capitalism, such as Bentham, Mill, Rousseau, Marx, and Nietzsche, he realized that for him, an ethical society cannot be found….....