May a people resist a tyrant, and on what grounds?

OCR: 10 cited passage(s) are machine-read (OCR) text of old printings; quotations reproduce the stored OCR text, misreadings included.

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant, particularly when their laws and liberties are violated by the prince. He argued that such resistance is not inherently evil or rebellious, but rather just, and that rebellion is not always wrong, especially when it is for the preservation of liberty. [1]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people who find themselves wickedly and barbarously oppressed by a Tyrant may destroy him and his Tyranny without giving offence to any King. His reasoning is that the name conferred or assumed cannot make a King unless he truly is one, and a Tyrant is not a King. (key quote above) [2]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant, and that such resistance is justified when the tyrant threatens their liberty and happiness. He argues that the fears and hatred of a tyrant produce greater mischief than those of a people, and that the people's actions are generally aimed at securing liberty and defending their rights. [3]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believes that a people may resist a tyrant, and that such resistance is consistent with liberty. He argues that tyranny arises from corruption and that tyrants maintain power through the corruption of the people, while popular and virtuous governments are established and upheld by wise and good men through virtue. (key quote above) [4]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant, particularly when tyranny corrupts good order and discipline, and that such resistance can avenge past mischiefs, even if it cannot always prevent future ones. He argued that the Romans, for example, could overthrow tyranny by removing tyrants, though success varied with circumstances. [5]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that unjust commands are not to be obeyed, and no man is obliged to suffer for not obeying such commands that are against the Law. This shows that he believed a people may resist a tyrant on the grounds that the tyrant's commands are unjust and contrary to the Law. [6]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people who asked for a tyrant (though calling him a king) were in effect inviting tyranny, and that such a ruler would govern for his own pleasure or profit rather than for the good of the people. This belief is grounded in his interpretation of the biblical account of the Israelites requesting a king and Aristotle's distinction between a king and a tyrant. (key quote above) [7]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant because government is instituted for the good of the governed, not the governor, and that a tyrant defaces the purpose of government by seeking his own pleasure or profit. He argues that a ruler who deviates from promoting the common good becomes an enemy of the people. [8]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believes that if a King degenerates into a Tyrant, it is easily determined what ought to be done by the People. He argues that Tyrants are not bound by municipal laws and that people have the right to resist them based on natural law and the obligation of rulers to provide for the safety of the people. "if the King by departing from that rule degenerates, as he fays, into a Tyrant, 'tis eafily determin'd what ought then to be done by the People." [9]
• BELIEF (undated; OCR of an old printing): Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant, on the grounds that a tyrant is a public enemy who has committed the greatest and most public injury to the people by usurping power illegally and unjustly. He argued that such a tyrant is not protected by laws and that every person is justified in acting as a soldier against him. [10]

What cuts against it

• Nothing in the passages cuts against the answer. The record consistently supports the belief that a people may resist a tyrant.

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. Algernon Sidney believed that a people may resist a tyrant when they are wickedly and barbarously oppressed. [2]

2. He argued that a tyrant is not a true king and therefore cannot claim the rights of a legitimate ruler. [2]

3. Sidney believed that unjust commands are not to be obeyed, and no man is obliged to suffer for not obeying such commands that are against the Law. [6]

4. He argued that a tyrant governs for his own pleasure or profit rather than for the good of the people, which defaces the purpose of government. [8]

5. Sidney believed that a tyrant is a public enemy who has committed the greatest and most public injury to the people by usurping power illegally and unjustly. [10]

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Extrapolation: Algernon Sidney directly addressed the question of whether a people may resist a tyrant. He believed that such resistance is justified when the tyrant threatens their liberty and happiness, and that the people's actions are generally aimed at securing liberty and defending their rights. [3]

Competing readings: None

Confidence: High, based on direct statements in the record.

KEY QUOTES: [2] [8] [10]