The Constitution :: American America History

The Constitution A case for the association of America's pioneer and progressive strict and political encounters to the essential standards of the Constitution can be promptly made. One point for this end is the way that most Americans around then had little close to their encounters on which to base their political thoughts. This is because of the absence of cutting edge tutoring among regular Americans around then. Different focuses additionally agree with the principle thought and make the hypothesis of the association conceivable. Much proof to help this case can be found in the wording of the Constitution itself. Indeed, even the Preamble has a significant thought that emerged from the Revolutionary time frame. The primary line of the Preamble states, We the People of the United States... . This infers the new government that was being shaped gotten its power from the individuals, which would serve to keep it from getting degenerate and uninvolved in the individuals, as the composers trusted Britain's administration had become. In the event that the Bill of Rights is thought of, all the more supporting thoughts become clear. The First Amendment's assurance of strict opportunity could have been impacted by the pilgrim custom of relative strict opportunity. This custom was clear even in the early settlements, similar to Plymouth, which was shaped by Puritan nonconformists from England looking for strict opportunity. Roger Williams, the owner of Rhode Island, most likely made a considerably bigger commitment to this convention by pushing and permitting total strict opportunity. William Penn additionally added to this thought in Pennsylvania, where the Quakers were open minded of different divisions. Notwithstanding the convention of strict resilience in the provinces, there was a custom of self-government and well known association in government. About each settlement had an administration with chose delegates in an assembly, which generally made laws to a great extent without obstruction from Parliament or the ruler. Jamestown, the soonest of the settlements, had a get together, the House of Burgesses, which was chosen by the land owners of the state. Maryland built up an arrangement of government much like Britain's, with an agent gathering, the House of Delegates, and the senator sharing force. The Puritan state in Massachusetts initially had an administration like a corporate top managerial staff with the initial eight investors, called freemen holding power. Afterward, the meaning of freemen developed to incorporate every male resident, and the individuals were given a solid voice in their own administration.

Human and American Scholar free essay sample

Transcendentalism in America The transcendentalist movement hit America full force by the mid 19th century, crafting a passionate spiritual idealism in its wake and leaving a unique mark on the history of American literature. Transcendentalism stems from the broader Romanticist time period, which depends on intuition rather than reasoning. Transcendentalism takes a step further into the realm of spirituality with the principle that in order to discover the divine truth that the individual seeks, he or she must transcend, or exceed, the â€Å"everyday human experience in the physical world† (â€Å"Elements of Literature: Fifth Course† 146). Nature, the physical world, is seen as a doorway to the divine world; beings can cross over into this divine world by not only observing nature, but also looking within themselves. As a result, individuality and self-assurance are seen as virtues, since they come from the heart of the individual. William Cullen Bryant and his poem Thanatopsis, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s The American Scholar, and Walt Whitman’s A Noiseless Patient Spider all display fundamental characteristics of Transcendentalism. William Cullen Bryant was a famous American poet of the 1800s, integrating major themes of transcendentalism into his poems and short stories. Thanatopsis is one of Bryant’s most famous works, and combines the themes of nature, death, and the unity of these two with humanity. He starts by personifying nature, and claims he has a unique relationship with â€Å"her† and all her different â€Å"forms†, referring to sights that adorn the landscape. Valleys, brooks, and plant life are all her different forms. Bryant explains that nature speaks differently to an individual according to their mood: â€Å"Communion with her visible forms, she speaks/A various language; for his gayer hours/She has a voice of gladness, and a smile† (2-4). When that individual’s attitude changes, so does nature’s character: â€Å"and she glides/Into his darker musings, with a mild/And healing sympathy, that steals away/Their sharpness, ere he is aware. † (5-8). Nature seemingly heals the individual’s pain before they are conscious of it. Bryant then transfers to the melancholy thoughts of death. He states that when we die, we will become one with nature. He describes all the ways the earth will reuse us in the soil, for the trees, and we will become as indifferent as rocks that scatter about the world. Therefore, we should not feel disheartened towards death. He continues to persuade the reader not to worry, for everyone will one day lie down â€Å"in one mighty sepulcher† (37) together. He ends on the note that we should not greet death with hopelessness, as if entering a prison, but embrace it as if it were just an opportunity to lie down and sleep dreamily. Transcendentalism is a sector of romanticism, and therefore, like romanticism, can be said to encompass the philosophy of â€Å"reverence for nature† (Benets Readers Encyclopedia). Many transcendentalist believers took to nature to gain inspiration and descend into a state of divinity. Wildlife was connected to God, and by embracing the wild you embraced spirituality itself. Living in an untamed environment and functioning in the works of nature was the essence of transcendentalism. Bryant perceives the personified Nature as a celestial being that takes many forms in the world, and he calls out to those who see her similarly. In his first line he addresses â€Å"To him who in the love of Nature holds/ Communion with her visible forms†(1-2). He is calling out to those who hold a special relationship with Nature’s various spectacles. He continues to admire nature’s wisdom, urging readers to â€Å"Go forth, under the open sky, and list/To Nature’s teachings, while from all around/ Earth and her waters, and the depths of air/Comes a still voice† (14-17). One author notes â€Å" ‘Thanatopsis’ then exhorts anyone overcome with morbid thoughts of human mortality to venture into Nature for the sake of uplifting lessons to be derived from the elements of air, earth, and water that constitute the universe† (Curley). Another characteristic of the transcendental literary time period is human mortality, and this is the main concern in Thanatopsis, which literally translates into â€Å"a meditation on death†. As one critic puts it, Thanatopsis grants â€Å"consolation for human mortality through mankind’s unity with nature† (Curley). Death, no matter what time period it is observed in, can be daunting to an individual. Since death is a part of nature, transcendentalism embraces it as a cycle of life. Thanatopsis is intertwined with the perspective of nature, it is Nature’s lessons that ease the fear of death: â€Å"Nature then begins to speak, and does so for the remainder of the poem, directly addressing the person oppressed by human mortality with a reminder that while the body will dissolve in the grave, one’s identity will be lost in its commingling with the elements. † (Price). Many transcendentalists like this idea of the human body becoming one with nature, giving back to the place from where it originated, such as in Bryant’s words: â€Å"Earth, that nourished thee, shall claim/Thy growth, to be resolved to earth again/And, lost each human trace, surrendering up/Thine individual being, shalt thou go†(22-25). The main reason transcendentalists do not dread mortality is the solace that â€Å"the body will dissolve in the grave, one’s identity will be lost in its commingling with the elements† (Curley). Additionally, Bryant offered further explanations as to why death should be accepted, rather than fled from. Humanity itself is not permanent, and no man has ever been immortal; Bryant amplifies this truth: â€Å"All that breathe/Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh/When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care/Plod on, and each one as before will chase/His favorite phantom; yet all these shall leave† (60-64). To this, one critic comments â€Å"an individual’s death merges with the mortality of the entire human race anywhere in time, anywhere in place, and therefore, merely fulfills the universal human destiny†¦The living may be carefree or sad, but in the end they share the same mortal fate† (Curley). Ralph Waldo Emerson also exemplified various themes of transcendentalism in his work. Emerson’s The American Scholar encourages individualism, nonconformity, originality, and reliance on the inner spirit. He discusses different sources that the human mind should rely on, such as nature, literature, and action. He embraces an understanding of oneself. Emerson criticizes those who focus too much on the great minds of the past, rather than being inspired by them, and don’t actually think for themselves. He explains that work leaves an individual empty, almost becoming a simple machine, like the growing factories in America. Emerson directs this speech at a particular issue: America’s influence from European literature. This came to bother Emerson, who believed in inspiration from oneself. The individual is so special. This speech directly targets America’s unknown identity during this time, which he wishes to establish by inspiring each and every â€Å"American scholar†. An important aspect of transcendentalism in The American Scholar was individualism and self-confidence: â€Å"If the single man plant himself indomitably on his instincts, and there abide, the huge world will come round to him† (The American Scholar). Individualism is what spins the planet of creativity; to Emerson, without it human beings would not be able to achieve their full potential. In order for a person to free their individuality, they would have to first disengage from society itself. Emerson believes that society limits an individual’s capacity. One critic notes that Emerson sees the American scholar as a reformation project, where one must have â€Å"an idealized portrait of intellectual life rooted in the liberated humanity of the individual thinker. In practice this means an outright rejection of conformity and groupthink, including the uncritical acceptance of established creeds and dogmas† (Yang). Before the transcendentalism period hit America, industrialization had taken a toll on the American people; work was the central focus, and it left many tired and empty. Emerson observed, â€Å"Equated with their occupational function, people become tool-like, with a corresponding social arrangement that reinforces this state of affairs. He views this deformation as inherent in the mercantile and manufacturing culture then emerging in the United States. This social fragmentation not only inhibits human potential†¦ its soul-destroying consequences are dehumanizing† (Matuozzi). Another more obscure issue that Emerson dealt with was America’s tendency to hang on to past great writers and philosophers, rather than coming to revelations with their own minds. As Emerson put it, â€Å"Books are written on it [the world] by thinkers, not by Man Thinking, by men of talent, that is, who start wrong, who set out from accepted dogmas, not from their own sight of principles. Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given; forgetful that Cicero, Locke and Bacon were only young men in libraries when they wrote these books† (The American Scholar). One critic explains this quote: â€Å"Emerson criticizes those scholars who allow themselves to be dominated by the past great minds to the extent that they think for the historical figures rather than for themselves, thereby becoming bookworms instead of â€Å"Man Thinking† (Yang). While looking to historical figures is oftentimes needed to understand what a person needs to do in their life, it does more harm than good to sculpt yourself into that exact person. It is confidence in oneself that is needed for transcendentalist philosophy to prevail. A central theme in The American Scholar is striving for wholeness. Since this private aspiration is linked with an individualist ethic and often clashes with social norms and public institutions, Emerson’s project would seem to require a powerful will†¦ the harmonization of will, intellect, and soul is difficult, perhaps the chief impediment to the full realization of self-reliance and self-trust†¦In the end, Emers on’s espousal of self-reliant individualism in The American Scholar is an unwavering rejection of whatever blunts creative human potential. Wherever circumstances threaten the value of autonomy, the outspoken message of The American Scholar will offer encouragement, proving a clear alternative to debilitating conformity and spiritual alienation. † (Matuozzi) Emerson also expands on the idea of action. Without it, transcendentalism would be nothing but talk of reformation. It would do no good to anyone in the world. Transcendentalist ideas were based on constantly living, rather than constantly contemplating. Emerson sees that action is relevant to human potential. The scholar immerses him- or herself in the world rather than fleeing it. The world is an occasion to gain valuable knowledge through focused, mindful participation. † (Matuozzi). The critic is directly stemming from a statement made in The American Scholar by Emerson: â€Å"Action is with the scholar subordinate, but it is essential. Without it he is not yet man. Without it thought can never ripen into truth. Whilst the world hangs before the eye as a cloud of beauty, we cannot even see its beauty. Inaction is cowardice, but there can be no scholar without the heroic mind. (The American Scholar). A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman has a key trait of the characteristics of transcendentalism as well. The first stanza of the poem starts out by describing one isolated spider. Whitman describes the actions of this spider, as it flings its filaments, or silk webs, into the air. The arachnid is doing this in the hope of latching on to some sort of solid, stable surface. This would ensure it an easy groundwork for setting up the rest of its web. The observer in the poem remarks that he can see this spider as it repeats this tedious task over and over again. In the second stanza, Whitman changes perspectives, instead focused on a human mortal. In the first stanza, the poet saw the desolate world the spider resided in. â€Å"I markd where on a little promontory it stood isolated/Markd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding† (2-3). In the second stanza, the poet takes this lone spider and turns the creature into a metaphorical form of the human soul. He describes how his own soul is â€Å"Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them† (8). Just like the spider, uncertain of its future, the human soul also wanders about aimlessly, hoping to grasp something stable that it can cling to. It is just as lonesome. This literary piece adds to the transcendental theme of the unknown. Oftentimes, people find themselves drifting along in life, not knowing where they are headed. â€Å"A miniscule spider, attempting to chart a boundless vacuity with grossly inadequate equipment, becomes a living symbol of the pathetic plight of human mortality. The human soul, too, must deal with the unknown. (Scherle). We search for a purpose, a meaning in our lives that will stabilize us. â€Å"The experience of the spider becomes a metaphor symbolizing the soul’s quest for the unification of earthly and heavenly existence†¦the person visualizes in the spider’s action a reflection of the pathetic yet heroic struggle he is waging to find immortality. † (Scherle). Without purpose, a person can stray from a better path; tr anscendentalists found comfort in knowing that the unknown is connected with some mystical higher being. As one critic notes, â€Å"The sense of human insignificance is monstrous† (Scherle). Along those lines, Whitman shows that finding that sole purpose can be a long and tiresome task. Oftentimes it is repetitive and dismal, and the outcome is unspecified. â€Å"Everything (immortality) is hanging on a silken thread, which is being tossed tentatively and figuratively into an unidentified, undefined ‘somewhere’† (Scherle). Whitman sees his soul in â€Å"Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space† just as the spider â€Å"stood isolated† in a â€Å"vacant vast surrounding† (2-7). What the critic realizes is that â€Å"A Noiseless Patient Spider is a poem about loneliness†¦this is a loneliness that grows out of an inherent tendency of the body and soul to attempt to unite with an elusive divine entity in order to gain immortality† (Scherle). Whitman uses the transcendental â€Å"concept of nature as a wayseer for human truth† (Scherle). Transcendentalism is portrayed through the literary works of William Cullen Bryant and Thanatopsis, Ralph Waldo Emerson and The American Scholar, and Walt Whitman and A Noiseless Patient Spider. Thanatopsis exemplifies themes of nature and death. Transcendentalists immersed themselves in the natural world to connect with the divine otherworld. The American Scholar argued that in order to transcend the human body into a spiritual realm, you must first disengage from society. A Noiseless Patient Spider explains the isolation and uncertainty we have throughout our lives. We search for purpose and reason, never knowing what to expect. Transcendentalism was a unique literary time period in America that consisted of a love for nature, the divine, and the individual human mind. Works Cited Page * Romanticism. HarperCollins Benets Readers Encyclopedia. 1996). ebscohost. Web. 18 Mar 2013. * Price, Victoria. Thanatopsis, Poems. Salem Press Masterplots. (2010). ebscohost. Database. 18 Mar 2013. * Curley, Thomas M. Thanatopsis, Poems. Salem Press Masterplots II. (2010). ebscohost. Database. 18 Mar 2013. * Scherle, Phillis J. A Noiseless Patient Spider, Leaves of Grass. Salem Press Masterplots II (2002). ebscohost. Database. 18 Mar 20 13. * Matuozzi, Robert N. A Noiseless Patient Spider, Leaves of Grass. Salem Press Masterplots (2010). ebscohost. Database. 18 Mar 2013. * Yang, Vincent. The American Scholar. Salem Press Magill’s

Waensila V Minister For Immigration And Border Protection Free Sample

Question: Discuss the Report for Waensila v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Answer: Introduction The Department of Immigration and Border Protection or DBIP guidelines required that the applicant who is applying for subclass 820 visa for his/her partner who is an unlawful resident of the country to fulfil the criteria of at the time of lodgement of the application. This means that some the decision of visa was dependent on some compelling circumstances and if those circumstances were not met then the visa was refused. This schedule 3 policy and waivers have changed due to this case. Practical Implications Of The Case Before discussing the practical implication of the case it is essential to discuss the case. In this case the applicant is a Thailand citizen who came to Australia with a visitor visa in November of 2007. Later he applied for a protection visa and he lost the case in High count in October 2009. After almost one year in September 2010 he applied for a partner visa while he was still in Australia. But, the court ruled against the visa application as it did not fulfil the criteria of Schedule 3. The criteria was that he needed to apply for the partner visa within 28 days of holding a substantive visa and that 28 days period was over two years earlier in 2008. He showed many circumstances that would satisfy the criteria of being a compelling circumstance. This included matters stated below. He was afraid of persecution if he had to go to Thailand as he was Muslim. He feared he would not be able to meet his wife later if he went to Thailand. He also gave issues such as number of health concerns of his wife, the impact the separation will have on his relationship with his wife. He feared about the financial condition of his wife as she did not have a job and she was financially dependent on him. Even after giving all these circumstances he was denied the visa application at the time due the Schedule 3 clause. The Waensila case has potential ground breaking implications in case of immigration law. Before this case the law was the primary applicant has to be a holder of substantive visa at the time of lodging of the application[1]. In case this criterion was not met then the Schedule 3 came into effect which states that the applicant has to hold a substantive visa while applying for a substantive visa. This was only waived in case there was a compelling issue. What practically happened was the court and the tribunal considered any issues of application lodgement that came into effect at the time of review was a situation which was after the time of the lodgement of the application. So, naturally visas were not permitted through this way[2]. On 11st March, 2016 DIBP has updated the regulation regarding the time of the compelling circumstances that might have arisen. The change was that the circumstances can arise at any point of time till the date of the decision(T M, 2014). As an immediate impact of this decision some cases regarding this has gone to the applicants. One example of this is the James Tan Immigration Consultants succeeded in a case on 5th April. James Tan client did not fulfil the previous criteria for getting a visa but after the Waensila verdict it was recommended by the count that he has met all the criteria for subclass visa[3]. The decision of the court now makes it possible for the applicants to rely on circumstances which might have occurred after the application was made. That means that the number of circumstances that can be taken into account has now increased greatly. This is bound to help the applicants as they will get more options regarding proving that their circumstances are indeed compelling[4]. The change in the law also helps applicants who want to stay in Australia with their partners and families during the period when their applications are assessed by the court. That means the immigrants who have partners in Australia can easily stay in the country for a longer period of time with their families than they were able to stay before the case. One confusing this that happened on the day the Waensila verdict was made that while the full court made the decision in favour of the applicant by stating that the tribunal had made a mistake by not taking into account circumstances that have occurred after the application, on the very same day Federal Circuit court judged that the tribunal had made a mistake by taking into account circumstances that have occurred after the date of application. This happened in the case of Kaur versus the minister[5]. In the Kaur case the applicant won the decision by stating that the court has ruled against her despite the circumstances occurring after the date of application. The cases are opposite to each other and the courts practically ruled two opposite verdicts. But as the Waensila case verdict was made in the full court so that decision will have more impact in the future and it is likely if the Federal Circuit court knew about the full court decision then it would have given the verdict as per the full court[6]. While this decision has positive implications for candidates who had genuine issues regard the stringent visa laws, it has some negative implications on another front. Visa is a very important aspect of the immigration laws and a stringent law regarding this means that while some people may suffer due to this but it ensured that getting Australian visa was not easy for unlawful parties. After the change in the law, an unlawful person who has relationship with an Australian citizen can easily regularize their visa status. Before Waensila the only way they could have gotten the visa was by proving in the court about compelling reason. Now all that has changed and this could lead to some negative impact in the future. The effect of this decision by the full court is not limited to the Waensila case or the cases that might arise later on. This also greatly affects cases which have been ruled against the applicants on the ground of the time when the circumstances have arisen. Those cases will have to consider on the basis of their merit of the circumstances but it is highly likely that applicants whom did not get visa previously have a greater chance of succeeding now. So, now the court is liable to review cases which have elapsed the 35 day review period mandated by the immigration law[7]. Principles Of Statutory Interpretations There are primarily three principles or rules of statutory interpretation. They are- Literal interpretation or plain meaning rule, Golden rule which is also known as the British rule and the last one is Mischief rule[8]. In case of the plain meaning rule the statutes are interrelated by using ordinary language of the statutes. So, the statutes are read word by word and the ordinary meaning of that is taken unless the meaning comes out to be absurd or cruel. In case of Golden rule the judge interprets statutory in a more in depth way rather than just taking the literal meaning[9]. This is done in order to avoid absurd result by taking plain meaning of the statutory. The third one is Mischief rule, in this rule the court takes into account more than literal meaning and in depth meaning. The court considers which parts of the law are defective and it acts accordingly. It basically determines the defect or mischief in the statutory that is leading to some scenarios which are not properly covered by the law[10]. In the Waensila case the principle that is most applicable is the principle of Mischief rule. The law regarding immigration and visa approval was different before this case. The applicants had to apply for the visa and circumstances that have occurred after the date of application were not considered. This led to many disputes and people had to face genuine difficulties due to this law. On the other hand this law ensured that very few immigrants got visa which in turn meant that immigration situation was more controlled in Australia than many other countries. The court in this case applied the Mischief rule in giving the judgement of this case. The chief justices decided that the date of application in these types of cases cause dire consequences for the applicants and their families living in Australia. So, they interpreted what the law was not covering and they rectified it by stating that the date of application constraint will be revoked. Bibliography Boulus, P, Policy Agendas and Immigration in Australia 1996-2012. [2013]the borders of punishment Brennan, F, 'Human Rights and the National Interest: The Case Study of Asylum, Migration, and National Border Protection' [2016] HeinOnline Nethery, A; Rafferty-Brown, B, 'Exporting detention: Australia-funded immigration detention in Indonesia' [2013] Journal of Refugee Studies Faunce, T; McKenna, M, 'REGULATION OF AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS AND NATIONAL SECURITY: LESSONS FROM THREE CASE STUDIES' [2014] NCBI Nethery; Holman, 'Secrecy and human rights abuse in Australia's offshore immigration detention centres' [2016] The International Journal of Human Rights Mares, S; Zwi, K, 'Sadness and fear: The experiences of children and families in remote Australian immigration detention' [2015] Journal of paediatrics and child health Gluck, 'What 30 Years of Chevron Teach Us About the Rest of Statutory Interpretation' [2014] Columbia Law Review Nourse, V, 'A Decision Theory of Statutory Interpretation: Legislative History by the Rules' [2012] Yale Law Journal Shobe, J, 'Intertemporal Statutory Interpretation and the Evolution of Legislative Drafting' [2014] Columbia Law Review Menjvar, C, 'Immigration law beyond borders: Externalizing and internalizing border controls in an era of securitization' [2014] Annual Review of Law and Social Science Posner, EA, 'The Institutional Structure of Immigration Law' [2013] The University of Chicago Law Review [1] See Brennan, human rights and the national interst [2] See 'Secrecy and human rights abuse in Australia's offshore immigration detention centres' [3] (Nethery Holman, 2016). [4] See the reference of(Mares Zwi, 2015) [5] Check Immigration law beyond borders: Externalizing and internalizing border controls in an era of securitization' [6] check (Boulus Dowding, 2013) [7] The reference of Posner. [8] Check statuary interpretation [9] Please check the reference of Nourse, 2012. [10] Check 'Intertemporal Statutory Interpretation and the Evolution of Legislative Drafting'

Socrates On Democracy Essays - Socratic Dialogues,

Socrates On Democracy In Plato's Euthyphro, Crito and the Apology, we learn of Socrates' highly critical view of the democracy. Socrates believed that democracy was a flawed system because it left the state in the hands of the unenlightened and it valued all opinions as equal. In the Apology, we see how Socrates believed it was his duty to stand for the law and justice despite the wishes of The Assembly, and this cold have cost him his life. In Crito, Socrates states to obey the laws of the State, only if they are just. It could be said that Socrates' views on democracy and justice is what ultimately led to his death. Socrates believed poor leaders are chosen, simply on their basis of their rhetoric ability, not on their ethics or character. He opposed the efforts of the Sophists to teach their students virtue, knowledge and rhetoric as practical subjects needed by citizens to participate in the institutions of Athenian democracy. His belief on knowledge and virtue was that these required "absolute definition" which was to be attained through exhaustive philosophical dialogue and debate. He seemed to offend many Athenians with his negative dialectic method; revealing people's ignorance and inability to give definitions of truth and virtue. He believed the citizen's lack of knowledge made it impossible for the citizen's to vote properly for their leaders or for the leaders themselves to even run. In the Apology, Socrates did not want anything to do with the Thirty Tyrants and he crossed them to the extent that his life might have been in danger, if they had not been overthrown. Socrates was against the trying of the admirals from the battle of Arginusae. He was the only one to refuse to do anything contrary to the laws. In his view it was his duty to stand for the law and for justice despite the wishes of the Assembly, so he did, at risk of prosecution or death. In Crito, Socrates believes that an Athenian is obligated to obey the orders of the state or its officers, unless he considers those orders unjust, "in which case he may protest its injustice, but must consent to punishment if his protest proves unavailing." Socrates' continued to honor his commitment to truth and morality even though it cost him his life. In the Euthyphro, Socrates asks "is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?" (10A). This question can be restated as does the state prohibit this action because it is unjust, or is it unjust because the state prohibits it? Does this ultimately mean then that actions become right or wrong because of society's approval or disapproval? In the Apology, Socrates states the only opinion that counts is not that of the majority of people, but rather that of the one individual who truly knows. The truth alone deserves to be the basis for decisions about human action, so the only proper approach is to engage in the sort of careful moral reasoning by means of which one may hope to reveal it.