Harper Academic

Obedience to Authority

An Experimental View

by Stanley Milgram

On Sale: 06/30/2009

Price: $16.99

Obedience to Authority

An Experimental View

by Stanley Milgram

On Sale: 06/30/2009

Format:

Price: $16.99

About the Book

Half a century ago, social scientist Stanley Milgram carried out a series of experiments. The “teacher” is told to administer electroshocks in progressively more painful degrees to the “learner.” The teacher—unaware that the learner is an actor receiving no shocks at all—is the real focus of the study. These controversial and criticized experiments illustrate how people will obey authority regardless of consequences.

“[Milgram’s] investigations accomplish what we should expect of responsible social science: to inform the intellect without trivializing the phenomenon.“—Science

Critical Praise

“Milgram’s experiments on obedience have made us more aware of the dangers of uncritically accepting authority.” — Peter Singer, New York Times Book Review

“Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience to malevolent authority seemed to me to be the most important social psychological research done in this generation….The quality of exposition in the book I s so high that it qualifies as literature as well as science.” — Roger Brown, Harvard University

“This well-designed and brilliantly executed research study, reported in an unusually fascinating and very readable style, reveals the elusive and sometimes shocking conditions under which men obey authority regardless of the morality involved.” — Library Journal

“A major contribution to our knowledge of man’s behavior. It establishes firmly in the front rank of social scientists in this generation.” — Jerome S. Brunner, Oxford University

“One of the most significant books I have read in more than two decades of reviewing.” — Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times

“The classic account of the human tendency to follow orders, no matter who they hurt or what their consequences.” — Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

“Milgrim’s experiment-based analysis is a model of systematic, sequential, patient pursuit of answers to a significant social problem. His investigations accomplish what we should expect of responsible social science: to inform the intellect without trivializing the phenomenon.” — Henry W. Reicken, Science

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Product Details

  • ISBN: 9780061765216
  • ISBN 10: 006176521X
  • Imprint: Harper Perennial
  • On Sale: 06/30/2009
  • Trimsize: 5.310 in (w) x 8.000 in (h) x 0.580 in (d)
  • Pages: 256
  • List Price: $16.99
  • BISAC1 : PHILOSOPHY / Ethics & Moral Philosophy
  • BISAC2 : PHILOSOPHY / Movements / Existentialism
  • BISAC3 : PSYCHOLOGY / Emotions
  • BISAC4 : PSYCHOLOGY / Interpersonal Relations
  • BISAC5 : PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology
  • BISAC6 : PSYCHOLOGY / Experimental Psychology
  • BISAC7 : SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects
  • BISAC8 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture
  • BISAC9 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Work
  • BISAC10 : SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Social Theory