Da obediência ao consentimento: Reflexões sobre o experimento de Milgram à luz das instituições modernas

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to provide a reading on the results of the classic experiment of Stanley Milgram's obedience to authority starting from categories extracted from theoretical studies of sociologist Anthony Giddens and philosopher Hannah Arendt. The text is structured around two central aspects. The first aspect focuses on reaffirming the context of cultural trends and characteristics of modern institutions as deciding factors for the understanding of experimental results. Therefore, it emphasizes the trust model that social systems, such as the expert system, establish in life today, which are capable of producing a peculiar subordination to scientific and technical knowledge, while simultaneously providing no information about their operating principles. The second aspect of the article aims to highlight the importance of the moral responsibility of the experimental subjects, proposing, on the basis of Hanna Arendt's reflections, a shift of the central axis of the experimental analysis from the obedience category to the consent category.