Philosophy / Unit 8 Philosophy 0346 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Just and Unjust Laws
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The idea
King's criterion, from the Birmingham jail: a just law squares with the moral law and uplifts human personality; an unjust law degrades it—and merits open, loving resistance.
In practice
Segregation statutes were his case: laws binding a minority the minority had no part in making.
Where people slip
The criterion presupposes a moral standard above statutes—a direct rejection of cultural relativism.
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