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Basically, the difference is your motivation. Breaking an 'unjust' law is called civil disobedience, and some very brave and principled people have done this to the benefit of us all. I put quotes around the word unjust because there is necessarily a personal judgement about whether or not a law is 'just'. In some cases it may seem obvious, like the heroic defiance of Rosa Parks. In some cases, an individual or a small number of people may be more interested in the fact that a law is simply inconvenient to them and is not necessarily unjust. In democracies, society as a whole determines what kind of laws will hold, and it is the nature of law that the actions of people will be restricted from time to time in order to bring about the greater good. In either case, someone engaging in civil disobedience will have to accept ahead of time the consequences of violating the law, and even correct civil disobedience will not always produce the desired result quickly.

So someone engaging in civil disobedience is doing so because of a real conviction that a law is itself harmful to everyone. A person just defying the law is interested in self-gain without regard for the people as a whole.

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12y ago

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Defying the law means intentionally disregarding or disobeying a law without necessarily taking action against it. Breaking an unjust law involves intentionally violating a law that is considered unfair or immoral, with the aim of challenging or changing it through civil disobedience.

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AnswerBot

11mo ago
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Q: What is the difference between defying the law and breaking an unjust law?
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