Work Classification Layer
Compare Works
Pick two or more works to set their attribute fingerprints, dimension-by-dimension passages, and shared school embodiments side by side. Especially useful for author-stage comparisons (Wittgenstein early vs late) and for setting a single tradition's foundational texts against each other.
Resistance to Civil Government
"That government is best which governs least" — and when government becomes unjust, refusal to obey is not only a right but a duty
Attribute Fingerprint
Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.
| Attribute | Resistance to Civil Government (Mature) |
|---|---|
| Time · Extent | Infinite |
| Time · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Time · Grain | Continuous |
| Time · Freedom | Non-Deterministic |
| Time · Traversability | Linear |
| Time · Dimensionality | One |
| Time · Direction | Uni-directional |
| Space · Extent | Infinite |
| Space · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Space · Curvature | Flat |
| Space · Dimensionality | Three |
| Space · Locality | Local |
| Matter · Extent | Infinite |
| Matter · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Matter · Conservation | Conserved |
| Matter · Dimensionality | Three |
| Matter · Locality | Local |
| Observer · Time Instance | Single |
| Observer · Space Instance | Single |
| Observer · Knowledge Extent | Partial |
| Observer · Knowledge Retainment | Total |
| Observer · Physicality | Embodied |
| Observer · Agency | Active |
| Observer · Number | Plural |
| Observer · Metaphysical Agency | None |
| Observer · Moral Authority | Reason |
| Observer · Theological Method | — |
| Energy · Extent | Infinite |
| Energy · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Energy · Conservation | Conserved |
| Energy · Dispersibility | Irreversible |
| Information · Ontological Status | Substantival |
| Information · Cosmic Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Personal Conservation | Conserved |
| Information · Granularity | Discrete |
Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence
What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.
Time
Resistance to Civil Government
1849 American moment of slavery and the Mexican War; the long historical influence on subsequent movements.
Space
Resistance to Civil Government
The Massachusetts polity; the Concord jail where Thoreau spent his night.
Matter
Resistance to Civil Government
The embodied citizen refusing to pay taxes; the state-apparatus the refusal targets.
Observer
Resistance to Civil Government
The individual conscience; the unjust state.
Energy
Resistance to Civil Government
The moral energy of refusal; the political energy of organized resistance.
Information
Resistance to Civil Government
The argument from conscience to action; the specific tactical proposals.
Internal Tensions
Where each work's argument pulls against itself.
The essay's reception by Gandhi (Hind Swaraj), King (Letter from Birmingham Jail), and the modern nonviolent resistance tradition has substantially extended its scope beyond Thoreau's individual-libertarian register. Specific positions (the proper limits of political obligation, the relation between individual conscience and collective political action) remain debated.