"Question Authority"  This was a popular bumper sticker in the 90's. 
I am trying to find out where the concept originated - both the recent
emphasis and the historical roots (if different)

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 23 Sep 2004 15:46 PDT

The phrase "question authority" has been around for...well....for a
very long time, although it certainly took on a new air as a
catch-phrase in the past few decades.

A search of newspaper databases shows the use of the phrase throughout
the entire period for which the databases are kept.

For instance, a 1955 article on physicist's Richard Feyman's speech on
the importance of the "freedom to doubt" noted:

"...there is little doubt that this is one of the most precious of our
intellectual freedoms, one basic to numerous others.  For if men are
not free to doubt, to question authority, to seek truth in the face of
all contrary opinion, then freedom to speak is an empty mockery."


It is only a small leap from occasional, noteworthy use of the
specific phrase throughout history, to the trendy use of more recent
vintage.  Exactly how the trend "took off" is hard to say.

What sort of information would you need about the more recent history
of "question authority" in order to have a valid answer to your
question?

Let us know.

pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by metokos-ga on 23 Sep 2004 16:55 PDT

I am looking for sources to which to attribute the phrase.  They do
not have to be proved to be the absolute first, but those that
popularized the concept.  For instance, there is one attribute to
Timothy Leary that I have found.  If that can be confirmed, I have my
'recent' answer.  There is also one attributed to Ben Franklin.  If
that can be confirmed, I have my 'historic' answer.  I'm not requiring
the level of proof that the bloggers would require from CBS - just
something reasonable.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 23 Sep 2004 17:48 PDT

This 1982 copyright registration for "question authority" may be of interest:


1. Registration Number:    PA-164-557  
Title:    Political Stu / Circle Jerks. Forced labor ; Question
authority / Rogerson.
Note:    Performed by Circle Jerks. 
In:    Wild in the streets. Faulty Products 03, c1982. 1 sound disc :
33 1/3 rpm ; 12 in. side 2, band 6, etc.
Claimant:    Irving Music, Inc. & Plagued Music 
Created:    1982

You might be interested in these earlier versions of the question:

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=109595

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=182505

"Question authority" was a very popular bumber sticker and button to
wear during the 60s and 70s.

I didn't have a bumper in the sixties, but I did wear buttons with
slogans and symbols on them, as so many young folks did, and I
remember that one.  I thought the meaning of it was perfectly,
defiantly, counterculturally clear--until someone told me that she
thought it meant, "When you have a question, you should ask an
authority."

That recollection has served as a reminder to me many times not to
take for granted an interpretation that seems obvious to me as long as
there is any possible way to misread something.

Archae0pteryx