Ethics of Civil Disobedience
Ban animal cruelty! Give aid to the poor! Save the rainforests! Obey the law! As a human race we must strive to fulfill these commands, for they are our moral duties and obligations. Our obligation to morality sometimes leads to a dilemma. What happens when a law contradicts the morally right thing to do? Would it be moral to act illegally by breaking the law? No matter how drastic the measure, we are still required to act morally--even if one must break the law to do so. But why is it so important to be moral that one could justify something as serious as breaking the law?
If morality is so significant that one could justify breaking the law we must consider the importance of being moral in the first
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In Singer’s own words inspired by F.H. Bradley’s views on morality, “we can never get people to act morally by providing reasons of self-interest, because if they accept what we say and act on the reasons given, they will be only acting self-interestedly, not morally” (Singer 323).
However, if morality is so important, are the motives behind acting morally really all that significant? According to psychological egoism “every human action is motivated by self interest” (Rachels 64). As humans we are incapable of acting unselfishly. So what makes anyone think we could behave morally for altruistic reasons?
It is however possible for ethics and self-interest to find a common ground. As humans we are naturally benevolent. We care about the welfare of others--especially of those closest to us. Without close relationships we can never truly be happy. According to the American psychologist A.H. Maslow,
Human beings have a need for self-actualization that involves growing towards courage, kindness, knowledge, love, honesty, and unselfishness. When we fulfill this need, we feel serene, joyful, filled with zest, sometimes euphoric, and generally happy. When we act contrary to our need for self-actualization, we experience anxiety, despair, boredom, shame, emptiness and are generally unable to enjoy ourselves. (Singer 327-328).
In opposition of Maslow’s observation, we may consider the psychopath. “A person who is asocial, impulsive, egocentric,
Hypothesis and overview of the essay (approximately 1 to 2 pages) This section should focus on using clear, concise writing to introduce your argumentative position based on the "Moral Instinct" editorial.
morality permits each of us a sphere in which to pursue our own plans and goals.
Why do we neglect any ethical principles? According to the basics of utilitarianism, human deeds focus on common welfare. When we turn into spy’s and follow our family members, we hope that it will work in favor of our family welfare and common utility. We can compare home spying with domestic surveillance to show how ethical principles work in this area. “As a matter of fact, domestic surveillance focuses on potential crime prevention. On the other hand, intelligence violates the principles of a personal freedom and breaks into a private territory of people surrounding us.” (Domestic Surveillance) We show our unethical behavior and violate the principles of respect and tolerance to other people. Our selfish motives may be destructive for people around us. Ethical egoism occurs when individual underlines that his own selfish interest is the most important for him. We pay attention for surveillance at home, when we want to compensate the lack of attention of our loved person to us. We want to find the root of evil and try to become real spies and find out something horrible and destructive as soon as possible to entertain ourselves. In such a way, we try to compensate our selfish interests. We think that if to follow our beloved ones or children, we will have a chance to know their real lives. Faraz states: “We do not think about their interest; we want to feel calmness and be sure in the coming day. This last motive is dominant
The political concepts of justice and how a society should be governed have dominated literature through out human history. The concept of peacefully resisting laws set by a governing force can be first be depicted in the world of the Ancient Greeks in the works of Sophocles and actions of Socrates. This popular idea has developed over the centuries and is commonly known today as civil disobedience. Due to the works of Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. civil disobedience is a well-known political action to Americans; first in the application against slavery and second in the application against segregation. Thoreau’s essay “Civil Disobedience” and King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the leading arguments in defining
The Core of American Freedoms have always been incorporated within the wills of the people. So pounded into today's society of younger population that we are free to choose our own paths and morals is all fundamentally linked to the practice of civil disobedience. If we don't agree with a law, we protest it. Civil disobedience as a whole in the long-run has shown to be a positive power that has moved our government and society for the better.
Morality is a concept that most people feel they have a good grasp on; however, when confronted on what exactly is morality, many fail to give an adequate description on what it is and why it is important. There are philosophers who have taken on this task, and as expected disagree, with valid arguments, what morality is and why it is important. Morality is explained by three philosophers as: a cultural tool that his subject specified with importance only to the culture being applied, by using the Utilitarianism theory to explain what moral is and its importance as a tool for serving the greatest majority, and that morality is determined by one’s motive because it follows one’s duty to society. Respectively, Rachels, Mill, and Kant differ with
Being moral is a choice free from both internal and external factors. Unless we have some convincing reasons for being moral, there is no point in enquiring what is morally good and what is not. This question concerns reasons than causes. Also one must realize that being moral involves self denial. For example a moral person must not take BRIBE, but another person who is not moral and takes bribes may turn out to be in a financially better position. So, moral obligations lead to sacrificing of ones personal interests. So we need to justify the necessity to be moral. There are many reasons which justify being moral. A few of them are
Throughout history and for as long as humankind has existed we can understand that Natural law is contributed to Devine Command Theory. Both ethics and morality can come in hand with the Devine Command Theory which is the foundation of religion. Devine command theory is the “meta-ethical theory which proposes that an action being morally good is equivalent to being commanded by God. The theory asserts that moral knowledge cannot be had except from God because morality is based on what God commands.” (Hector, 2009) Philosophically, I believe that certain rights or values are inherent by human nature, that laws and command both exist to serve as a guide in humanity they are a pattern for someone’s actions and behavior both representing either
Morals are especially important in society because they keep things in balance. Take this personal experience for example, I believe cheating is unacceptable, although sometimes I am conflicted because people are extremely desperate; I never ease in. If people were to start cheating on every signal task they are given then no one would
when we know that we can reap tremendous benefit from acting immorally?” Moreover, why should we do the “right” thing if we can do the “wrong” thing and get away with it? None of us will likely have the opportunity to become invisible, but we all certainly have had and will be faced with situations in which we stand to benefit personally and/or professionally from immoral actions that can easily go overlooked or for which there are no negative consequences. What, then, motivates or should motivate us to avoid moral wrong-doing and to undertake that which is morally good(Williams & Arrigo)?
Morality and integrity are the significant elements in human life. They influence human thought and restrict personal behaviors. Acting an important role in daily life, it is necessary to understand well about that. According to Gert (Gert, 2002), Morality is a guideline to distinguish whether actions correct or not. This guideline is a judgment based on the moral laws which is
Moral motivation speaks to an individual’s ability to follow through on a selected course of action. This can prove difficult based on the potential ramifications of taking action. Tapping into one’s moral emotions, both positive and negative, can help motivate an individual to engage in ethical problem solving. Other ways to increase moral motivations include rewarding oneself and others for ethical behavior and considering the ethical principles of an organization before participating (Johnson 2009).
To the question, "Why should I be moral?" there is a simple answer (SA) that some philosophers find tempting. There is also a response, common enough to be dubbed the standard response (SR), to the simple answer. In what follows I show that SA and SR are unsatisfactory; they share a serious defect.
Self-interest plays a motivator role in morality field that makes people can consider themselves without destroying the ability of others to meet their own wants. Starting with some key terms that Smiths mentions in his books: selfishness means someone who only knows to satisfy himself without consider others’ feelings and it might deprives others’ happiness (Black 2006, p.8). Comparing to selfishness, the term ‘self-love’ means ‘pure ego’ (Fitzgibbons 1995, p.137), while the term ‘self-interest’ is an updated version of self-love, because it contains virtue and leads to self-love into a moral level (Fitzgibbons 1995,
In this essay I will argue that moral obligation is like legal obligation to some extent, in that they share certain features, in particular notions of blame and responsibility. They also often overlap, though I shall argue that moral obligation is in some sense prior and superior, or more obliging than legal obligation .