Moral responsibility is a concept that has, in some way, existed in every culture and civilization that recorded history can tell us about. From the Law of Hammurabi to beliefs in judgmental gods mankind has always assumed some form of moral responsibility—whether metaphysical or within a society. While pragmatic considerations of moral responsibility seem to be necessary for living within a society, the philosophic concept of moral responsibility beckons many inherent problems that must be resolved. Galen Strawson in “The Impossibility of Moral Responsibility” presents a strong argument as to why moral responsibility is impossible, while Susan Wolf responds to the problems presented, and argues that moral responsibility does exist in some
The link between morality and human nature has been a progressive reoccurring theme since ancient times (Prinz, 2008). Moral development is a characteristic of a person’s general development that transpires over the course of a lifetime. Moral development is derived by a wide variety of cultural and demographic factors that appear to influence morally relevant actions. Turiel (2006) defined morality as an individuals “prescriptive judgments of justice, rights, and welfare pertaining to how people ought to relate to each other.” Individuals’ moral judgments are frequently considered to be a product of culturally specific controls that provide a framework for behavioral motivations that are sensitive to the effects of gender, education, religion and politics (Banerjee, Huebner & Hauser, 2010). While several approaches have been utilized to examine the interaction of multivariate contributors to fundamental moral differences such as: disputes about family life, sexuality, social fairness, and so on, research has suggested that ideological considerations have provided a potent and diverse explanation for the polarization of contrasting views (Weber & Federico, 2013).
In chapter 2 of the Ethics Primer Svara discusses many important ideas. Some of these included the importance of people who work for the government doing their civic duty , 3 types of ethical reasonings brought up by a student, and Lawrence Kholbergs model of moral judgement. In the book Svara brings up how people in certain roles have a job to do. They must meet the expectations expected of them or they aren’t serving the public in a full capacity. As you read on the 3 types of ethical reasonings are discussed. They are virtue, principle, and to be a public employee. This student I feel has a pretty spot on idea of how people should act. Honesty and following the law are just things ethically sound people should be doing. It doesn't take a genious to understand right from wrong. Finally a major point of the chapter discussed Lawrence Kohlberg and his model of moral judgement. “Lawrence kholberg (1981) offers a model of moral judgement to help understand how the capacity for ethical reasoning develops and explains the motives for acting at different stages of development”.(23) More specifically he gives the six stages of maturity children go through. These being punishment and obedience, instrumental relativist, good boy;nice girl, society maintaining/law and order, social contract, universal ethical
John, also known as John the Savage, is the son of Linda and his father, who are both members of Utopia. He was born and raised on the Savage Reservation. John is an outsider both on the Reservation - where the natives still practise marriage, natural birth, family life and religion - and the apparently civilised Brave New World: a totalitarian welfare-state based on principles of stability and happiness, even if it`s a happiness of a superficial and bland nature.
In the article, “Laying Claim to a Higher Morality,” Melissa Mae discusses the controversial topic of using torture as a part of interrogating detainees. She finds the common ground between the supporting and opposing sides of the argument by comparing two different sources, “Inhuman Behavior” and “A Case for Torture.” Mae includes clear transitions from each side of the argument and concise details to ensure that the essay was well constructed. The purpose of the essay is clear, and it is interesting, insightful, and unbiased.
Libertarians support the view that people have free will and so we are free to make moral decisions. For a Libertarian, the key evidence for this is the act of decision making in our daily lives. Hume states that “experience is what we see to be true”, each human being experiences the feeling of being free to make a decision. If experiencing any other action constitutes it to be true, then why not the same for free will? Libertarians argue that we have awareness of the choices we make; we can choose to do anything that we are capable of. Though we are influenced by our environment and experiences, ultimately we can make our own decisions, nothing is
James Rachels' article, "Morality is Not Relative," is incorrect, he provides arguments that cannot logically be applied or have no bearing on the statement of contention. His argument, seems to favor some of the ideas set forth in cultural relativism, but he has issues with other parts that make cultural relativism what it is.
I disagree with Socrate’s opinion that nobody desires what is bad because people don’t tend to always want to do the morally right thing. There are two types of good, the first one is the morally good things just like Socrates means, and the second one is the thing that benefit people’s personal interest regardless if it is morally good. I believe nowadays people sometimes tend to choose the second type rather than the first one which means there will be a chance they choose the bad thing when they know it is bad.
Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We is a dystopian epistolary novel about an engineer, D-503, and his experiences up until the time the Integral is finished being built. The Integral is a spacecraft that will be used to travel to other planets and spread the philosophy of OneState, which is the perfect society that D-503 lives in that runs solely on logic and mathematics. Because D-503 lives in this logical world, he depends on math for a rational explanation for everything; and ever since D-503 has been introduced to the square root of negative one and the concept of infinity, he fears that these irrational concepts will disrupt the perfect mathematical world that he lives in. In short,
Within our society, legality versus morally ethical value seem to differ between individuals. The people of this world have various views on certain topics of morality and ethics. On the other hand, the Law is set and stone, everyone must conform to the same regulations. In a major city setting where drugs, violence, and sexual immorality are an everyday way of life for many Bostonians… Patrick Kenzie, and his wife Angie must pursue the investigation to help with the abduction of Amanda McCready. This investigation sparks very tough moral dilemmas, and ethical reason in Patrick throughout the movie. This shows that even in a city with corruption, there are
The article “I See A Killer Die” by Alan hall was exceedingly provocative (but also cryptic) ergo the compelling need to respond to it. Supporting something as drastic as another man’s death in a nonchalant manner not only shows lack of empathy but immorality. Personally, the content of the article made me feel a variety of emotions: the most prominent being vast irritation alongside resentment. Astounded with some segments of the article, I took it upon myself to thoroughly analyze all segments of this article and I came to a very clear conclusion. capital punishment is a cruel, inhumane and degrading way to leave the Earth.
Another view of morality could be through South Asian Christianity. Morality in South Asian Christianity is “shaped primarily by worship in the church, reading the Bible, and home based religious practices” (Pechilis 181). Due to that in doing these three main things you religious life continues to grow and never weakens. It identifies what your real faith is. In where worshipping on Sundays, though being a Hindu tradition it has trespassed into south Asian Christianity. It has also, “brought along with it a love for liturgy and hymns” (Pechilis 177). In where reading of the Bible from as soon as you learn to read is commonly seen. Since it is “a matter of pride and dignity” (Pechilis 180), and as a marker of your religious faith. While home based religious practices that are a passage into your own religious life and a way of confirming the faith you have already in this religion. This is what morality is in South Asian Christianity.
Right and wrong are subjective. Each culture has its own definition and distinction between right and wrong; i.e. what they consider to be good and evil. What Americans define as morals here often greatly varies with other societies. America was not officially established until 1787. America is a very young country and society in the grand scheme of things; our view points are considered radical by some countries and we are by no means setting a moral standard for the other nations. This essay will work to define morals: America’s definition, Nazi Germany and Japan’s moral code, and moral’s place in the Middle East. The dictionary’s definition of moral reads, “principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong; ethical.” (“Moral” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 07-03-2016) Though it is seen on TV and heard throughout every state in the US, the morals of America are not slipping. Nor are other nations hedonistic, they simply abide by a different moral standard. Take for instance the dress of Americans during the Colonial time period when woman were covered completely aside from hands and faces, to now when woman wear short shorts and stomach exposing spaghetti strap shirts. The Colonial period also brewed such injustices as the Salem Witch Trials and situations that inspired books such as The Scarlet Letter. However in America today it is completely acceptable to go to gentlemen’s clubs and magic is a well versed illusion primarily
The Bhagavad Gita is a sacred Hindu text that serves to illustrate many of the morals and ethics of Hindu culture, by way of the exchange between Arjuna and Krishna. One of the things Krishna tells Arjuna is that the war he is fighting in is righteous. Is this to say that all wars are righteous, that those of the warrior caste will know if a war is righteous, or that they have to guess and then suffer the consequences if they’re wrong? The first two seem naïve and oversimplified from the modern perspective, and the third seems unjust because regardless of caste, Hindus are said to be capable of fulfilling their dharma. Krishna also assumes that people know their purpose in life, which may have been the case at the time the text was written, but is no longer true. While in Arjuna’s day people were born into certain castes, today people are descended from a combination of what would have been considered castes, and often switch between castes within a lifetime. Regardless, Krishna’s argument for why Arjuna should fight seems relatively sound in that specific situation, but can be twisted to condone what many consider to be evil actions in others. Nonetheless, Krishna seems confident in the fact that it is a universal truth for everyone to know his or her dharma, and that he or she needs to follow it to achieve moksha. Although Krishna makes a strong argument for Arjuna’s specific case, it can be seen to condone evil, raising the questions that if all wars are righteous, and
Does morality come into question when a decision needs to be made on a ethical level? Upon reviewing the situation the person begins to dig deep inside themselves to understand the situation from a personal level, and after taking everything into consideration they then form a conclusion. In addition the men who based their choices on sound mind and considered all things ethical made moral apparent. The question that is being raised is asking how would Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther King, Jr., David Hume, and Nel Noddings handle the situation of turning children away. In the light of the question being so complex I plan on explaining first Thomas Aquinas and where he stood on the matter