In philosophy, the term ethics is considered a part of Axiology that is concerned with developing a theory of value, and searches for what constitutes a good or moral action. Also, it addresses the questions of “What is a good life?” and “How to live a moral life?” Additionally, the study of ethics is concerned with how do we view things, in other words, what may be ethical for me could be unethical for others. In this paper, I will be reflecting on how Nietzsche challenged my views of what constitutes an ethical action, how Martin Luther King Jr offers a good argument of what constitutes an ethical language, and how being a university student made it difficult for me to make ethical decisions.
To start with, the term ethics for me is immediately
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Thus, I grew up holding on these values and applying them by any mean I have. However, while being introduced to Nietzsche, my view on ethics completely changed. Nietzsche had a different and radical view on what is ethical. In his text “Beyond Good and Evil”, he flipped the definition of ethics and made it the opposite of everything I have learnt in my life. The first point that challenged my understanding on constituting a good action was his view on the good action. Nietzsche believed that a good action is an action that raises the feeling of power. Additionally, Nietzsche said that “life itself is essentially appropriation, injury, conquest of the strange and the weak, suppression, severity, obtrusion of particular forms, incorporation, and at the least, putting the mildest, exploitation” (201) then he goes on and criticizes those who distort these words and conceive them badly saying that it is real and we have been taught that the opposite things are good, but is it in our nature? He answers the question by stating that exploitation “belongs to the nature of …show more content…
This philosopher is Martin Luther King Jr (MLK). Throughout studying his ethics, he succeeded in giving me rational arguments by using evocative language to constitute a good action that matches my perception of ethics. MLK addressed a serious issue in the United States in the mid-20th century dealing with segregation and discrimination towards African Americans. MLK built his movements and actions on a persuasive language to get people to do something. He started his points by saying how the society needs thinkers and individuals to push the boundaries of law and start asking to get an ideal and equal society for all people. His argument also was systematic and well-studied, as he started with presenting the issue in his text, and then gave several ways to deal with it. After that, MLK chose the best and most suitable way to solve the problem by convincing the reader and proving for him that this action is good and others will bring no result. A good example on that is his three ways in dealing with the oppression that African Americans suffer from due to the unjust law. The first way was surrendering, or acquiescence, which will increase the oppression and will make the suppressed adjust themselves to such kind of harm. His second way was violent resistance, which will result in nothing but more fights, “corroding hatred”, and
This paper is going to discuss Ethics and Ethical Theories. It will include an introduction to ethical theories, virtue ethics, and care ethics. There will be sections discussing absolutism versus relativism, consequentialism versus deontological ethics, and lastly, free will versus determinism. It will also include a discussion about the study of morality and identify which of the approaches (Scientific, Philosophical, or Theological/Religious) are closest to my own personal beliefs. There will be a discussion regarding the three sources of ethics
Nietzsche was a revolutionary author and philosopher who has had a tremendous impact on German culture up through the twentieth century and even today. Nietzsche's views were very unlike the popular and conventional beliefs and practices of his time and nearly all of his published works were, and still are, rather controversial, especially in On the Genealogy of Morals. His philosophies are more than just controversial and unconventional viewpoints, however; they are absolutely extreme and dangerous if taken out of context or misinterpreted. After Nietzsche's death it took very little for his sister to make some slight alterations to his works to go along with Nazi ideology.
Immanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche are two widely acclaimed philosophers due to the groundwork they made towards the philosophical principles of morality. However, even though they both have openly discussed their views, they have ended up contradicting each other. Kant implied that morality is not learned, but rather predestined, whereas Nietzsche alluded to a experience based morality, or one that is learned through actions and memories. Although these two men have accepted views of morality, the ideas of Nietzsche seem more applicable in relation to the present day; the world is constantly changing. There are two separate scenarios in which the issues of 'thou shalt not lie ' and 'thou shalt not steal, ' are morally assessed. The end results are supportive towards Nietzsche 's principles and detrimental towards Kant 's ideas. Overall, the moral concepts of Nietzsche will prevail as a result, illustrating the more probable use of his ideology.
As time goes by, ethical and moral issues have been brought up for long periods of time and these issues are recently becoming the rising problem to be discussed in society, business area and daily life. Most of people generally understand that the general meaning of ethics equals to the meaning of moral. However, moral is basically a matter of individual conscience without forcibleness, but ethics are related to social system with forcibleness. The academic definition of ethics is described as a stem of philosophy which raises moral questions and is demonstrated what is the main characteristic of morality and the way in which moral standards are decided (Gray & Webb, 2010).
“For what is freedom? That one has the will to assume responsibility for oneself.” (Nietzsche. Twilight of the Idols. Trans. Hollingdale. Sect. 38). Everyone desires freedom but everyone cannot handle the responsibilities of freedom. I will compare J.S. Mill’s views on the social function of freedom with that of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s characters from both, the novel Notes From Underground and the excerpt; The Grand Inquisitor, also drawing supplementary arguments from Friedrich Nietzsche, while expressing my views alongside.
This paper is a comparative study between Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil and Martin Luther King Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail. Detailing their views regarding ethical and unethical law.
In this Commentary of sections 1-7 of essay two in Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Genealogy of Morals, I will give a brief overview of the text, to help with showing the content that the comment covers, the go deeper into the individual sections and relate them to Nietzsche’s way of thinking and also look into any problems or solutions offered by those arguments.
On the Genealogy of Morals by Friedrich Nietzsche is typically listed as one of the most important philosophical works of the modern era. It is only modern, of course, to philosophical standards, being a mere 129 years old. It is also one of the most controversial works of its time, having the dubious distinction of being connected to Nazi ideology; it also has a not very subtle racist, sexist, and Darwinist bent that is a reflection of Nietzsche himself. That being said, I think that it is also serially misunderstood. Nietzsche directly mentions the role of interpretation in ethical discourse in the Genealogy, and the interpretive element factors heavily into one’s understanding of the polemic and by extension, ethics philosophy as a whole. Throughout the book, Nietzsche uses interpretation as a tool in itself to make a constructivist and existentialist argument about the history of ethics as whole. His idea that man has used interpretation throughout history, and the interpretive elements in Genealogy outside of the historical analysis, seem to say that almost all ethics are derived from interpretation and therefore constructivist in nature, which is a heavily existentialist argument. For example, the entirety of the first essay is based heavily upon the role of interpretation in the development of the early ethical systems that Nietzsche argues are built on the
There are a variety of different ethical systems that have developed of the course of millennia. However, even though the subject has been covered so thoroughly, it is still heavily debated. The varieties of ethical systems that are in existence look at various ethical problems from different perspectives and can be applied differently in different circumstances. Because of the subjective aspects to applying ethics, they can be as much an art as they are a science. Ethics are something that must be practiced and really cannot be perfected. In this way, studying ethics is a continual process that does not really stop. This paper will argue that ethics are the most important subject that an individual can pursue.
Some of Nietzsche’s ideas can be morally challenging to read. Although some may disagree with what he has to say; his words are still important. Nietzsche genuinely wrote about values, ethics, and will. Nietzsche doesn’t believe in a moral truth, but he certainly has an opinion on what ought to be done. We are to respect and appreciate his thoughts. Let’s dive into them.
Although the problem of the relationship between Nietzsche and metaphysics might seem to be a settled issue, this is in fact a quite complicated and fascinating problematic. The difficulty with this subject lies in the often unacknowledged ambiguity that the term ‘metaphysics’ exhibits in Nietzsche's writing, as this word assumes different nuances and connotations in different contexts. Therefore, if we can get past the usual rhetoric on the topic, we come to realize that Nietzsche addresses the topic of metaphysics in at least two distinct ways.
Nietzsche and Artaud seek a solution to the "passionate equation between Man, Society, Nature and Objects," both having suffering as the main motivation. In Nietzsche, suffering is the antinomic pair of Well-being, referred to as Happiness since the Enlightenment, and term used 679 times in eleven works, 182 times in Will to Power. Nietzsche's remedy is the liberation of the instincts, as Artaud requests, and this liberation must not be sought disconnected from their works, it must be modulated by the context with the other prescriptions. In Artaud, suffering refers to existential anguish or guilt-related anguish. The first as a result of the desire to live in
In our society today, we are mostly challenged by two questions: ‘is it right to do this or that? And ‘how should I be living in society?’(Bessant, 2009). Similar questions were greatly discussed in the history by our ancestors in their philosophical discussions. The most ancient and long-lasting literature on moral principles and ethics were described by Greek philosopher Aristotle. He had an excellent command on various subjects ranging from sciences to mathematics and philosophy. He was also a student of a famous philosopher. His most important study on ethics, personal morality and virtues is ‘The Nicomachean Ethics’, which has been greatly influencing works of literature in ethics and heavily read for centuries, is believed to be
Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher and held in regard amongst the greatest philosophers of the early part century. He sharpened his philosophical skills through reading the works of the earlier philosophers of the 18th century such as Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, Arthur Schopenhauer and African Spir; however, their works and beliefs were opposite to his own. His primary mentor was Author Schopenhauer, whose belief was that reality was built on the foundation of experience. Such as it is, one of his essays, Schopenhauer als Erzieher, published in 1874, was dedicated to Schopenhauer (Mencken, 2008). In the past two centuries, his work has had authority and influence in both
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). In simple terms, ethics is the system of what is right and what is wrong. Usage of ethics on daily basis is important to a human being, a person is judged based on his/her behavior, whether it’s reasonable or aimless, ethics help people to have a purpose for their actions. Whether it’s during work or outside in open streets, it’s important to have basic ethical behavior. There are many types of ethical behavior that take place every single day. By being simply honest and kind, gives the other person an idea that you have ethics. This paper will cover