Subjective or Objective Morality on Campus
LVE8004
2013/5/24
Introduction
The question of morality is objective or subjective has been arguing for centuries. People who hold different perspectives stand on different sides. In this paper, I will exam this issue with my own finding in a University in China. I found lots of college students show lots misbehavior and poor in-class performance on campus in the University I teach. Students show misbehavior such as put trash in the wrong place, smoke in public area, drink alcohol in dorm, physical fighting, and etc. Student show poor in-class activity such as lose attention to their instructor, playing phone during class time, in-class chatting, sleeping, reading (non-course
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6:18). We should not lie because the God don't lie. “God is love” (1 John 4:16), so we should “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). Furthermore, Ten Commandments are the Bible law that to prohibitions against idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, deception and adultery (Wikipedia, 2013). Taylor (1993), a naturalism, mentions that people know what is right and wrong "there are reasons for not stealing, there are reasons for not assaulting, and there are reasons for not lying. These things hurt people" is convention (formed by nature), it is not from God. William Craig (1993) argues that naturalist such as Taylor does not provide a basis for morality. "If naturalism is true, objective right and wrong does not exist." (William & Taylor, 1993). Craig believes that without God, there is no true right and wrong. If naturalism (Taylor) is right, then people cannot condemn crime or something immoral. “The decision to become a Mother Teresa rather than an Adolph Hitler is rather like the decision to go to McDonald’s rather than Burger King.” (Craig & Taylor, 1993) it is all your decision if there is no true right and wrong. Geisler (1999) stated “The principle of causality. Only being can cause being. Nothing does not exist, and only what exists can cause existence, since the very concept of “cause” implies an existing thing that has the power to effect another. From absolutely nothing comes absolutely nothing.” Therefore, most of objectivist argues
in an ethics class. This is to show how many of young students from high schools and universities lack a sense of common morality. Hence, it is clear that there is a “ moral shift” among the education
2. Morality is not static because morals refer to personal believes of right and wrong, as well as what one ought and ought not to do. Due to morality having a more personal connotation to it, it would be require not to be static. Each person deals with their own set of challenges and challenges change and adapt over time. Since challenges and individuals change over time, one might have to think that a person’s concept of morality would have to be just as dynamic in order to still complete its function.
What is a moral? This is a question that has plagued philosophers for many years. Is it possible
Is morality relative? Ruth Benedict and James Rachels have opposing views on this conroversial question. Benedict, "a foremost American anthropologist who taught at Columbia University" (Pojman 370) believes that morality is relative to one's culture and that one's behavior which is deemed moral or immoral is dependent upon cultural norms. Her argument is as such:
Morals, values and ethics define who we are and what we believe. Culture, religion, and many other things affect our beliefs. One uses various types off ethics when surrounded by different groups. Knowing between right and wrong is a good foundation to practicing good ethics and morals. These things make morals, ethics, and values important in society.
Philosophy 111 Andrew Irvine September 25, 2014 Divine Command Theory Dan Glaser - 20540143 Divine Command Theory is the idea that morality is grounded in God’s nature, such that something (i.e., a choice, behaviour, action, etc.) is morally good because it was commanded by God. Something that is considered morally evil, is such because God forbids it from being done. For example, the bible teaches us to love our neighbours and be generous and is there for considered morally good actions because God commands it upon us. Likewise, it is considered morally evil to steal and murder because God forbids it.
Morality is defined as a system or code that we humans use to differentiate between right and wrong. This system could be derived from a number of factors: religion, culture, and upbringing. It is difficult enough to determine what an individual's morals are, but going further to determine how we came to possess those morals is even more ambitious. Still, regardless of its difficulty, this subject consumes many philosophers and psychologists. One such moral psychologists, Jonathan Haidt, is theorizing the possibility of evolution causing ones morality. Haidt is a moral psychologist at the Universtiy of Virgina further believes that complex social structures such as religion and politics as well as our need for social structures affect
Morality must be objectively derived because (1) the concepts of good and morality exist; (2) cultures differ regarding certain moral actions, thus there is the need to discover which is right but cultures are similar regarding the existence of and need for morality; (3) relativism is not logical and does not work, (4) for moral principles to be legitimate and consistent, they must be derived external to human societies. Otherwise morality is merely one person's choice or feeling, not an understanding of truth; and (5) the existence of religion. People recognize a moral aspect to the worship of deity; even if the deity does not exist, we still perceive a need for morality to be decreed by Someone
While the problem of cheating has persisted in higher education, the perceived seriousness of cheating continues to change (McCabe & Trevino, 1996; Stephens, Young, & Calabrese, 2007). Notably, students with higher moral development levels view cheating more seriously than those with lower moral development levels (Leming, 1978; Semerci, 2006). While the process of going to college promotes students' moral development (King & Mayhew, 2002) and higher moral development levels correlate to lower incidences of cheating (Leming, 1978), determining the relationship between the two is necessary. Prior research has demonstrated a positive relationship between higher moral development levels and lower cheating incidences; however, most data is more than 30 years old (Leming, 1978).
In an organized religion debate, Alan Dershowitz and Alan Keyes contended many issues on religion and morality. Alan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor, believed that "morality can be maintained without religion." He also stated that it must be maintained without religion because times have changed. He said that if religion is not separated from state it could have severe damage, such as the Crusades and the Holocaust. Dershowitz believes that there is a difference between morality and religion. When people are moral without religion, they are being virtuous on their own, not because they are afraid of God. He stated that religion should not consist of a Cost-Benefit Analysis. Alan Keyes, a former
To be moral simply means to do what is right; however, doing what is right is easier said than done. Perhaps if one was a child, one would, to the best of their abilities, follow what his parents demand of him, this would constitute them as doing what is right. Now let us say that the child is an orphan, or does not believe what his parents say is right, should following them still be considered moral, or is it even up to him to decide? Perhaps the child has evolved past parenting all together and therefore needs no more guidance. Defining what is considered moral has now become much more complex. Sam Harris presents the same basic argument of morality in his book Letter to a Christian Nation, by applying it not to a child and his parents,
Results of the analysis show that on average. Half of the students do cheat in some form (males appear to have a higher tendency to cheat than females.)To check this, the dean would do well to make the examination process stricter. The hypothesis results however show some encouraging news. The cheating episodes appear to be less at this university than at other institutions. The dean may therefore make an attempt to create awareness against cheating so that students can become more
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Everyday we are tested as individuals to make the right choice. How we view ourselves as individuals and how others view us are directly correlated to our moral decision-making. But morals are somewhat misleading. What might be a wrong decision for one person might be a solution to another. So how do we define morals? Do we follow Gods’ moral rules because to do so would increase out likelihood of obtaining salvation in the afterlife? Or is it simpler than that. Is God going to deny our entrance into heaven because we have run a stop sign here and there? No. I believe our moral values are much simpler than that. I believe that our moral decision-making comes from our upbringing of what is right or wrong. Our parents and
Is there a contradiction between our demand that our children be honest and moral persons and our demand that they be successful? Present the argument that there is a contradiction, and see if you can answer it.