Mitzvot as Being Outdated and Unimportant
The statement “mitzvot are outdated and unimportant providing you are
a good person” is one which raises many different points and opinions.
Some people may agree with the statement. I can understand this
because it could be argued that many mitzvot are not at all relevant
to the modern society of today and therefore have little significance
to us. For example, some people may claim that the law which
prohibits driving on Shabbat is irrelevant in the present day because
in the past there were not many (if any) cars, also synagogues tended
to be closer to home. Nowadays the majority of the population have a
car and synagogues can be car away.
Also, it could be said that one can be a ‘good person’ and a valued
member of the general public without keeping all of the mitzvot.
Furthermore it could also be declared that as long as one is a ‘good
person’ it does not matter if one follows the mitzvot or not and that
they become obsolete and unnecessary, as well as being old fashioned.
However on the other hand, some people may disagree with the statement
and believe that mitzvot are not outdated and unimportant.
Moses Maimonides says “…the purpose of the laws of the Torah is to
promote compassion, loving kindness and peace in the world.” He is
saying that by learning and keeping the mitzvot, this make it possible
for one to become a truly ‘good person’ and that without keeping them,
you cannot be one. Mitzvot help to perfect the world through ethical
monotheism.
In fact, the term ‘good person’ is frequently misused today. The
general assumption is that the meaning of this expression is, ‘someone
who doesn’t hurt anybody.’ However this person is not a good one, they
are simply somebody who is not bad. Being a truly good person today
involves the active pursuit of G-d. Mitzvot give us the capability to
do this and become a justly ‘good person’.
There are two ways that this quotation might be interpreted, one way focuses on a person's goodness, or lack of, and the other concerns benign or malicious intentions.
person is one who has set many goals for himself and then goes out in life
...t a good man or person is hard to find because they do not exist. Some people are little better than others but all are stimulated by something that causes them to be that way. The assumption is that no one is driven my malice or meanness.
the kind of person one is. Thus Charity had two parts, one human, the other
Nothing in the world – indeed even beyond the world – can possibly be conceived which could be called good with qualification except good will (Kant 61).
be good in relation to others but it must be wholly good. Thus a drink cannot
In deciding whether or not a person is good, all of their characteristics must be looked at.
Secondly, the possibility of the right to lie is refuted on the basis of virtue ethics, which maintains that lying is morally wrong though the argument or claim is less strict as compared to Kant’s statement. Virtue ethics generally provides a different approach to ethics by focusing on character development of individuals. As a result, virtue ethicists tend to look at what people should be with regards to their character rather than determining the right or wrong of a behavior simply on the basis of reason and desired and undesired behavior (Mazur par, 5). In this case, virtues are desirable characteristics of individuals that make them act in a specific way. According to virtue ethicists, being virtuous is regarded as being ethical because it is a reflection of the individual traits of fairness and striving towards accomplishment of human potential.
Being able to be around another person who is doing virtuous acts rather than doing virtuous acts by one’s self, gives the good man more realization that he is in fact an excellent person.
Wallace, David F. "Good People." The Norton Introduction to Literature. 11th ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2014. 149-55. Print.
“Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart,” I agree with that statement because people are really giving so that makes them good at heart. Some people care about others. People might look bad but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a good heart. I think everyone has a good heart even bad people. Even though people in jail seen bad I know that they are good at heart.
person of the novel, different traits that can lead us to talk about virtue, and one of them is
...literally—be defined as a virtue in that it possesses the ability to bring about a desired result.
If a person behaves in a virtuous manner, the act is repaid and vice versa.
For the purposes of this essay human virtue is defined as a trait or ability such that one who has that trait or ability would be considered excellent and thus virtuous by human standards. Additionally it is important to keep