Ethics: From a Nobel Laureates Point of View

520 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Intro to existentialism

The literary genres of Absurdism and Existentialism for centuries have allowed not only people but also many authors to search for the inherent meaning in their lives. Nobel Laureates such as Albert Camus, author of “The Guest”, and Nagib Mafouz, author of, “Zaabalawi” use their literature to answer this essential question their short stories through many ethical ideals apparent in society. Through expression of common philosophical ideals such as the freedom to choose and the ideal of accountability, both authors provide readers with a deeper insight into ethics and demonstrate that politically based decisions are more effective in Camus’ short story, and that religiously based decisions are more effective in Mafouz’s short story. In “The Guest” the reader observes the protagonist, Daru, in an internal conflict with himself in which he does not know how to deal with. It is evident through Daru’s inability to arrest the prisoner that he is going through an identity crisis with the prisoners arrest and subsequent imprisonment, due to his inherent ethical understanding of the polit...

Show More
Related

  • Theme Of Medical Ethics In The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

    1564 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rebecca Skloot’s novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, depicts the violation of medical ethics from the patient and researcher perspectives specifically when race, poverty, and lack of medical education are factors. The novel takes place in the southern United States in 1951. Henrietta Lacks is born in a poor rural town, Clover, but eventually moves to urban Turner Station. She was diagnosed and treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins hospital where cells was unknowingly taken from her and used for scientific research. Rebecca Skloot describes this when she writes, “But first—though no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting sample or asked she wanted to be a donor—Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta's cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical tissue nearby. Then he placed the samples in a glass dish” (33). The simple act of taking cells, which the physicians did not even think twice about, caused decades

    Read More

  • Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Albert Camus' The Guest

    1570 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Existentialists say man is free to choose yet the choice and having to choose is inevitable and this is seen in The Guest where the Arab is forced into Daru’s life so thrusting upon him the crossroad of what to do with the Arab, either turn him in or let him go. In Existentialist belief due to the exact same choice man is always anxious and hesitant, not knowing whether his choice is proper or not, is it accepted by others or not, and this is seen so clearly again by the simple repetition of the word “hesitation” and its other forms in the story:

    Read More

  • The Importance of High Ethical Standards, as Explained by Eric Wahlgren in The Ins and Outs of Ethics

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Ins and Outs of Ethics is a Business Week Online magazine article from May 13, 2001, it was written by Eric Wahlgren. In the article he interviews Michael Rion, the author of The Responsible Manager. Rion is also a leading business ethics advisor who consults many Standard and Poor’s 500 companies. In the article Wahlgren asks Rion why it is important for businesses to have a high ethical standard. In his responses, Rion explains that effective organizations utilize ethics programs to clearly define ethical expectations, resolve ethical issues quickly, and to remove moral constraints. Additionally, employees who understand how to deal with ethical dilemmas will also be more productive and have strong core values to guide them. According to scripture, Rions concepts are biblically sound, relevant, and desirable, proving that ethical organizational behavior is shaped and influenced by sound ethical principles.

    Read More

  • Philosophical Ethics Case Study

    901 Words  | 2 Pages

    There have been several famous legal cases where an individual commits a crime decades ago before it was revealed. The question here is whether the person who committed the crime long ago should still be punished even though he/she has been clean ever since the wrongdoing. Some people would say that it depends on the severity of the crime; some would say you should pay for your crime no matter what you have committed. The matter of whether a person should be punished for what he/she has done long time ago arises in the Law and Order episode “White Rabbit”. In this episode, Susan Forest was found twenty-three years after she took part in a robbery intended as a protest against the Vietnam War. During the robbery, a policeman was killed and the case here is whether Susan should be punished for a crime she participated long time ago. According to rule and idea of Categorical Imperative given by Immanuel Kant in his work Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Susan should be sentenced for the crime she did no matter how long ago it happened or how upstanding of a member she is in the society.

    Read More

  • Virtue Ethics

    646 Words  | 2 Pages

    When we discuss morality we know that it is a code of values that seem to guide our choices and actions. Choices and actions play a significant role in determining the purpose and course of a person’s life. In the case of “Jim and the Indians”, Jim faces a terrible dilemma to which any solution is morbid. On one hand, Jim can choose to ignore the captain’s suggestion and let the whole group of Indians be executed. Alternatively, he may decide upon sacrificing one Indian for the sake of saving the rest. Both options involve taking of person’s life. Regarding what should Jim do in this circumstance, there are two approaches according for Jim’s dilemma that should be examined. By looking into the Deontological moral theory and the moral theory of Consequentialism we can see what determines an action that is morally required.

    Read More

  • Daru is Admirable in The Guest by Albert Camus

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    'The Guest' by Albert Camus, is a story about the emotions, feelings and actions of the protagonist Daru towards the guest Arab. The Arab is a prisoner brought by an old gendarme named Balducci who had known by Daru for lone time. Balducci wants Dura to deliver the prisoner to the police headquarter. Throughout the story, Daru is a person who does not like violent, he likes everything to be peaceful. He is also a careful person as well. As a reader, I admire the protagonist Daru because of his anti-violent.

    Read More

  • Ethical Theory

    531 Words  | 2 Pages

    Review of “Situationism and Virtue Ethics on the Content of Our Character” by Rachana Kamtekatar

    Read More

  • Philosophical Ethical Theories

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    Philosophical Ethical Theories As we know, philosophers divide ethical theories into three major classes. They are Metaethics(descriptive), Conceptual(applied), and Normative(prescriptive). Metaethics basically takes the scientific approach to concocting where exactly our ethical principals and philosophies come from (Feiser, 2005). Descriptions and explanations of moral behaviors and beliefs are provided on the basis of facts studied by such specialists of anthropology, sociology and history (Beauchamp & Bowie, 2005).

    Read More

  • Choice and Individual Freedom in The Stranger (The Outsider)

    442 Words  | 1 Pages

    Choice and Individual Freedom in The Stranger Camus's The Stranger is a grim profession that choice and individual freedom are integral components of human nature, and the commitment and responsibility that accompany these elements are ultimately the deciding factors of the morality of one's existence.   Meursault is placed in an indifferent world, a world that embraces absurdity and persecutes reason; such is the nature of existentialist belief, that rationalization and logic are ultimately the essence of humanity, and that societal premonitions and an irrelevant status quo serve only to perpetuate a false sense of truth. Meursault's virtue, as well as his undoing, lies in his unique tendency to choose, and thereby exist, without computing objective standards or universal sentiment.   His  stoic, de facto existentialism is a catalyst for endless conflict between his rationalization- and logic-based existence and that of others, which focuses on an objective subscription to "the norm" ; such is evident in heated discussions with the magistrate and prison minister, who are seen as paragons of invalid logic and the quixotic, quasi-passionate pursuit of hackneyed conformity. No windmills are slain1 in this simulated existence; absurdity of a different ilk dominates the popular mentality, one which would alienate a man based on his perceived indifference towards the mundane, and try, convict, and execute a man based on his lack of purported empathy towards the irrelevant.

    Read More

  • Bioethics

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Bioethics was originated many centuries ago. Ethical theories in medicine are the basis of bioethics. There are many different ethical approaches which causes much dispute. The imperical question is, what makes an act right and which approach to follow. The Greeks addressed the virtue of ethics. They looked into the good of the person and the situation. Ethos in Greek means, disposition and trait. So consequently they looked at eh person’s skills, habits, and traits. Compassion and the meaning of suffering are some other issues in Bioethics that can be argued. Choosing an act because it is right and also looking at the consequences are some other concerns. Other things to consider are what the patient and their families want. Their religious beliefs are also a major concern. How far should someone go to help a dying suffering patient who wants to take their life? Is it right to intercept and help a patient to die? Medical technology is ever advancing. People are being kept alive for years on support. This is a major topic of debate in Bioethics. Deciding if it’s right or wrong to keep them alive even if they are brain dead is a major concern. What constitutes a person a person when they have Alzheimer’s or brain damage? Are they a person? These are some of the major topics discussed in Bioethics.

    Read More

  • Colonialism In The Stranger By Albert Camus

    1262 Words  | 3 Pages

    Meursault’s apathy towards his mother’s death, his girlfriend, Marie Cardona, and the Arabic man symbolize a cruel French colonist. The first sentence of “ The stranger”, “Mother died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can’t be sure”(4), appalls reader by showing Meursault’s unconcern about his mother’s death date. At the funeral, Meursault behaves indifferently which contrasts with the old Perez, “who put on and put off his hat again and again”(11). Conversation between Meursault and his girlfriend also shows Meursault aloofness. “Marie came that evening and asked me if I’d marry her. I said I didn’t mind; if she was keen on it, we’d get married. Then she asked me again if I loved her. I replied, much as before, that her question meant nothing or next to nothing- bu...

    Read More

  • Absurdism And Morality In Albert Camus's 'The Guest'

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Albert Camus’ The Guest revolves around the notions of moral justification and solitude with the underlying themes of absurdism and nihilism. Camus personifies absurdism through the protagonist, Daru–whether Daru makes the decision to release the prisoner to freedom or delivers the Arab prisoner into prison does not matter, since Daru allows the prisoner to choose, and the prisoner chooses to be imprisoned. There is also a sense of uncertainty of moral justification–how is one justified in one’s choice of action and on what scale is the justification based on, which is essentially the foundation of Daru’s dilemma. With the internal confliction of Daru’s personal beliefs against abiding superior authority, Daru is faced with two moral dilemmas: The authoritative figure in The Guest is Balducci, where he instructs Daru to deliver the Arab prisoner to prison– something against Daru’s moral beliefs.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Guest by Albert Camus

    615 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sometimes reading fiction not only makes us pleasure but also brings many knowledge about history and philosophy of life. ‘The Guest’ by the French writer Albert Camus is a short story and reflects the political situation in French North Africa in 1950s. According to this story, we know the issues between the France and the Arab in Algeria, and the protagonist, Daru, refuses to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria. This is not a boring story, because Camus uses a suspenseful way to show the character, conflicts and symbol and irony.

    Read More

  • Virtue Ethics

    905 Words  | 2 Pages

    Virtue Ethics Virtue ethics is a theory used to make moral decisions. It does not rely on religion, society or culture; it only depends on the individuals themselves. The main philosopher of Virtue Ethics is Aristotle. The. His theory was originally introduced in ancient Greek.

    Read More

  • Ethics And Ethical Systems

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a function, ethics is a philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct, and of the rules and principles it should govern. As a system, ethics are a social, religious, or civil code of behavior considered correct by a particular group, profession, or individual. As an instrument, ethics provide perspective regarding the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, or potential outcomes. Ethical decision-making can include many types, including deontological (duty), consequentialism (including utilitarianism), and virtue ethics. Additionally, subsets of relativism, objectivism, and pluralism seek to understand the impact of moral diversity on a human level. Although distinct differences separate these ethical systems, organizations

    Read More

More about Ethics: From a Nobel Laureates Point of View

Open Document