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Decision making reflections
Strengths and weaknesses of the social contract theory
Strengths and weaknesses of the social contract theory
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How does one judge the quality of their life? Is is it based upon your own personal view or is it up to the scrutiny of your peers to judge if you lived well? For me, to live a good life you must positively influence those around you; this to me means that you not only do what is right for yourself but doing the same for others. I believe that you can take a simpler approach to this by saying that in order to live a good life a person must be a moral exemplar. As I delved into what it meant to be a moral exemplar I found myself asking what qualities a moral person had. The qualities I decided that make people more or less moral than next included: a person’s decisiveness, how genuine a person is, and a person’s honesty. As I probed through …show more content…
I found that when writing I was thinking about decisiveness in the sense that a person has a clear definition of what is right and what is wrong. This is crucial in deciding if a person lives a good life because by my definition in order to live a good life one must be a moral exemplar and in order to be considered a morally significant person you have to establish what you decide is in the right and what is in the wrong. I found the section by Thomas Hobbes to be particularly interesting because he takes a very different view on the morality of people. Hobbes argument basically states that we a people are morally selfish and we only seek out for our best interest and the only reason we don’t live in a “state of nature” (dog eat dog world) is because we abide by the “social contract” (government). He says that we conform to this “social contract” because it looks out for our best interest and protects ourselves from others in society by being able to hold those others accountable due to having a third party, the government. I know this example from our readings seems kind of odd to use but I chose this section because I wanted to drive home the point I’m trying to get at. That being that in order to live a good life people must be decisive in knowing what is right and wrong, because if people are not then we would fall into this hypothetical …show more content…
What I mean by this extent is telling the truth unless it is going to lead to the harm of another. I wanted to draw this line because in the reading we discussed Kant’s argument which states in short, that we are obligated to the truth in all circumstances regardless of the outcomes. Kant believes this to be true because he is looking at the means to the end, which to him is doing what is right because it is right and not for any other reasons. This led us to taking about the example of the axe murderer looking for someone he’s trying to kill and we know the undisclosed location of this person; if we followed Kant’s view then we would be obligated to tell the axe murderer the location of the person. In Kant’s perspective our morality isn’t affected by disclosing the location of the person to the murderer, but instead the morality of the murderer trying to kill the person is in question. I don’t agree with this, I believe that Kant is on the right track; however, I would take a slightly different approach to his view of morality. This being that it is morally acceptable to be dishonest as long as the reason for this dishonesty is to save or help the life of another person, because in my perspective being a moral person is to look out for the benefit of others. By looking out for others in my personal opinion you are on the right path to living a good
How far would you go to do the right thing if it had the potential to hurt you in the long run? In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird, that was a question that the characters had to ask themselves when they knew they had to do the right thing but did not know how far they should go. In the novel, To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates moral courage throughout the book by using the literary elements such as conflict and characterization.
Ethics or rather morals entail mechanisms that defend, systematize as well as recommend conceptions of right or wrong. Many organizations develop ethical codes to ensure employees and employers understand the difference in doing good or bad. In that respect, ethics are an essential aspect of successfully running of any organization or government. Ethics ensure employee’s productivity levels are up to the required standards. It also assists them to know their rights and responsibilities. Additionally, employers, as well as any persons in management, are guided by them to ensure they provide transparent leadership. Ethics also defines how customers should be handled. Ethical codes govern the relationship between customers and an
Throughout our lives we make many choices, all having effects. The choices we make might not always affect us. Out of which, some of them might affect other people and those choices are which the person has to decide on what they believe is right and wrong and this is referred as ethical choices. For example, if a person sees someone getting beaten up by a group of people, should he either walk away or take action and if he does take action, there is a chance that harm might come his way. In this scenario the choice he makes can be called an ethical choice. This raises the question of what is ethically right and what isn’t. Similarly, writers often call for change by framing their argument in terms of ethical choice. Writers such as Claire
Is virtue all we need? Virtue epistemology is the theory that all of the things we believe are done so through an ethical process. They play an important role, in that our own personal experiences and intellectual facets are what drive this process. The fundamental idea of virtue epistemology is that knowledge is a form of a more general phenomenon, namely success through abilities. Which is turn means: knowledge is a cognitive achievement through cognitive abilities (perception, memory, experience, etc.). Knowledge doesn’t need to be anything beyond a justified true belief.
Heroism. Heroism is “heroic conduct” or “courageous action”(“Heroism”). People throughout America’s history, and the world’s history, for more than hundreds of years, have satisfied the standards of heroism, rising above and doing what is right. Heroism doesn’t have to mean saving somebody’s life. To be a hero, one does not need a cape or a villain to fight. Exhibiting acts of heroism can be as small helping retrieve a cat from a tree or as large as helping put out the fire of a burning building. Whether one’s acts of heroism are miniscule or major, they occur every day by ordinary people, proving their extraordinary abilities. After World War II ended, many acts of heroism were displayed that are still remembered today, specifically involving Operation Little Vittles. Over two million citizens living in West Berlin were doomed, cut off from the outside world by the Russians, praying for a miracle. Their wish came true when a handful of pilots agreed to drop thousands of tons of food and fuel from the air in Berlin. One of these esteemed pilots goes by the name of Gail Halvorsen, who changed the situation of the Russian blockade for the better. Halvorsen made the daring decision to drop thousands of individual packages of candy to all of the sweet deprived citizens of West Berlin. Pilot Gail Halvorsen contributed a daring effort by flying day in and day out dropping candy all with the hopes of trying to improve the awful conditions for those involved in the blockade, putting smiles on people’s faces and living up to the standards of heroism.
Ethics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the moral principles and values that govern our behavior as human beings. It is important in the human experience that we are able to grasp the idea of our own ethical code in order to become the most sensible human beings. But in that process, can ethics be taught to us? Or later in a person’s life, can he or she teach ethics the way they learned it? It is a unique and challenging concept because it is difficult to attempt to answer that question objectively because everybody has his or her own sense of morality. And at the same time, another person could have a completely different set of morals. Depending on the state of the person’s life and how they have morally developed vary from one human
The code of ethics are a guide of principles designed to help professionals conduct business honestly and with integrity.1Most organization have codes of ethics that its members are required to follow and it lays out the rules and acceptable behavior of its the members of ethics and which actions are acceptable or not acceptable business practices. One industry where professional codes of ethics is important is health care. Most health care workers belong to an accredited organization of their profession, such American Medical Association (AMA), American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), and American Nurses Association. They may also be required to have additional certification and rules they must follow based on the laws of the individual
Morals are the principles that we use to decipher right from wrong, or good from bad. Many people seem to have different morals that they live by because of the different things they believe are acceptable or good to do. This issue brings up the question, are morals unique to each individual person, or is there a standard of true morals for every person to live by? Matt Lawrence’s book, Like a Splinter in Your Mind, says that opposing sides to that question can be split into two broad categories called moral objectivism and moral non-objectivism. The idea that there is a true basic standard of morality for everyone is called moral objectivism. Moral non-objectivism is the view that no morals are objectively true, meaning either morals don’t
For years many different people from many different walks of life have had different opinions about abortion. For some abortion is never wrong, for others under certain circumstances it is O.K., and for still some others it is never right. Abortion is wrong not only because it goes against what God has said, but also because most women are so rushed into and unsure about their decision they regret it later in life.
The term “ethics” refers to an external set of rules that have been established by an institution or organization, for example, a university, and the members are expected to follow them. On the other hand, integrity refers to an individuals’ internal set of principles that guides their actions and behavior (Czimbal and Brooks n.p.). As a rule, people are usually rewarded when they follow ethical codes of conduct by an external committee or board that monitors their behavior. For a person of high integrity, the benefits are usually intrinsic. Moreover, such individuals always make the right decisions even when they are not being watched. Therefore, this feature of character is often influenced by a person’s upbringing. In
Employers have a number of responsibilities to their employees at the work place. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration has helped to develop laws that list a number of responsibilities that the employers have toward their employees. Besides the laws that have been developed by the Federal and State governments there is also an ethical obligation for employers to provide a safe workspace for their employees. To help create this safe work space employers routinely conduct back ground checks during the recruitment and hiring process. This is a preventative measure by the employer. . “In quite limited circumstances a municipality will be held liable for its employees ' constitutional wrongs on the basis that the city failed to adequately
One of the most notorious saying we grow up to know and embody is one that concerns are greatest possession, are family. “Family comes first no matter what, because at the end of the day they are the ones who are always there”. To most this is means to do anything possible to provide and protect our loved ones. If thrown into a situation, could you practice what you preach?! Society has guided us to believe that stealing is wrong but when placed in the footsteps, could one think differently. For every situation moral theories is used as to explain rather an action was right or wrong. It is depicted as being wrong in society but society never thinks about the normal people and their life. Society believes stealing bread to feed a starving family is wrong and immoral, as they look at as the concept of stealing, not the bigger picture. Normal people see it as a means of supporting as they are the ones in the footsteps being walked. For this reason stealing bread to feed your starving family is moral.
Although traditionally applied to business ethics, the ethical decision-making process is of vital importance in law enforcement as well. Research recognizes several ethical decision-making models and factors believed to influence the process of decision-making. A history of ethical decision-making, including various theories, models and influential factors demonstrates the importance of the ethical decision-making process and how it can be applied to law enforcement.
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 the people we surround ourselves with, are, I believe, direct causes of how we make decisions. Having more positive family influences as we grow up to adults will better help us come to make the right decisions in tough situations. In this paper, I will take you through a situation where my morals were tested. It takes place in the northern woods of Vermont in a little town called St. Albans where a young boy transforms into a young man by controlling his emotions and making the right decision.
The relationship between law and morality has been argued over by legal theorists for centuries. The debate is constantly be readdressed with new cases raising important moral and legal questions. This essay will explain the nature of law and morality and how they are linked.