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Importance of worldview
Morality and moral decisions
Morality and moral decisions
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Recommended: Importance of worldview
James Sire the author of the book The Universe Next Door wants us to exam ourselves to discover what our own worldview. Understanding or discovering our worldview helps in the process of becoming self-aware, self-knowledge, and self-understanding. To assist in this discovery, he provides seven questions to answer. Each of the questions asked are used to seek what your worldview is or consists of. Not every person is going to answer these questions the same as we all have different beliefs or ideas of the world. The seven questions are what is prime reality (the really real), what is the nature of external reality (the world around us), what is a human being, what happens to a person when they die, why is it possible to know anything at …show more content…
My thought is we are created as an image of God who is good. So we are innately good because of this. When others allow society and other pressures take over their lives they give into the path of the wicked. I feel we are all born with a conscious, I think of it as God speaking to us, when we come to a crossroad in a decision we make. We have all seen it displayed on television with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other trying to persuade a person’s decision. The way that our society is today some people make bad choices in their lives just trying to survive. Defining what is good and bad is difficult because it is subjective to the person with the decision to make. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was ok with breaking some laws and preached that it was ok as long as they were willing to pay the consequences and that it didn’t hurt anyone in the process. Laws are created to help protect us, so a lot of what we consider to be good and bad lies within the laws and it shapes our opinions. Good and bad also brings morals and ethics into the conversation. The terms are so ambiguous that it is hard to determine what is meant by them. Ultimately, if you love God and show your passion for him, he will lead you down the path of good. When people start to stray away from God is when the real trouble
Throughout the past centuries, the concept of instinctive morality has been debated back and forth. One philosophy with a strong viewpoint on this subject is Puritanism, because they believe that since the beginning of the world, people have been born sinners. Puritans felt that Adam and Eve’s temptation by Satan had cursed all of humanity to be born evil. A few decades later, Deists shifted their ideas away from religion and believed that every person could choose whether they were good or bad. Then, Transcendental ideas began the thought that humans were born innately good, and that God and Satan had nothing to do with people’s morality. Throughout the major literary philosophies in the United States, one can see how the innate character of a human progresses from being evil to being innately good.
The lines that define good and evil are not written in black and white; these lines tend to blur into many shades of grey allowing good and evil to intermingle with each another in a single human being. Man is not inherently good or evil but they are born innocent without any values or sense of morality until people impart their philosophies of life to them. In the words of John Locke:
It is the contention of this paper that humans are born neutral, and if we are raised to be good, we will mature into good human beings. Once the element of evil is introduced into our minds, through socialization and the media, we then have the potential to do bad things. As a person grows up, they are ideally taught to be good and to do good things, but it is possible that the concept of evil can be presented to us. When this happens, we subconsciously choose whether or not to accept this evil. This is where the theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke become interesting as both men differed in the way they believed human nature to be.
“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.” (Eleanor Roosevelt). This is just one of the infinite examples of how human nature has been explored by so many different people. Each and every human is born with the capability of making their own choices. The decisions that they will make in the future will determine how evil they are viewed by others. Although one’s nature and nurture do affect their life, it is their own free will that determines whether or not they are evil.
There is always a debate between whether human beings are born essentially good or evil. Though some may agree with one or another, good and evil are one thread; they are just the same line viewed from different sides. Environment may be one of the major factors that create different perspectives within each person. According to the article “A Debate over Good and Evil” from World History, William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel mention how there are two sayings of the human nature: good versus evil. Mencius, an ancient Chinese humanitarian philosopher, claims that human are born with a good heart, while another ancient Chinese philosopher, Xunzi, argues that evil is inherent in human nature.
In our life, actions are considered either good or bad. They are rules and laws that are put in place to prevent people from doing wrong and evil to each other. We learn how to make right decisions. We have a sense of what is right and wrong. The leads to the question that ask is something wrong because it is against the law or is it against the law because it is wrong? As humans, we desire a lot of things. We have a desire for safety, money, justice, respect, and infinite amount more. Our desires not being aligned right lead us to wrongdoing. What makes an action evil is not that it is against the law or someone says that it is wrong, but the fact that it goes against virtue and is the product of inordinate desire.
In this first part of this paper I will be explaining my worldview. There are three influences I will focus on to give an in depth look at how I came to my worldview. The three influences are religion, family, and my career choice. I think the biggest part of my worldview comes from my religion so I will start with that. I am a Christian and with that comes certain beliefs. Those beliefs lead my life daily and contribute to my worldview. One those beliefs is to spread his word. God’s word is such an important part to look at because it gives a framework to guide my life in every aspect. The Bible is filled with commandments, stories, and scripture that reference to how to look at life from a moral, social, and personal standpoint. We can actually begin to see the purpose for our through the word as well. Life’s purpose, according to the Bible, is for God’s glory. We are supposed to praise, worship, proclaim him, and follow his will. “Everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made,” (Isaiah 43:7) I like this verse because I feel like it reminds me of what God has done for me. From that ...
My personal worldview explains the way I view and live life through the assumptions and beliefs I hold in response to the world around me. I believe I was created for a specific reason and purpose.
The wills of humans are either good or evil. However, evil is defined in several manners in that it begins to have different meanings for everyone. In addition, evil cannot be defined without defining good. Therefore, there must be boundaries declared for evil and good. Evil is when someone takes a stance on making a decision. A decision where the person has an option of harming themselves or someone else in the present or in the future. While good is when someone makes a decision that does not harm anyone or themselves in present or future. Although some may consider thoughts to be evil, it is not until someone follows through and turns them into a reality that has negative effect on anyone’s present or future. This is the same with good,
Are we born knowing the difference between Good and Evil ? Or are we taught our moral beliefs by our parents and society? Does man have free will to choose good or evil actions ? We humans everyday must be fair and remember even with the bad guys seeing ourselves as good. We are the heroes of our own lives. In the world today, society is made up of individuals, we would well be advised to delineate the core characteristics of what we would regard as a good person versus an evil one, “ A good person may be defined as one who consistently exudes a great deal of empathy, compassion, sanctity for human life, selflessness, and altruism, On the contrary, an evil person is one who consistently displays psychopathic behavior, a lack of empathy and
Humans are born with the intention of being good due to the fact they do not have anything to corrupt them. In the article, “Are we naturally good or bad?” by Tom Stafford, it argues if people are born with the natural incline to be a moral or dishonorable person. For example, the article talks about the pureness of an infant. “Babies are humans with the absolute
The world is full of examples of bad people that have done good things and good people having done bad things and I think that the greater question becomes in total, do the good deeds out way not the morality of the individual but the totality of their acts. This is clearly addressed in Christianity as Christ was fairly clear that moral judgements should be based on the fruit rather than the tree or seed. The metaphor is a powerful and intriguing one as it means one can't tell, with certainty, the good tree from the bad. Additionally, if life offered us only good fruit, the question might never arise, but our lives do contain, turmoil, worry, arrogance and prejudice which are all disruptive factors to live with yet all have causal links to "seeds" of personal, cultural, or spiritual habits. The truth is we are, all of us at any moment capable of great good and great evil. Ted Bundy worked at a suicide hot- line with great success and quite likely saved lives. Did it matter that this disembodied voice on the other end of the phone was a violent serial killer to the person(s) he saved? I don't believe so. Do we dismiss a good deed because it was conceived and carried out by a "bad" person? No, we don't. And in turn, when good people commit horrific acts are they excused because of their otherwise decently lived lives? No, they are
Are human beings born to be good? Or are we naturally born to be evil? A person’s nature or essence is a trait that is inherent and lasting in an individual. To be a good person is someone who thinks of others before themselves, shows kindness to one another, and makes good choices in life that can lead to a path of becoming a good moral person. To be a bad person rebels against something or someone thinking only of them and not caring about the consequences of their actions. Rousseau assumed, “that man is good by nature (as it is bequeathed to him), but good in a negative way: that is, he is not evil of his own accord and on purpose, but only in danger of being contaminated and corrupted by evil or inept guides and examples (Immanuel Kant 123).” In other words, the human is exposed to the depraved society by incompetent guardians or influences that is not of one’s free will in the view of the fact that it is passed on. My position is humans are not by nature evil. Instead, they are good but influenced by the environment and societies to act in evil ways to either harm others or themself.
The four ways that individuals can approach a situation is The principle approach, the consequence approach, the virtue/character approach, and the moral sentiment approach. As a matter of fact, making decisions turns out to be easy to make when an individual know what approach they are using. Most of the decision that individuals make are based on their values and principles. In my opinion, as God’s creation made in his image, all man possesses a character like God. The two central attributes of God are his holiness (expressed in his justice) and his love. God is holy in nature, and he lives and operates by his own holy laws. He instructs all man to live according to his holy laws, and live justly. A person’s moral actions comes from within the person. The person displays good will and a social responsibility to do what is just and fair towards others. The Bible tells us to love one another as Christ has loved us. We are free to choose our action and how we conduct ourselves in this world. For example, the actions of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. They were perfect people who made a bad chose to disobey God. Their disobeyed effected the whole world which is the consequence of their sin. The Bible states, “so whoever knows the right thing to do, and fails to do it, for him it is sin. Adam and Eve sin made them immoral in the eyes of
Throughout ages, people have argued about the nature of man, and the complexity of this matter. According to various studies as well as ideas of major writers and philosophers, man is naturally born good. However, society and environmental factors determine if one will remain this way or become evil. When one is born, they are naturally good, but their environment and interactions with people from their very early ages determine whether or not they will develop a sense of badness throughout their life.