Perhaps more so than Emotivists, Prescriptivists see ethical language as fairly meaningful. They believe that the terms used are able to create absolute rules that everyone ought to follow. It would seem that ethical language is seen by many as very meaningful, although for varying reasons. However agent centred theories such as Virtue Ethics would argue that our main focus of morality should be on becoming as virtuous as possible, rather than deciding what is meant by ethical language. Therefore it would seem that perhaps morality should be more focussed on individuals’ actions rather then defining what is meant by ‘good’ and
Examine how both deontological and teleological ethical systems can be used to help people make moral decisions. Deontological and teleological ethical systems attempt to provide those who follow them with contrasting moral guides, recommending wrong and right concepts of behaviour. Deontological ethics derives from the Greek word, "Deon" which translates to "duty", for all deontologists, morality is a matter of duty. This ethical theory judges the morality of an action based on the action's adherence to a rule, so essentially, deontology is concerned with the intent behind an action as well as the nature of the action itself. Therefore, deontologists follow the belief that certain actions are inherently good if they follow the stated rules even if the action has bad consequences, it can still be defined as moral.
James Rachels’ on Normative Cultural Relativism Every culture has its own customs, traditions and beliefs that dictate the actions of its citizens. Cultural relativism states that although practices and ethical beliefs differ from society to society, it must be accepted as good, relative to each respective culture’s beliefs and moral code. Rachels believes that an act that may be frowned upon in one culture may in fact be totally acceptable in another. The theory of Cultural Relativism puts in action the idea of what people believe is morally right and how it relates to the culture that it is practiced in. Morals concern what is right and wrong.
Written In Stone After reading the article “Some Moral Minima” by Lenn Goodman, I must admit that I agree that there are certain things that are flat line wrong. Living in today’s society with so many different cultures, religious and political beliefs we are bound to view some aspects of life differently. I must say however, some should never fall in that category. Genocide seeks to destroy a race, a culture even a class. Slavery allows one man to imprison another man that is his equal, to a life he doesn’t choose.
Although David Hume wrote on a number of different subjects, it would appear that his predominant interest was in the field of morals. It is easy to understand why this was true since morality as he conceived it lies in the background of all human activities. Man is not only a thinking being, as was emphasized by the Greek philosophers, but he is also a social and an active being and it is with this phase of his life that morality is concerned. It is involved in the political affairs of individuals and nations, and the same is true with reference to the social and religious life of any community of persons. Nothing is more important in the life of an individual or in the life of a nation than the moral standards by which life is governed.
Morality is universally understood as a class of rules held by society to govern the right conduct of its members. Holding strong to this notion St. Thomas Aquinas, brings to light this understanding as personal inclination (or will) to achieve an ultimate end (God); in which those actions become the mean to understandings the human purpose. In his book, A Summary of Philosophy, Aquinas claims that the existence of God allows us to reason with the things around and wills us to act. In a different approach, Friedrich Nietzsche claims that morality is relative to time and power; our actions whether moral or immoral depend on the power they bestow to the perspectives that we hold. He doesn’t believe in a moral definition of what is good and bad; because historically it is contradicted by the men of power.
I was surprised that my blind spot was identified to be overconfidence in process because I rarely feel confident in anything. My values were described to be justice and fortitude and resultant behaviors are that I demonstrate courage and steadiness in the face of obstacles and I tend to avoid rash actions. My ethical lens directs my academic behavior by giving me good reasoning skills and allowing me to think through problems carefully and research all options. My ethical lens influences my critical thinking because it allows me to make informed decisions that I find are best for the well-being of everyone around me. I believe that a person’s emotions can influence critical thinking because some people’s ethical lens is more heartfelt and can let them make decisions with their emotions instead of with their knowledge and brain.
Robert Louden stated that as virtue ethics is focused on the individual, it neither resolves nor attempts to resolve big moral dilemmas. It may help the moral agent virtuous but it does not give any answerers relating to an ethical crisis. Scholars such as Aristotle, however, would disagree with this point saying that each individual has to habitually do what is right for a period of time as a result of habitually doing what is right we naturally do what is good. In time, this leads to the growth and well-being of everyone in society. Because of this I would say that this weakness isn’t strong enough to say
“The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.” Evaluate this claim. The right to study and possess knowledge is a fundamental right for every human which is enshrined in nearly every single country’s constitution. However, the decisions that are made when this knowledge is applied could potentially have repercussions. At this point, ethics becomes involved in the use of knowledge. In order to evaluate the claim that the possession of knowledge carries ethical responsibility, it is important to understand ethics and knowledge in the general sense To put it simply, ethics is moral philosophy, or rationalization of conduct as either right or wrong.
He stated, “Man is the measure of all things”. Morality, Protagoras stated, is changeable and subject to our view of the world around us. Meanwhile, Aristotle is another philosopher that was a moral